Picture courtesy of Tanner Colvin

Carl Hines did not make his decision to step away from coaching lightly.

But after weighing the pros and cons, the timing was simply right.

“I think every coach wonders, and I put in a lot of long hours, and my family kind of sacrificed for me to follow my passion of coaching,” said Hines, who resigned as Sacred Heart’s girls basketball coach last week, just two months after leading the Knights to their first-ever Class 2A state championship. “It’s my last kid’s senior year and my wife has always had to catch rides (to games) with other people, and I thought I needed to spend a year with my family that had always supported me.”

“I had a tough time coming to that decision, but it feels right. It has been almost 20 years doing this, so this was an opportunity to support them and show how important they are to me.”

It also allowed Hines to leave at the pinnacle of a five-year tenure that featured a 77-46 overall record and a 25-4 mark this past season. The crowning achievement was a magical March state tournament run that culminated in a 43-34 championship victory over top seed Ellinwood at Emporia’s White Auditorium.

“I got to go out on top and on my own terms,” said Hines, who also is stepping down as assistant football and baseball coach but will continue to teach history at Sacred Heart.

Hines also leaves the program in good shape, with three returning starters and a strong incoming freshman class.

“We lost three really good seniors who meant a lot to the program, but we have some good classes coming in and a lot of talent to make another run,” Hines said. “We leave it in good hands.”

Nobody appreciates that more than Sacred Heart athletic director Bryce Woodall, who named assistant Tate Richards as interim head coach during the search for Hines’ replacement.

“It’s a lot different than 10 or 15 years ago for sure,” Woodall said. “There’s definitely a lot of talent coming back.”

“We lost three good, solid seniors with great leadership, but we have a good group of incoming freshmen and sophomores. I anticipate some pretty good interest in the position.”

The Knights lose senior starters Nicole Richards and all-stater Skylar Douglas, who is headed to Tabor College next season. But they return starting guards Addie Lee and Emmy Lee, plus center Edyn Sharpton.

Woodall also expressed his appreciation for Hines’ leadership.

“What a great way to cap a career with winning a state title and coach of the year,” Woodall said. “Carl is the kind of guy who has high expectations but genuinely cares about his players.”

“Those two factors make for a pretty good recipe.”

For Hines, stepping away allows him to devote his time to watching son Noah, a senior-to-be, compete in football, basketball and baseball his final season while sitting in the stands next to wife Anny for the first time in a long time.

“My wife would always ask me when we’d be able to do this together,” Hines said. “And I want to enjoy this last run with (Noah).”

Hines, 49, did not rule out a return to coaching in the future.

“After this year, if something opens up, you never know,” he said.