
Posted Jan 12, 2010 by Scott Carter
Updated Jan 12, 2010 at 11:21 AM
By SCOTT CARTER
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ORLANDO – East Carolina head coach Skip Holtz has been contacted by USF officials about his interest to replace Jim Leavitt.
Holtz, who arrived at the American Football Coaches Association here this morning, is expected to meet with USF athletic director Doug Woolard during his stay.
He said Monday that he is interested in the USF job on many levels.
“I have gotten a call to find out if I had interest in talking to them,’’ he said. “Obviously, there is interest from a standpoint of the league they play in, the Big East, and my parents live here in Orlando, my wife is from Port Charlotte. We would have four grandparents right there. There are a lot of positives to it. I think it’s definitely an up-and-coming program, so yeah, there would be interest.’’
Holtz is the son of former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz. He recently finished his fifth season at East Carolina, and has a 38-27 record. He has led the Pirates to back-to-back Conference USA titles.
Holtz is under contract at East Carolina through 2013, but has a modest $100,000 buyout clause in his contract should USF want to make him the second head coach in school history.
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Reader Comments
Por (USF99) on January 12, 2010 (Suggest removal)
not my first or second choice, but we could do worse. definitely an upgrade.
Suggest removalPor (Allen) on January 12, 2010 (Suggest removal)
6 names I like: Holtz, Fedora, Sumlin, Tommy Bowden, Fulmer, and Herm Edwards. Top 5 and a dream choice.
Suggest removalPor (Hector Jimenez) on January 12, 2010 (Suggest removal)
I don’t mind the Holtz pick but isn’t Fumer getting and interview? Does he not like the thought of coaching at USF….if that is the case then fine but I hope it’s not that Woolard did not want to interview him. At least Fulmer deserves that.
Suggest removalPor (Hector Jimenez) on January 12, 2010 (Suggest removal)
Scott…things are going crazy! How does the Kiffin move to SC change USF’s play on Holtz or Holtz on USF. Would Tenn. want to go after him?
The big schools (ND, SC, TT) move at will, while USF seems to be in slow motion!
Suggest removalPor (joecole) on January 13, 2010 (Suggest removal)
Two things: first…THANK GOD dungy is off the table. what a joke.
second…FULMER, FULMER, FULMER, FULMER, FULMER, FULMER!
get it?
Suggest removalPor (Dan Alatorre) on January 13, 2010 (Suggest removal)
Scott, reading comments by Fulmer, he has said that USF has not contacted him, and “they have my phone number if they need to get ahold of me.” That sounds bad, like we are not interested in him, have not considered him at all.
Meanwhile, Yippy Skippy Daddy’s Boy seems to have everyone thinking he’s been offered a deal by USF. Don’t be fooled, Bulls fans; he’s using USF’s interest as leverage to get a raise or a HC job at a better school.
And all the former Bucs who are now TV announcers seem to recommend the guy that they worked with, but was he ever a successful head coach anywhere?
Suggest removalPor (Dan Alatorre) on January 13, 2010 (Suggest removal)
I didn’t know who Kevin Sumlin was until I checked. He served as offensive coordinator for five years at Oklahoma under Bob Stoops. That’s impressive, especially since he did very well there. Other reports say he was CO- offensive coord, which makes you wonder who was the real driver of the offense, until you read that now he’s HC at U of Houston where this year he beat Texas Tech and Oklahoma in back to back games.
Now THAT’s impressive.
USF couldn’t do that.
He’ll get my support if he gets the job!
Suggest removalPor (rashad) on January 13, 2010 (Suggest removal)
how about David Cutcliffe ??
Suggest removalPor (Dan Alatorre) on January 14, 2010 (Suggest removal)
Scott, the Holtz deal sounds awfully greedy. The contract called for him to earn $25 for each season ticket sold. The maximum is 22,000, so that’s an extra $550,000 on top of a base of about $1 million. East Carolina also tied incentives to fundraising with Holtz getting 5 percent of the annual donations to the Pirate Club booster organization.
I don’t see our locals sitting for that. TOO GREEDY. It’s like he set it up so that they would not accept it.
Suggest removalPor (Allen) on January 14, 2010 (Suggest removal)
Actually, it was Oklahoma State (with Dez Bryant) and then Texas Tech the next week. However, Houston then lost to UTEP the next week so figure that one out. I don’t think he’s interested, though.
Suggest removalPor (Don G) on January 16, 2010 (Suggest removal)
Leavitt was an embarrassment as a spokesman for USF. Holtz will bring some class and definitely some character missing with Leavitt. It appears that Leavitt worked to cover up his assault on Joel Miller - a 18 year of kid. Be glad USF is rid of Leavitt and his lack of character and ethics. Character and success should be the standard and Leavitt didn’t meet either of those. Thank you, Brett McMurphy. You could be next year’s USF MVP.
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