Football notebook: Franks to stay; Brinson interested in USF?

Posted Feb 19, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Feb 20, 2010 at 04:00 AM

USF football coach Skip Holtz has been so busy making the rounds that he still hasn’t locked himself away in his office and finalized assignments for his coaching staff and support personnel.

Holtz also hasn’t officially announced whether he plans to keep assistants Carl Franks and Phil McGeoghan on staff, although based on Holtz’s comments Thursday, Franks will remain a part of USF’s program in some capacity.

“The job that he’s done with recruiting, we could not have done what we did in the transition period without him,” Holtz said during an interview with WDAE 620-AM. “I’m really excited that he’s going to be part of this program as we continue to move forward. He brings so much to the table from a recruiting standpoint.”

When Holtz replaced Jim Leavitt last month, he retained Leavitt assistants Kevin Patrick and Larry Scott, and said he would re-evaluate Franks, USF’s recruiting coordinator and running backs coach under Leavitt, and receivers coach McGeoghan after National Signing Day.

Meanwhile, Scott interviewed at LSU last week for the final opening on Les Miles’ revamped staff, but Miles has not indicated he is close to making a hire.

If Scott leaves or McGeoghan is not retained, look for former East Carolina offensive line coach Steve Shankweiler to join Holtz’s staff. Holtz brought assistants Todd Fitch, Vernon Hargreaves and Rick Smith with him from East Carolina, and later hired former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Peter Vaas and former Marshall head coach Mark Snyder.

Shankweiler was let go when Ruffin McNeill was hired at East Carolina to replace Holtz. Former Holtz assistants Junior Smith (running backs), Phil Petty (tight ends) and John Gutekunst (defensive tackles) were also let go by McNeill.

The only Holtz assistant McNeill retained was recruiting coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick. East Carolina defensive tackles coach Rock Roggeman, on medical leave when Holtz left, remains on staff while he recovers from a bout with cancer.

+++ Former St. Pete Northeast RB Jeff Brinson announced Thursday that he was leaving Iowa to transfer to a school closer to home. Brinson was highly touted coming out of high school and redshirted in 2008. Last season, a foot injury limited him to one carry.

As of late Thursday, it remained unclear if Brinson is interested in USF or if he has contacted the Bulls about transferring. He told the Des Moines Register that he was leaving Iowa to be closer to his father, Jeff Sr., who is currently battling heart problems.

Here is Brinson at Iowa’s media day last season talking about his interest in one Florida school coming out of high school:

+++ Former USF offensive line coach Mike Simmonds has talked with Indiana State coach Trent Miles about returning to his alma mater to join Miles’ staff. Simmonds also showed interest in Appalachian State’s opening for an OL coach after Shawn Elliott left to join Steve Spurrier’s staff at South Carolina. However, Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore is reportedly going to hire Bob McClain, a former Michigan assistant who spent last season as tight ends coach at Tulsa.

+++ Former USF defensive coordinator Joe Tresey hasn’t surfaced as a candidate for any major openings. Florida Atlantic coach Howard Schnellenberger hired former Duquesne defensive coordinator Dick Hopkins earlier this week to be the Owls’ defensive backs coach, a position Tresey’s name was linked to on a couple of fan sites.

+++ Speaking of coaching news, Holtz is no longer the newest head college football coach in the state of Florida. That distinction now belongs to Barry Fagan, who was hired Tuesday to be the first coach in the history of Ave Maria University in Naples. The school will compete at the NAIA level starting in 2011. Fagan most recently served as offensive coordinator at Hillsdale (Mich.) College.