University of Southern California head basketball coach Bob Boyd wrote in March 1970 that he had this sign in his office:
“Recruiting is Like Shaving. If You Don’t Do It Every Day, You’re a Bum.”
The “recruiting is like shaving” saying is popular with college basketball and football coaches, reminding them that recruiting is a year-round activity almost without a break. The second half of the saying is also given as “miss a day and you look bad” or “skip one day and it shows.”
5 March 1970, Progress-Bulletin (Fresno, CA), pg, C7, col. 1:
Bob Boyd’s Hoop Scoop
By BOB BOYD
Head Basketball Coach
University of Southern California
(Editor’s Note—This is the fifth in a series of feature basketball columns written by Bob Boyd for this newspaper.)
(...)
Little Poster
Recruiting is a year around (sic) activity. In fact, we have a little poster on the wall in our office which says, “Recruiting is Like Shaving. If You Don’t Do It Every Day, You’re a Bum.”
10 March 1970, Omaha (NE) World-Herald, Wally Provost sports column, pg. 17, col. 1:
Expert Testifies
RECRUITING is the subject of the latest essay by Brian Boyd, whose Southern Cal team gave UCLA a few lumps last weekend. He says recruiting is a year-round activity. “In fact, we have a little poster on the wall in our office which says: Recruiting Is Like Shaving. If You Don’t Do It Every Day, You’re a Bum.”
13 April 1976, The Oregonian (Portland, OR), “Recruiting necessary evil to build successful program” by Don McLeod, pg. C3, col. 1:
Nailed to the wall in the Gill Coliseum office of Craig Fertig, Oregon State’s new head football coach, is a picture of a tramp and under the hobo’s photo is this caption:
“Recruiting is like shaving. If you don’t do it every day you’re a bum.”
Google Books
Sportswit
By Lee Green
New York, NY: Harper & Row
1984
Pg. 207:
Recruits and Recruiting
ANONYMOUS
“Recruiting is like shaving. Do it every day or you will look like a bum.”
Google News Archive
7 March 1989, Gadsden (AL) Times, “Limbaugh enjoys ‘selling’ his school” by Jimmy Smothers, pg. D1, col. 2:
TUSCALOOSA—“Recruiting is just like shaving, you must do it every day or look like a bum.”
Those of the words on a plaque hanging in Tommy Limbaugh’s office in Coleman Coliseum on the University of Alabama campus.
Google News Archive
22 November 1990, Lawrence (KS) Journal-World, “Prep Recruiting A Lot Like Shaving” by Gary Bedore, pg. 1D, col. 5:
Kansas basketball recruiting wrapup.
Roy Williams on the year-long pursuit of high school players: “Recruiting is like shaving. Skip one day and it shows.”
22 February 2009, The Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, AZ), “Riding the wave of excitement ,”
A common adage in college basketball is that recruiting is like shaving — miss a day and you look bad.
Twitter
Tim Miles
@CoachMiles
Recruiting is like shaving. If you don’t do it everyday… you look bad!
7:32 AM - 30 Mar 10
Alligator Army
Will Muschamp: “Recruiting’s Kind Of Like Shaving…”
By Andy Hutchins on May 17, 2011 8:14p
And the classic quotes keep coming. Will Muschamp on recruiting, via the Orlando Sentinel‘s Rachel George:
New one from Will Muschamp: “Recruiting’s kind of like shaving. If you don’t do it every day, you look like a bum.”
Bruin Report Online
An Open Letter to Coach Mora
By Tracy Pierson
Posted Dec 12, 2011
(...)
A famous college coach once uttered a great line, and the Internet now shines a light on its relevance: “Recruiting is like shaving; If you don’t do it every day you look like a bum.”
In other words, you have 7 weeks to bring in a top 10 national recruiting class.