updated 9:41 a.m. ET Oct. 22, 2007

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The hours are terrible and the pressure unending. And often one of the first thing college coaches coaches sacrifice while doing the job is taking care of themselves.

But for many, that began to change when Wake Forest basketball coach Skip Prosser died in July from an apparent massive heart attack. Now they’re trying to squeeze in better meals, more exercise and more relaxation into an already packed schedule that will only get busier.

“I think (Prosser’s death) does make you more aware of it,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said Sunday during the Atlantic Coast Conference’s preseason media day. “I think what happened to Skip is going to make me exercise even more and be more disciplined about it, and I was already doing it pretty well.”

North Carolina State coach Sidney Lowe has had additional reinforcement, dating back to when he was hospitalized for dehydration, missing the second half of the Wolfpack’s loss at North Carolina last season.

Lowe has since spent more time exercising on a treadmill or trying to get away from work, even if it’s nothing more than watching the Golf Channel for an hour. He’s also tried to eat more fruit and salads. The result has been a trimmed-down physique that required him to get his pants altered to fit.

“It’s funny how it works because you’re so stressed and that stress is mental stress, but it affects you physically,” he said. “It affects your body to where it just wears you down.”

Still, Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said there’s only so much a coach can do with the everyday job demands. And while he didn’t really change after Prosser’s death, he acknowledged his health stays on his mind.

Prosser was 56 when he was found slumped on his office couch and unresponsive by director of basketball operations Mike Muse shortly after returning from his noon jog, athletics director Ron Wellman said.

Wellman said he was unaware of any previous health issues for Prosser, calling his death “a devastating loss.”

Prosser spent six seasons with the Demon Deacons, winning an Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title in 2003 and reaching the NCAA tournament in his first four seasons. Wake Forest went to No. 1 for the first time during the 2004-05 season.

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Before arriving in Winston-Salem, Prosser was head coach at Xavier for seven seasons and at Loyola of Maryland for one.

Prosser had a career record of 291-146 as a head coach, including 126-68 with Wake Forest. While there, he coached future NBA stars Paul and Josh Howard, and was the ACC coach of the year in 2003. He is the only coach to take three schools to the NCAA tournament in his first season at each.

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