was told that would be impossible, he balked.

"I could never leave anyone behind," Grobe said. "Every decision I ever made was with what would be best for my staff in mind."

Grobe always has allowed his assistant coaches autonomy. At Wake Forest, he was a CEO who allowed his assistants to do their jobs.

In 2007, Wake Forest rewarded Grobe's loyalty with a 10-year contract.

In the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of college football, he lasted seven seasons.

Grobe resigned in 2013 after his team finished 4-8. It was the school's fifth consecutive losing season. The cool sideline demeanor, considered a positive during winning seasons, was suddenly perceived as a weakness.

Loyalty to assistants was another issue. Despite the ACC title, Wake Forest couldn't compete with the big state schools in the conference during recruitingbattles.

Still, Grobe describes his 13 seasons at Wake Forest as "fantastic."

"But it didn't end the way I wanted," he said. "I made mistakes on a few kids in recruiting and. ..."

He didn't have to retire. Schools such as Alabama-Birmingham, Georgia Southern and Army came calling.

"I couldn't do it," Grobe said. "I didn't want to jump in and feel later that I made a mistake."

Grobe discussed it with Holly and they decided they were finished with football.

Change in plans

New Baylor head football coach Jim Grobe (center, right) is escorted out of the Big 12 Conference Football Media Days following his Q&A with reporters at the Omni Dallas Hotel, July 19, 2016. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News) (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

Grobe believes he was going to spend September on