Holtz seeks remedy to cure Bulls’ second-half fades past 3 seasons

Posted Mar 4, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Mar 4, 2010 at 10:17 AM

A crowd of around 100 showed up for Skip Holtz’s first town hall meeting Wednesday night on the USF campus.

The new USF football coach answered questions, signed autographs and took photos with most of those who attended.

The majority of the topics were ones Holtz had talked about previously in numerous interviews with local media, but one good question focused on how Holtz plans to prevent a fourth consecutive second-half slide next season.

In each of the past three seasons, USF has started 5-0 before fading quickly in the season’s second half. Holtz said it’s a trend his staff plans to study.

My USF beat column in today’s edition of The Tampa Tribune led off with that topic; in case you missed it, click here to read what Holtz had to say about that issue and a few others.

—Also, a softball note that I haven’t mentioned. The Bulls’ trip to Arizona State last weekend didn’t go exactly as planned—several members of USF’s team were sick on Saturday, forcing a cancellation, and on Sunday, Mother Nature forced cancellation due to heavy rain.

However, Friday was a big hit because of a trip to Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Not only did the Bulls tour the stadium and get a behind-the-scenes look at a Major League ballpark, their tour guide was Luis Gonzalez.

The Tampa native and former Diamondback All-Star now works for the club and gave his hometown Bulls a special tour.

“Luis Gonzalez was a class act,” Bulls coach Ken Eriksen said. “The Diamondbacks organization made a great move in bringing him back to be part of their organization again. The time he spent with our team was a chance of a lifetime for someone to see what type of person it takes to be a champion. I am grateful and so is our team.”

The Bulls return to the field this weekend by hosting the Under-Armour Invitation. USF plays Wagner and UMass on Saturday, and Penn State and Quinnipiac on Sunday.