Skip Holtz and his Tweets - Puppies and Rainbows

[SANJAY]

Also, funny that sheriff is posting this. As I recall, he led the charge to get leavitt fired. In fact, going so far as to directly contact players and members of the media. Couldn't wait to get leavitt out of here because he was the only thing holding USF back, right? New coach, same spiel.

[Nebolsky]

Actually Barrington crushed a Nevada receiver in the final minute after we took the lead. He got flagged 15 even though he led with the shoulder not the head. I remember it manly because I could not remember the last time I saw one of our guys really hit somebody. The last time the defense opened up a whole can of whupass may have been the 2009 fsu game.

Man was that a hit.. I remeber that FSU player was laying face down for a few minutes.. who made that hit? Wasnt it Lejiste?

[SANJAY]

Lejiste started running at lake city and exploded into that guy on the field. Wasn't the only one. Craig Marshall had a couple big ones. Nate allen did too. Kion wilson was strong and those 4 stops a the goal line was epic. Fun times.

[CousinRicky]

You guys have no idea what Holtz may say in the locker room. It does no good to rip your players in the media. Tony Dungy, who some have said they would like as a head coach, would have the same public demeanor. A coaches public persona is no indication of what kind of coach he is. Also, Holtz has had one season and three games.

That's two seasons and three games.

The 8-5 season in 2010 where we beat Clemson in the Car Care bowl wasn't last season. The 5-7 2011 season actually happened. You weren't having a nightmare.

Sorry, you're right

That's why so many people are riled up. The team doesn't look any better than last year. Sure we can turn it around, but personally it looks like the same 5-7 team we had a year ago.

8-5

5-7

?-? another 5-7 or worse means next year should be a hot seat year (if we could afford it)

Think $$$$ from new Big East contract. We will be able to afford it.

New Big east Contract, don't spend the $750,000 on Vero next year and the return of actually putting fans in the stadium and returning to a bowl and getting some extra money for that. A buyout possible.

How long was Skip's original contract for? To be fair you probably want to see him get at least that far unless its a total collapse. The one thing he really needs to address though is making a change at OC. Too early to tell where we are going this year, but if we go 5-7 again (or worse), with an inexperienced QB, little experience at RB, losing key players on defense, I am not looking for much improvement next year.

I have a headache now....

Don't think Vero costs nearly that much. When compared to what is costs to feed the team on campus during training camp, the additional money was about $100K? Greg might have the numbers but it wasn't $750K.

[Mission9]

Also, funny that sheriff is posting this. As I recall, he led the charge to get leavitt fired. In fact, going so far as to directly contact players and members of the media. Couldn't wait to get leavitt out of here because he was the only thing holding USF back, right? New coach, same spiel.

You are right. I felt obligated to withhold any real criticism of Leavitt at the time because I knew it would be like pouring gasoline on a smoldering fire. Going to the media was a low moment, btw.

[The Sheriff]

Internet crashed during the editing of my last post...

Essentially to rebut Sanjay and Mission, I never went to the media to overthrow the Leavitt regime. Did I talk with Brett? Yes. I still do. Heck, before the Miller choke/slap/kiss on the cheek, I wanted us to replace Leavitt (read my old messages on how Leavitt peaked). It was pretty obvious after what went down that I wasn't a minority and the school found their perfect out to remove the "most powerful man in the building".

Edited September 18, 2012 by The_Sheriff

[SANJAY]

Yes you went to Brett in the middle of that shitstorm to discuss the weather. No to pass along whatever rumor you could. Right.

This coach won't be stupid enough to touch a play so you may as well sit back and watch him coach and cash checks because he's not going until he wants to go or Doug goes.

[Mission9]

Internet crashed during the editing of my last post...

Essentially to rebut Sanjay and Mission, I never went to the media to overthrow the Leavitt regime. Did I talk with Brett? Yes. I still do. Heck, before the Miller choke/slap/kiss on the cheek, I wanted us to replace Leavitt (read my old messages on how Leavitt peaked). It was pretty obvious after what went down that I wasn't a minority and the school found their perfect out to remove the "most powerful man in the building".

McMurphy was using you for the tool you are. I am not sure I understand why you could not see that he hates USF and was using you to get back at a man who did not kiss his butt. Greg Auman is a better representative of what fair and impartial reporting is about (I do not want a cheerleader for the program writing about it either). I do not doubt that Leavitt was a pain in the rear but it still troubles me that not only did the witnesses keep changing their stories, the usual suspects (like you) instantly declared him guilty as charged. I suspect the truth was somewhere in the middle where Leavitt was not innocent but that the incident was overblown.

I had my own problems with Leavitt (there were several games in 2009 which were embarrassing) but the opinion of you and others that he was the only thing holding back the program from greatness was laughable and I HAVE BEEN PROVEN RIGHT AGAIN! I was disappointed with Holtz from the start but refuse to call for his head at least until this season is over. He came in during a tough time and seemed to pull everyone together to move forward. The puppies and rainbows comment is dumb too. I guess you want Holtz to start screaming at the players like Leavitt?

Next time it is necessary to start the ball rolling in order to get USF to fire a coach, contacting former players and alumni to get them onboard is fine. Contacting media members with personal agendas is not.

Edited September 18, 2012 by Mission9

[TallyBull]

I'm frustrated too but not ready to give up on Holtz. I didn't anticipate a perfect season anyways and he could still turn things around this year. I'll evaluate his body of work in December/January, not September.

What I need to see to stay on his bandwagon is a team that is at least 4-3 in the Big East this year, 7-5 overall. Otherwise it will be very difficult to argue he has earned his paycheck or renewal (even though he will still get both for the foreseeable future).

I don't think frequent head coach changes are good for the program or the university. I would not have renewed him so soon, though. That was a mistake IMO.

[The Sheriff]

That's funny Mission9. I was the whistle blower from Arizona. Come on, really. I was like everyone else trying to learn the next bit of info by any means possible (when I wasn't running my ass off trying to run my business in Arizona). Only after the "lies" and "potential cover up" did I realize Jim was going to be let go. Did some things get disclosed to me that never made it to the message board? Yes... and it won't be the last time I keep my mouth shut about things. Have Brett and I talked about different things concerning USF over the years... yes. Has he always thrown USF under the bus when he knew those things or verified information with a second source... no. But no Mission9, I was not a source for any of the non-sense that got Jim dismissed. I'm afraid he did that to himself.

Mission9, I'm not sure if you realize this, but I knew Brett before I played at USF. I was a sports writer in the early 90's in northern VA and actually spoke to Brett in 1999 about potentially writing for the Trib after I got out of the Navy (before I walked on). I landed a partial journalism scholarship through USF though which helped ease some of the financial burden from being out of state and allowed me to focus on my studies full time (thanks Eve for getting me that schollie).

I'm not going to get in a pissing match about the differences between Brett and Greg. As much as I hate UF, Greg does a great job reporting about USF athletics. My hatred for UF obviously never gave Greg a fair slate... but I can admit it.

Was the incident overblown... sure. It was an out though for the university for regrettably overpaying an individual that reached his ceiling. It's still inexcusable to place your hands on an individual when you're in a position of power. Joel Miller was the epitome of a hard worker. He bled green and gold. He did not deserve to get caught up in that moment of stupidity by Coach Leavitt. Coach Leavitt never physically manhandled me, but the guy was Bobby Knight on the football field... and that's being nice.

I'm not sure why Skip got a raise and an extension this season (I'm still miffed at the rationale). Even during our 8-5 season (Skip's first year), we had eight games that were played within eight points and were decided in the closing minutes. Five went our way. Well... the script flipped last season. Based on the caliber of the competition, the light at the end of the tunnel is not looking any better.