Cabbagedad and Adbono nailed it.
“Son's talent level as compared to his HS peers was such that he could afford to have overlapping seasons and not suffer too much setback to missed time. That is not always the case, particularly at larger and/or more competitive programs.”
“If a kid can really help both coaches it’s much more likely that they will work with each other.”
Son’s HC loved football players and was fine with basketball players, but baseball tryouts and basketball season overlapped. It was harder for basketball players. And the two sport athletes missed out on fall baseball, which proved to be a good time to earn a spot on the team.
At the end of the day, when the best athletes play multiple sports, they start in multiple sports. I think all college coaches love multi-sport HS athletes. It’s not lip service. College coaches are only recruiting kids who are starters on their HS teams. If a kid starts in two sports (or more), college coaches like it.
Bottom line: if your kid is a stud, he can play as many sports as he wants. The baseball coach may or may not like it, but the stud is going to start anyway. If he is an ordinary athlete at a big school, he should be thoughtful about his approach because the coach has more options to replace him.