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Skip Holtz

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Skip Holtz

Louis Leo (Skip) Holtz, Jr. (born March 12, 1964 in Willimantic, Connecticut) is the NCAA football head coach of the East Carolina Pirates football team. Holtz, a former American football player, was the head coach of the Connecticut Huskies football team between 1994 and 1998 and an assistant head coach for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks between 1998 and 2004.[2]

Holtz's father, Lou Holtz, is an acclaimed former head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and currently works as a commentator on the television channel ESPN.[3] Due to his father's career as a collegiate football coach, Skip Holtz was exposed to football from an early age. At the time of Skip's birth, Lou Holtz was a football assistant for the Connecticut Huskies.[2] Skip attended Fayetteville High School in Arkansas, and played on the school's football team as the team's quarterback. At the same time, his father was the head coach at the University of Arkansas.[4] After graduating from Fayetteville High School, Skip attended Holy Cross Junior College for two years.[4] He then transferred to Notre Dame, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business management. While at Notre Dame, he lettered in football as a special teams member and backup wide receiver.[5]

Early life

Skip Holtz grew up in many towns while his father coached football. After Skip was born in Connecticut, the Holtz family moved to Columbia, South Carolina for two years, as his father worked as an assistant coach at the University of South Carolina. In 1968, the family moved to Columbus, Ohio after Holtz took a job at The Ohio State University. One year later, the Holtz family moved to Williamsburg, Virginia and The College of William and Mary for Lou's first head coaching position. After two seasons, Lou Holtz took a head coaching position with the Wolfpack of North Carolina State University. The family lived in Raleigh, North Carolina for four years until Lou accepted a head coaching job for the National Football League's New York Jets. The family spent one year in New York while Lou coached the Jets. After resigning from the Jets, Lou took his family back to the American South when he accepted the head coaching job in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at the University of Arkansas in 1977. In Fayetteville, Skip attended Fayetteville High School and graduated in 1983.[6]

Playing experience

While at high school in Fayetteville, Skip played for the school's football team at the quarterback position, bringing moderate success to the program. Growing up, Skip's ambition was to attend the University of Notre Dame. As a high school junior, he visited Notre Dame and met with head football coach Gerry Faust and head basketball coach Digger Phelps. In his final year of high school, Skip was denied admission to Notre Dame due to average grades and his failure to learn a foreign language in high school. Coaches Faust and Phelps encouraged Skip to enroll at nearby Holy Cross College, located adjacent to the university in Notre Dame, Indiana. After two years of study at at Holy Cross, Skip had improved his grades and transfered to Notre Dame. After a year at Notre Dame, Slip decided he wanted to speak with Coach Faust about walking on to the football team during his senior year. The discussions were cut short, however, as after the 1985 season, Coach Faust resigned. Replacing Faust was Skip's father, Lou, who eagerly accepted his son as a walk-on. Skip began spring practice before the 1986 season as a quarterback, but quickly changed to flanker due to his lack of talent. As a flanker, he earned 54 yards on three receptions at the Blue-Gold intra-squad game in the spring of 1986. During the fall of 1986, Skip played in all 11 games on special teams. He never caught a pass, but rushed once for one yard.[7]

Coaching experience

Early positions

Due to Skip's lack of success on the field and his desire to remain associated with football, he began to investigate the possibility of becoming a coach. After Skip told Lou he wanted to start coaching, Lou put together a list of potential coaches who would give him the best training. The list included Tom Osborne, Joe Paterno, and Terry Donahue, but upon hearing of Skip's interest, Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said, "if you can be here in two days, I've got a job for you at Florida State."[8] Upon arriving at Florida State in 1987, Bowden asked Holtz to become his graduate assistant coach.[2] Skip accepted the offer immediately, and began work. Some time afterward, Skip met his future wife, Jennifer, in Coach Bowden's office.[9] After two years at Florida State, Holtz then took a job as wide receivers coach at Colorado State University under legendary coach Earle Bruce.[4] A year later, Skip joined his father, still the head coach at Notre Dame.[4]

Notre Dame

Skip Holtz played in 11 games at Notre Dame Stadium in 1986 and worked there as an assistant coach from 1990 to 1994.

Holtz's first job at his alma mater was to serve as wide receivers coach, and he filled the position for two years. In 1992, the team began a search for a new offensive coordinator. Head coach Lou Holtz's first choice, Joe Moore, declined. Lou than asked Skip for recommendations to fill the position. Skip initially said he wanted the position, but Lou said, "he couldn't do it at that time with me [Skip] being his son."[7] Skip then mentioned Mark Richt, who was then the offensive coordinator at Florida State. Lou Holtz called Coach Bowden to ask permission to speak to Mark Richt. Coach Bowden said Holtz could hire Richt as long as he could hire Skip. Coach Holtz said, "Well, if I'm just going to switch coaches, I might as well hire Skip."[7] Skip became Notre Dame's offensive coordinator in 1992. Between 1992 and 1994, Skip and his father recorded 40 wins, eight losses, and one tie, an 82.7% winning percentage. Together, they coached Notre Dame to the Cotton Bowl twice, beating Texas A&M both times. Skip had the third-best total offense in the NCAA during the 1991 football season.[7]

University of Connecticut

Following his success at Notre Dame, Skip Holtz was asked to become the head coach of the Connecticut Huskies. He accepted the offer and took his first head coaching job on December 23, 1993. He replaced Tom Jackson, who had gone 14–19 over the past three years and had decided to resign on November 17, 1993.[10][11] He agreed to a four-year contract at a salary of $95,000 a year. Even though Skip came from a "major football institution" (Notre Dame), University of Connecticut President Dr. Harry J. Hartley said that the hire "should not be seen as a signal that Connecticut intends to upgrade its program."[2] Despite Hartley's remarks, Holtz planned to help elevate the team from I-AA to I-A. Holtz commented on Hartley's remarks by saying "I'd love to have the opportunity to coach a Division I team here...."[12] In 1998, UConn, after 100 years of football and five years with Skip Holtz as its head coach, played in its first Division I-AA playoff game. The Huskies scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to beat Hampton University, 42–34.[13] In the next round of the playoffs, the Huskies lost to the eventual champion, Georgia Southern, on December 5. Two days later, Skip resigned as head coach of the Huskies in order to rejoin his father, who had taken the head coaching job at South Carolina the day before the Huskies' loss. As the leader of the Huskies football team, he accumulated a winning percentage of .596 (34–23) over five seasons.

University of South Carolina

Skip Holtz's father, Lou

On December 4, 1998, The University of South Carolina announced that Lou Holtz would serve as its next head football coach. Lou asked Skip if he would move down to Columbia to become his offensive coordinator—the same position Skip held during his final two years at Notre Dame. Skip accepted the offer, in part due to a desire to live closer to his parents and so his children could spend more time with their grandparents.[8] In 1996, Skip's mother, Beth, was diagnosed with throat cancer. Two years later, the cancer spread to her liver, lung, adrenal glands, and ovary. Meanwhile, Skip and Lou continued to coach football at South Carolina. As Lou began to struggle as head coach, the question of his eventual successor arose. When Skip was hired in 1998, Lou had included a clause in the hiring contract that Skip would succeed him after he retired. South Carolina Athletic Director rebutted by saying, "There are no formal or informal guarantees for him," and "It's always helpful to have potential succession in a staff."[14]

After going 5–7 over the previous two seasons and suffering season-ending blowout in 2003 by interstate rival Clemson, Skip was demoted from the offensive coordinator and assistant head coaching positions to quarterbacks coach. Four assistant coaches—including the team's defensive coordinator—were fired in the same shakeup that saw Skip demoted.[15] On November 22, 2004, one season after Skip's demotion, Lou Holtz announced he was retiring as head coach of South Carolina.[16] On the next day, South Carolina announced Steve Spurrier as the next head football coach.[17] Coach Spurrier announced that he was keeping only three members of Lou Holtz's staff. Letters were sent to all the other staffers—including Skip Holtz—informing them that they likely would not be retained.[18]

East Carolina University

With his firing imminent, Holtz resigned. As a moderately successful college coach, Holtz had several offers from Division I-A and Division I-AA teams. After several interviews, he elected to take the head coaching position at East Carolina University. East Carolina announced Skip Holtz as their 19th head football coach on December 3, 2004. Holtz assumed control of a program that won just three games in its past 25 contests.[19] Skip signed 23 athletes in his first recruiting class, including his first commit, Rob Kass. Also included in the recruiting class was future NFL player Aundrae Allison.[20] Skip's first victory at ECU came in the first game of the 2005 season as the Pirates defeated the Blue Devils 24–21 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The victory was ECU's first non-conference Division I win since 2000, when the Pirates won the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl against Texas Tech.[21] During Holtz's first season, the Pirates also defeated conference foes Rice, Southern Methodist University, Marshall University, and the University of Alabama Birmingham. Due to his success on the field, Coach Holtz was chosen to help lead the East team in the 2006 Hula Bowl at War Memorial Stadium in the town of Kahului, Hawai'i.[22]

In 2006, Holtz's second season as head coach, ECU won seven games, including victories over inter-state rival North Carolina State University, Conference USA East rival Southern Miss, and ACC foe Virginia. As a reward for their season, the Pirates earned their first bowl game under Holtz's tenure, playing the Bulls of the University of South Florida in the Papajohns.com Bowl, losing 24–7.[23] Despite the bowl loss, the 2006 season was ECU's first winning season since 2000, and the Papajohns.com Bowl was the Pirates' first bowl game since 2001.[24] In 2007, Holtz won eight games, including a close win against Boise State University in the Hawai'i Bowl.[25] This was the second year the team went to a bowl game and was the runner-up in the Conference USA East division.[26]

Personal life

Skip met wife Jennifer Fitzgerald while he was working at Florida State.[9] They have three children: Louis Leo "Trey" Holtz III, Chad Fitzgerald Holtz, and Hailey Elizabeth Holtz.[27] Skip has three siblings: Luanne Altenbaumer, Kevin, and Elizabeth Messaglia.[28] Outside of the football team, Holtz is deeply involved with an annual spring golf tournament named the Drew Steele-Skip Holtz Golf Classic. Drew Steele, the son of former East Carolina basketball coach Mike Steele, is a person with Down syndrome who Skip met at another Special Olympics Golf Tournament in Greenville.[29] The Drew Steele-Skip Holtz Golf Classic benefits the Special Populations of Pitt County.[30]

Bowl experience

Bowl year Bowl game Participants Result Rank
2007 Hawai'i Bowl East Carolina vs. Boise State W 41–38
2006 Papajohns.com Bowl East Carolina vs. South Florida L 27–7
2002 Outback Bowl South Carolina vs. Ohio State W 31–28 #13
2001 Outback Bowl South Carolina vs. Ohio State W 31–7 #19
1998 Playoffs Connecticut vs. Hampton
Connecticut vs.Georgia Southern 		W 42–34
L 52–30 		#7
1994 Cotton Bowl Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M W 24–21 #2
1993 Cotton Bowl Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M W 24–3 #4
1992 Sugar Bowl Notre Dame vs. Florida W 39–28 #13
1991 Orange Bowl Notre Dame vs. Colorado L 10–9 #6
1989 Sugar Bowl Florida State vs. Auburn W 13–7 #3
1988 Fiesta Bowl Florida State vs. Nebraska W 31–28 #2

Coaching record

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Rank#
Connecticut (Yankee Conference, Atlantic 10 Conference) (1994–1998)
1994 Connecticut 4–7 4–4
1995 Connecticut 8–3 5–3
1996 Connecticut 5–6 3–5
1997 Connecticut 7–4 4–4
1998 Connecticut 10–3 6–2 1st (New England Division)
Connecticut: 38–23 22–18
East Carolina (Conference USA) (2004–Present)
2005 East Carolina 5–6 4–4 4th (CUSA East)
2006 East Carolina 7–6 5–3 2nd (CUSA East) L 24–7 Papajohns.com Bowl
2007 East Carolina 8–5 6–2 2nd (CUSA East) W 41–38 Hawai'i Bowl
East Carolina: 20–17 15–9
Total: 58–40
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth
Preceded by Connecticut Huskies Football Head Coach
1994–1998 		Succeeded by
Preceded by East Carolina Pirates Head Coach
2004– 		Succeeded by
Current

Template:ECUPiratesFBCoach

References

  1. ^ "SALARIES & CONTRACTS". COACHES HOT SEAT. 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  2. ^ a b c d Wallace, William (1993-12-23). "COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Skip Holtz Is Hired by UConn". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  3. ^ "New Assignments and Returning Commentators Highlight ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU College Football Coverage" (Press release). ESPN. 2007-03-12. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  4. ^ a b c d "Skip Holtz Profile". Football. University of South Carolina. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  5. ^ Wallace, William (1994-08-23). "At UConn, Holtz Stands for More Than a Name". Football. The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  6. ^ "Lou Holtz". Coach Bio. BlueAndGold.com. 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  7. ^ a b c d Hansen, Eric (2005). Notre Dame: Where Have You Gone?. South Bend, IN: Sports Publishing LLC. pp. 81–85. ISBN 1582611513.
  8. ^ a b Zenner, Tom (2000-09-08). "Notre Dame legend Lou Holtz made his son a believer-at home". Life Lessons From Coach's Playbook. DadMag.com. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  9. ^ a b Hudson, Jane Welborn (2005-08-29). "The four F's: Food, fun, fellowship and football for the Holtz family". The Daily Reflector. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  10. ^ "Jackson Resigns as Connecticut's Coach". The New York Times. 1993-11-18. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  11. ^ "A Holtz for UConn?". The New York Times. 1993-12-23. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  12. ^ Cavanaugh, Jack (1998-11-08). "A Winning Team (And Not Basketball)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  13. ^ Cavanaugh, Jack (1998-11-29). "Sunshine on UConn's Shoulders in Playoffs". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  14. ^ "Skip Holtz To Join His Dad At S.C." CBS Sportsline. 1998-12-07. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  15. ^ Haney, Travis (2004-07-30). "Holtz tries to change 'culture'". Augusta Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  16. ^ "Lou Holtz Announces Retirement From Coaching" (Press release). Gamecocks Online. 2004-11-22. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  17. ^ "Steve Spurrier Announced as New Head Football Coach at South Carolina" (Press release). Gamecocks Online. 2004-11-23. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  18. ^ Iacobelli, Pete (2004-11-29). "Spurrier assembles staff; Taps son to coach wide receivers". The Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  19. ^ Myatt, Al (2004-12-03). "Holtz the chosen one to resurrect program". Bonesville.net. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  20. ^ "Thumbnail sketches of 23 players signed by ECU". Football Recruiting. Bonesville.net. 2005-02-04. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  21. ^ Myatt, Al (2005-09-04). "Therapy brought to you by Terry Holland". Bonesville.net. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  22. ^ "Hula Bowl: Central Florida's Marshall lead East to win". Associated Press. 2006-01-21. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  23. ^ O'Brien first = Denny (2006-12-24). "Bulls expose holes for ECU". The Slants of the Game. Bonesville.net. Retrieved 2008-03-09. {{cite news}}: Missing pipe in: |last= (help)
  24. ^ "2005". East Carolina Yearly Results. College Football Data Warehouse. 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  25. ^ "East Carolina Pirates 2007 Football Schedule & Links". Bonesville.net. 2008-02-27. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  26. ^ "Standings". History/Records. Conference USA. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  27. ^ "Skip Holtz Profile". Football. East Carolina Official Athletic Site. 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  28. ^ "Prognosis for Beth Holtz termed 'excellent'". News & Notes. American Football Monthly. 1999-11. Retrieved 2008-03-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ "Birth of the DSSH Golf Classic". About DSSH.
  30. ^ Summers, Nathan (2006-06-06). "First Drew Steele-Skip Holtz Golf Classic raises thousands". The Daily Reflector. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
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