My thoughts on Coach Holtz

[CousinRicky]

disagree. syracuse isnt the same team it was in years prior. even if it was, the loss is disappointing, but its poor judgement to say holtz has it wrong at this point. let him work.

I agree. 

Were the majority on this Board really expecting a great year even if CJL was still here?  We all knew that we lost major talent on defense.  The fact that the defense seems to be pretty good could be a testament to the new coaching staff.  But we'll never know.  I don't see the offense being any better under CJL.  BJ would still be the QB and that is the same BJ that people trashed on this Board last year.

UF is sitting at 2 losses after, what, 5 games?  Who'd expect that, even if they lost to quality opponents.  And if you did expect it, it was because they lost a lot of talent to the NFL. 

Things change yearly in college football.  The recruits that came to USF this year were, for the most part, CJL recruits.  Maybe a few would have been different, but there were no first year impact players lost (IMO). 

To put this on FCSH is premature.  He may turn out not to be the right hire, but to judge him on the first 5 games when he pretty much doesn't have even his first recruiting class here is just too early.

[wert_the_gwert]

disagree. syracuse isnt the same team it was in years prior. even if it was, the loss is disappointing, but its poor judgement to say holtz has it wrong at this point. let him work.

Maine put up 14 on them in the first half on the road.  If this was our first game of the season I could see everyone making excuses but it's not the case.  We have only played two teams in AQ conferences and we've mustered a collective 23 points.  And offensively speaking, it's only 17.  We have 7 more games and it is hard to make a case of winning even one of them.  Say what you want about our mid-season tank jobs with Leavitt, but beating great teams early is what made us so disappointed in the end. 

I hope he turns it around but I have to feel like I anointed him something he wasn't before this season started.

[bulls96go]

sorry

holtz should be given 2 years before you criticize him and 3 years to turn usf into a winner

why?

the talent is there (we won big games every year, but were not consistant or desiplined esp. in conference play)

so coach Holtz's job is to make us more disciplined and consistant (the theory is consistancy = more conf wins and a BE title perhaps)

so far the season has played out as expected, except with the loss to 'Cuse. BJ taking a big step is also unexpected.

so far mixed bag, little things are going better -  big things (wins) not so well -  should translate into big things (BE champs later, 2-3 years)

there is always hope. ;D

[usfgrad84]

As hard as I am right now on what I think is a dangerous situation for the program, you can't judge this coaching staff on 5 games. They have to have time to figure out what they have and how to incorporate BJ. Into an offense that will work. A lot of people thought that Holtz was a magician. He may be a good coach, but not a magician.

My concern is not so much with the long term. Ability of the coaching staff, but more concerned with the precarious situation the program is in right now.

I feel we are in a unique situation because of our rapid ascent in the football world.and the relative successes along the way we have had.

[cmhatter]

sorry

holtz should be given 2 years before you criticize him and 3 years to turn usf into a winner

You might want to define that.  It obviously isn't possible since USF hasn't had a losing season since 2004.

Really.  Sometimes I wonder.

I think he's assuming we're 5-7 this year.

I doubt it, but then even so he'd have to turn USF into a loser first.  I guess many are prepared for just that.  It would have been interesting to see had Urban Meyer been replaced if UF fans would accept so easily becoming a loser first than getting back to winning.

This isn't rebuilding, it's actually a situation where normally a staff member would have taken over.  Don't get me wrong.  You can find the post here where I suggest Skip as the replacement.  However, I suggested him with the assumption he could take the program and continue to build.  If the administration recruited Holtz's "system" and not Holtz, they made a big mistake in their HC recruiting and I was wrong.  they didn't need a guy that needed four years of recruiting, they needed a guy that could win with what the previous coach could win with and make it better.

I have no idea what Doug and Judy wanted other than a fresh start and a whole new era (maybe control, some hugs and no HC emotion win or lose), but I stand with the crowd that expects not to start dropping games like Cuse as a step to getting better in 3-5 years.  That to me is **** nutty.

I expect Skip to stabilize and take us to great heights and not so far down the road.  We're not on probation, we're not cellar-dwellers, we have quality wins and consecutive winning seasons and bowl games.  All the positives everyone has said about the talent here (and how it was Leavitt who couldn't win (enough) here with all the talent) should be a hot commodity for a new coach.  Expectations shouldn't be in the toilet.  But like some other I'll have to ride it out and see.

I agree with this post about 90%

where i'd disagree is the expectations part... you are certainly right when you say expectations shouldn't be down the toilet, there is no excuse for losing to cuse. I believe expectations should have been lowered and its not because of the coaches change. I stated prior to the season this is a 7-5 team with Holtz and a 7-5 team with Leavitt.

The reasons I chose for my 7-5 expectations (where in passed years i though we could win 8-9 games):

1. Most difficult schedule we've probably faced. UF/UM on the road and our most difficult conference games on the road as well

2. Enormous loss of talent to the NFL unlike our program has ever experienced

3. Depth at key positions was 'lacking'

4. Improvement of UL and Cuse (I believe Strong and Marrone will return those programs to prominence)

On top of this you can throw in the usuals

Holtz is a new coach

We have a new system

BJ has another OC

Traumatic ending to CJLs stay at USF

and the rest of the stuff we always point out...

Fact is that the started are not aligned this year.

If we don't see a great deal of improvement next season I will be incredibly disappointed. I can already tell you that my expectations will be considerably higher next season for Skip and Co.

[Mission9]

sorry

holtz should be given 2 years before you criticize him and 3 years to turn usf into a winner

  Man, you pounded the drum of negativity on  here for years (and some of us who did not always agree with you still defended you when you were in the doghouse here). I think some of us who rarely have anything negative to state should be allowed to do so now.

I will agree that the  good coaches usually will have things going well by year 3.

[callmesuperman]

Ultimately I will grade Coach Holtz on where the USF program is 5 years from now. Are we still in a BCS conference, have we won the Big East, gone to BCS games, consistently be ranked and go to Bowl games , win big games, average attendance figures, where we are in relation to the Big three (Miami,FL,FSU)  and the small three (UCF,FIU,FAU) in Florida, can we survive realignment of the conferences if that happens,... Have we become a respected team and brand name in College football. So I will grade Coach Holtz on whether he can bring us to a greater place then we were with Coach Leavitt.

That said two years ago we had a top 30 recruiting class and the year before and after that we had some good recruiting classes as well. Although we were disappointed with how the last three seasons turned out, we still had some success going to five straight bowl games, beating numerous ranked teams including FSU, Auburn, WVU, Kansas,.. and consistently being ranked until the second part of the season.

The reason Coach Holtz was brought in was to bring us to that next level; to take a good team and make it a great team. The talent is here. We cannot afford to have a few bad years since it could signify a change in momentum. (A) bad season(s) could mean bad recruiting classes and empty stadiums with Bucs logos in the middle of the field, and perhaps even being left behind were the BE to disintegrate.

Holtz has the talent in place to turn this season around. So I am expecting and am hoping for results soon.

[smazza]

sorry

holtz should be given 2 years before you criticize him and 3 years to turn usf into a winner

  Man, you pounded the drum of negativity on  here for years (and some of us who did not always agree with you still defended you when you were in the doghouse here). I think some of us who rarely have anything negative to state should be allowed to do so now.

I will agree that the  good coaches usually will have things going well by year 3.

i saidwhat needed to be saidand as it turnedout i was spot on

it isn fair to judg holtz yet