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Mid-Major Madness Year In Review: Good Touch, Bad Touch

Nick Lewis posted his labor of love in the middle of a July heat wave. Most people were thinking about the beach and not college sports. But Nick's article on coaches who come close or overstep the line deserves another look from everyone.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Nick Lewis came to me in March with an idea about a longform piece that he wanted to pitch. It was the middle of the NCAA Tournament. We had a lot going on right then.

But Nick persisted and pulled together some powerful interviews about the role of coaches and how sometimes the line between coach and something else can get blurred a little bit. Through countless drafts and rewrites, Nick's story took form and gave us one of the best pieces of work this site has seen since we relaunched.

It was released in July, in the middle of a sweltering summer, and it may have been missed by a lot of college sports fans. But it is worth going back now and reading again for the first time. This is something that is affecting sports from Toledo cross-country to Utah swimming, and everything in between.

This is a piece that should make all coaches think about the way they interact with their athletes. And this has nothing to do with just college.

This is a lesson for everyone.

Here is Good Touch, Bad Touch, once again.