I am excited to announce the hiring of @chuckmcgill as our new Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications.

— Mike Hamrick (@TheHerdAD) July 8, 2016

So, that was two weeks ago today, and you know what that means. Today is Chuck’s last day at the Gazette-Mail, a place that’s meant a lot to him for a long time, a place that gave a stage to one of the best storytellers I know, a place he’s run with clarity and conviction for, if you’re asking me, more than just these past 11 months.

Cheers to Chuck, the four-time sportswriter of the year for work like this, his last piece at our shop.

I was on a beach in the Florida Keys when I heard official word, and you can imagine the amount of, “Did you know?” and, “…while you’re on vacation!” texts and calls and emails. But I did know, and it didn’t spoil or even sully my vacation. This is something he wants to do and something he’ll be good at, and you tend to be happy when people you like get to go out on their terms.

Believe me when I tell you it is not always this way in our business. I’ve seen the end arrive unexpectedly or undesirably for too many good people. Really, really good people.

Technically, he’s been my boss for more than four years now, and we’ve been side-by-side for sagas and tournaments and blowouts and deadline writing. He knows what makes me tick and what fruit I hate. All of that stuff is going to stick with me, but what’s happened more recently is what I choose to remember.

It’s been a year and three days since I landed in Dallas and had to return a voicemail from Chuck. He’s the one who told me our paper was finished and I’d get a chance to become part of the new Gazette-Mail. I was … not happy … and I can’t imagine dealing with someone who acted the way I did. The past being the past — and “The Lion King” being what it is around here — I’d rather not get too deep into that whole chapter again, but I didn’t want to work for anyone other than him after that, and I’m glad we’ve done what we’ve done since he was named sports editor and I was put in charge of this beat.

I don’t want to see him go, and I don’t know for sure who or what is next for any of us, but it’s not going to be the same. That’s not intended to demean whoever is next. That’s intended to let that person know the shoes he or she fills are big. Like, this big.