College football head coaches' Twitter accounts are a decidedly mixed bag. Some, like James Franklin's, are nothing but a stream of recruiting messages designed to get fans and unspecified high school players fired up. Some, like Hugh Freeze's, are little more than a collection of granted fan requests for retweets. Will Muschamp's is typical of most, as it's obvious that it's run by an athletic department staffer, while John L. Smith's is basically a photo blog of the facilities upgrades at Arkansas.
My favorite coach to follow is former Oregon and Kentucky head coach Rich Brooks. The main reason why I find it entertaining is because the guy is living a dream life. Everything you could hope for in your retirement, Brooks already has. Let's take a look at how his spring and summer have been going.
Had a Makers on the rocks with great friend Brett Setzer. Great to see Keeneland landing at the airport. Great to be back.
— Rich Brooks (@UKcoachbrooks) April 14, 2012
I'll bet it was from one of his line of commemorative bottles. Keeneland is a horse track, by the way. He made a visit the following day:
Karen left with money in her pocket and I paid for the Keeneland experience. I did not finish well.
— Rich Brooks (@UKcoachbrooks) April 15, 2012
This is about as depressing as his Twitter feed gets. His wife made some money but he didn't.
Grandson Brooks feeding donkey's at a neighbor's house. Finished mowing today and just hanging out with the family today.
— Rich Brooks (@UKcoachbrooks) April 25, 2012
Brooks has a large family, and he seems to spend a lot of time with them. It'd be awesome to have Rich Brooks as your grandfather.
Played golf yesterday and it was ugly. Shot a smooth 88 so today Stan Potter and I will fish on the McKenzie river. Hope to catch some.
— Rich Brooks (@UKcoachbrooks) May 9, 2012
This seems to be what he mostly does with his time: fishing and golfing. At least, that's what he tweets about the most.
Pic of creek and the house from the fairway of the 3 hole on the Clive at the Hideaway. Shot 81 and won a little. twitter.com/UKcoachbrooks/…
— Rich Brooks (@UKcoachbrooks) May 24, 2012
One of his projects this year is building an beautiful, enormous house on a golf course in California. Also, he seems to win more money than he loses while playing golf.
Last night at the western night here with old friend LaVell Edwards having a good time telling stories. twitter.com/UKcoachbrooks/…
— Rich Brooks (@UKcoachbrooks) May 30, 2012
He hangs a lot with old coaching buddies like legendary BYU head coach LaVell Edwards. I can only imagine the stories they tell.
A sunny warm day here in Oregon. View of the river below our house. A relaxing day. twitter.com/UKcoachbrooks/…
— Rich Brooks (@UKcoachbrooks) June 10, 2012
This is the view from his house in Oregon. It's amazing, of course.
We are here with Phil Knight, Tony Dungy,and the Prince of Monaco. Pretty interesting group. Karen love it!
— Rich Brooks (@UKcoachbrooks) June 26, 2012
These were his companions while watching the Olympic track and field trials in Eugene: the founder of Nike, a Super Bowl winning coach, and royalty.
Went fishing yesterday with Stan Potter and had a great day. Fly fishing and released all 45 rainbow. Pic 18in rainbow twitter.com/UKcoachbrooks/…
— Rich Brooks (@UKcoachbrooks) June 29, 2012
I'm not a fishing expert, but 45 caught (even if split between two people) sounds like a heck of a day at the river.
Driving to Seattle tomorrow to board a cruise ship for the inland passage to Alaska. The whole family will go for our 50th anniversary.
— Rich Brooks (@UKcoachbrooks) July 6, 2012
This is what he's up to right now. He's tweeting pictures of his Alaskan cruise, celebrating his 50th anniversary (an amazing achievement) with his whole family.
If I have a quarter of the life that Rich Brooks leads in my retirement, I'll be doing well.