SEC Spring Meetings Are The Intersection Of Family Vacations And The Most Poweful Folks In College Sports

DESTIN, FL- Once again we arrived at the intersection of family vacations and the most prominent figures in college sports gathering for a week of meetings, along with fun in the sun. 

It's crowded, loud, and you're most likely to leave with sand in your shoes, but having such a massive congregation of athletic officials at one place, along with thousands of kids and parents, certainly makes for an entertaining combination. 

How else would you describe the head coaches for every SEC school in a number of sports trying to find the nearest escape route so that they don't have to answer questions from the media on a daily basis during the week? 

I give them a lot of credit for how they navigate the crowds, whether it's the ‘Cell Phone Walk & Talk’ or the SID creating a quick exit-route through the crowded area where media is stationed. 

SEC Spring Meetings are at the intersection of college sports and family vacations.

But one of the best parts of the SEC Spring meetings centers around the families that are enjoying their Memorial Day holiday, while surrounded by some of the most powerful folks in college athletics. 

The observations are priceless, while the faces of some of the folks vacationing are filled with confusion, as Hugh Freeze or John Calipari walk by. 

"Wait, was that the old Kentucky head coach?," one fan asked as John Calipari walked by. "That's so weird seeing him in those colors. Do you know if they will sign autographs for us if we came back?"

I really wanted to tell him to sneak in the back room like one LSU fan did two years ago, just to ask Nick Saban to retire, while offering him $5,000 at the time to leave. But, the reactions are what makes this event special. 

SEC Spring Meetings is at the intersection of college sports and family vacations, as John Calipari is intervewed. 

Families Are Amazed To See SEC Coaches On Vacation

While the Mississippi Realtor Group has their annual conference in the same area as the SEC Spring meeting, it's almost a running joke about whether reporters should somehow sign up for that conference, just to get more access to the coaches and athletic directors.  

Then there are the folks who are on vacation that spot a head coach and desperately want that autograph, as we see each year. 

"So, when will the coaches come out? Do you think they will sign my son's football if we wait?," one mother asked out-loud to a group huddled near the media ‘barricade’. "I guess we will come back at 5 p.m. when they are done."

SEC Spring Meetings is at the intersection of college sports and family vacations

Sure enough, at 5 p.m. on the dot, the family returned with a football for every coach to sign, even the basketball coaches, as Georgia's Mike White found out. Bruce Pearl stood and took pictures, Kim Mulkey stopped for a photo with an energetic young girl, while Hugh Freeze and Kirby Smart were more than willing to oblige. 

To be honest, the entire setting is what makes this event outrageous, but in a good way. One minute you're coming in off the beach, and the next minute you're running into the most powerful man in college sports, Greg Sankey. 

For the folks that have no idea what they're walking into when they make their reservations for this week in May, running into college football coaches is just an added bonus, with a side of pure craziness.