This is why I still believe in Skip

[gibbsak]

I said in another thread,I think I'd give him a chance if he cleaned house within his staff - at least oust the coordinators

This is what I said in Leavitt's final 2 seasons.

first thing Skip did was sh!tcan the old staff and bring in his own guys-- save a few here and there. Was that totally necessary? I can see pruning but to remove some key figures from that staff seemed negligent.

huge mistake. we don't recruit our own backyard anymore. he finally has some hillsborough kids on this years list but they are from Jesuit and Robinson. not that there is anything wrong with that but I would prefer Plant and Armwood. lakeland. bradenton manatee etc.

It wasn't save a few here and there If i remember correctly. The only "major" position I remember that he retained had something to do with recruiting.

[Quo Vadis]

his first season wasn't bad. 8-5 with a bowl win over Clemson. cool.

he's really only outright SUCKED for the past 1.5 years.

Agreed. Year one was a solid start. Problem is, he was hired and has been paid handsomely to take us to a higher level than what he inherited from Leavitt, and instead the program has clearly headed south. And I see scant evidence to suggest Holtz can turn things around.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Esteban879194

[DELdaBull]

He doesn't only have redshirt freshmen and freshmen that he has recruited

He has sophomores and redshirt sophomores and juniors. The juniors and rssophs he had to convince to stay, but that is recruiting too.

[hm101]

I never indicated I was ok with the regression. I also conceded that there were some tactical errors made (Cosh?).

What I did say was that I still have some faith in what he is trying to build. I am still in. Yes, this blows, but I am willing to accept some temporary pain and forgive some tactical errors if it means we have a clean program that is being built the right way for long-term success.

[Ghost]

I never indicated I was ok with the regression. I also conceded that there were some tactical errors made (Cosh?).

What I did say was that I still have some faith in what he is trying to build. I am still in. Yes, this blows, but I am willing to accept some temporary pain and forgive some tactical errors if it means we have a clean program that is being built the right way for long-term success.

I agree. I just hate the timing of it(conference realignment). I know a couple of bad seasons arent going necessarily hurt our chances of getting an invite anywhere(Pitt and Cuse), but we certainly arent helping our case. I hope BB goes dancing again this year. That would ease the pain.

[usfgrad84]

So, Skip, just how good are you as a coach?

Holtz pauses, choosing his words carefully.

"If you judge by wins and losses, then I'm not very **** good," he said. "I'm not going to sit and try to argue these numbers. I'm not going to try to sell them and make them look pretty. You can dress up a pig but it's still a pig.

"If you judge by the health of the program, the academics, the character of the kids … give me time and I think I can give you a lot better answer. The guys we brought in are freshmen and redshirt freshmen. I'd at least like to be here long enough to see them shave."

So, Skip, are you the guy to make this program essential?

"I believe I am," he said. "We've won everywhere we've been, and we've built it the right way."

The ****** play sucks, but I believe Skip is 100% correct. We are 2.5 years into the second-coach-ever's era of a 15-year-old football program. I don't think a rah-rah coach who can pull off an upset or two is ideal. I want a coach who wants to patiently construct a well-rounded program for long-term success.

I think he hears our voice. I'm giving him a chance to right the ship. He has made a few tactical errors, sure, but I'm still in.

http://www.tampabay....ootball/1255678

just so we are clear-- the ship was fine when he got here. The then 12 year old program he inherited wasn't a teardown or a rebuild-- it was a solid program in place.

so any "righting of the ship" is to fix damage he has made himself or if not him, damage from a lack of maintaining/improving what was in place.

Seriously? There were two warring factions in the locker room. Our graduation rate was one of the lowest in the country, just barely above the level to avoid sanctions. There was one scholarship QB on the roster.

The program was in chaos. Leavitt thrived on chaos and somehow managed to win games here an there. But to call it a solid program is laughable IMO.

I have my doubts whether Holtz is the right guy. But he is clearly recruiting a different type of athlete than the previous regime. Graduation rates are up, the locker room is not tearing itself apart. Players wives aren't leaking alleged cheating scandals to the local paper.

I think there are changes that Holtz should be making right now that would translate to more wins on the field in the short term. Long term the program is a lot more solid, whether it is Holtz or another coach that will turn the corner on the field.

I don't know about some of the stuff you cited.The guys that have been graduating are "Leavitt's recruits" if you will. We don't know how the kids that Holtz has brought in will graduate. We think they will be great, but how do we know yet?

People forget the graduation rates and APR was affected quite drasticaly by the churn of players we had as we came up the ladder in football recruiting. Each year the new recruits were better than the last group.

Better character of kids? Again, we hope so. Still yet to be seen. Leavitt had his share of problem kids, but also had a lot of very good kids.To get where he brought us he did bring in some kids of questionable character, but aren't we already seeing some of that with a couple of Skip's kids? (Dunkley, Boyd, Barrington was arrested under Skip's watch).

I don't know what is going on in the locker room here and I don't recall hearing anything about coaches wives, etc so I'll take your word for it.

I would challenge you on what you say about leaving the cupboard bare. Landi was still working out at QB when Leavitt left. More than likely the kid that is playing WR at Nebraska ends up here as a QB. If Leavitt had stayed you would not have had the mess at WR because Mitchell would have been back. I also think TRex stays on defense and you don't have the mess in the secondary you will for next year.

All I am saying about recruiting is that it is the same condition as 3 years ago only at different positions. I also don't think this staff has so many solid relationships around Tampa Bay area high schools or in the state for that matter.

I don't see where the program is more sound than it was before and with a losing record.

Edited October 10, 2012 by usfgrad84

[Greg Auman]

Holtz kept McGeoghan, Scott and Patrick as full-time assistants, plus several full-time staff members (Carl Franks, Rich Rachel, Larry Antonucci, Jamie DeGerome). Honestly more than many coaches would coming into a new situation.

[TrujilloBull2013]

So, Skip, just how good are you as a coach?

Holtz pauses, choosing his words carefully.

"If you judge by wins and losses, then I'm not very **** good," he said. "I'm not going to sit and try to argue these numbers. I'm not going to try to sell them and make them look pretty. You can dress up a pig but it's still a pig.

"If you judge by the health of the program, the academics, the character of the kids … give me time and I think I can give you a lot better answer. The guys we brought in are freshmen and redshirt freshmen. I'd at least like to be here long enough to see them shave."

So, Skip, are you the guy to make this program essential?

"I believe I am," he said. "We've won everywhere we've been, and we've built it the right way."

The ****** play sucks, but I believe Skip is 100% correct. We are 2.5 years into the second-coach-ever's era of a 15-year-old football program. I don't think a rah-rah coach who can pull off an upset or two is ideal. I want a coach who wants to patiently construct a well-rounded program for long-term success.

I think he hears our voice. I'm giving him a chance to right the ship. He has made a few tactical errors, sure, but I'm still in.

http://www.tampabay....ootball/1255678

just so we are clear-- the ship was fine when he got here. The then 12 year old program he inherited wasn't a teardown or a rebuild-- it was a solid program in place.

so any "righting of the ship" is to fix damage he has made himself or if not him, damage from a lack of maintaining/improving what was in place.

Seriously? There were two warring factions in the locker room. Our graduation rate was one of the lowest in the country, just barely above the level to avoid sanctions. There was one scholarship QB on the roster.

The program was in chaos. Leavitt thrived on chaos and somehow managed to win games here an there. But to call it a solid program is laughable IMO.

I have my doubts whether Holtz is the right guy. But he is clearly recruiting a different type of athlete than the previous regime. Graduation rates are up, the locker room is not tearing itself apart. Players wives aren't leaking alleged cheating scandals to the local paper.

I think there are changes that Holtz should be making right now that would translate to more wins on the field in the short term. Long term the program is a lot more solid, whether it is Holtz or another coach that will turn the corner on the field.

I don't know about some of the stuff you cited.The guys that have been graduating are "Leavitt's recruits" if you will. We don't know how the kids that Holtz has brought in will graduate. We think they will be great, but how do we know yet?

People forget the graduation rates and APR was affected quite drasticaly by the churn of players we had as we came up the ladder in football recruiting. Each year the new recruits were better than the last group.

Better character of kids? Again, we hope so. Still yet to be seen. Leavitt had his share of problem kids, but also had a lot of very good kids.To get where he brought us he did bring in some kids of questionable character, but aren't we already seeing some of that with a couple of Skip's kids? (Dunkley, Boyd, Barrington was arrested under Skip's watch).

I don't know what is going on in the locker room here and I don't recall hearing anything about coaches wives, etc so I'll take your word for it.

I would challenge you on what you say about leaving the cupboard bare. Landi was still working out at QB when Leavitt left. More than likely the kid that is playing WR at Nebraska ends up here as a QB. If Leavitt had stayed you would not have had the mess at WR because Mitchell would have been back. I also think TRex stays on defense and you don't have the mess in the secondary you will for next year.

All I am saying about recruiting is that it is the same condition as 3 years ago only at different positions. I also don't think this staff has so many solid relationships around Tampa Bay area high schools or in the state for that matter.

I don't see where the program is more sound than it was before and with a losing record.

i dont recall C.Mitchell ever saying he would have stayed for Leavitt. i've seen him defend Skip on facebook and tweets.

T.Rex staying on defense wouldn't be a game changer.

nobody said anything about coach's wives. Data referenced a PLAYER'S wife who publicly aired accusations that she wrote essay assignments for her husband (a big player for us at the time).

[SANJAY]

However you want to characterize the program when skip took over you cannot argue 8-5, 5-7, 2-4 ....

If you believe there is a lack of talent that means that skip's most talented team was when he took over and that as the former leavitt recruits have stayed in the program they have not progressed and the kids he recruited are not yet ready to contribute. This calls for giving Skip 2 more years until his recruits are juniors and seniors.

I don't believe it's a talent issue (not when we lose to ball state, temple and in a dogfight against Nevada). Watch the team, forget who recruited them. This team can't block, can't tackle, can't field a kick if touches the ground, can't return a kick, drops the ball on punts and is undisciplined. We always need more talent but that is not a good football team out there.

[usfgrad84]

So, Skip, just how good are you as a coach?

Holtz pauses, choosing his words carefully.

"If you judge by wins and losses, then I'm not very **** good," he said. "I'm not going to sit and try to argue these numbers. I'm not going to try to sell them and make them look pretty. You can dress up a pig but it's still a pig.

"If you judge by the health of the program, the academics, the character of the kids … give me time and I think I can give you a lot better answer. The guys we brought in are freshmen and redshirt freshmen. I'd at least like to be here long enough to see them shave."

So, Skip, are you the guy to make this program essential?

"I believe I am," he said. "We've won everywhere we've been, and we've built it the right way."

The ****** play sucks, but I believe Skip is 100% correct. We are 2.5 years into the second-coach-ever's era of a 15-year-old football program. I don't think a rah-rah coach who can pull off an upset or two is ideal. I want a coach who wants to patiently construct a well-rounded program for long-term success.

I think he hears our voice. I'm giving him a chance to right the ship. He has made a few tactical errors, sure, but I'm still in.

http://www.tampabay....ootball/1255678

just so we are clear-- the ship was fine when he got here. The then 12 year old program he inherited wasn't a teardown or a rebuild-- it was a solid program in place.

so any "righting of the ship" is to fix damage he has made himself or if not him, damage from a lack of maintaining/improving what was in place.

Seriously? There were two warring factions in the locker room. Our graduation rate was one of the lowest in the country, just barely above the level to avoid sanctions. There was one scholarship QB on the roster.

The program was in chaos. Leavitt thrived on chaos and somehow managed to win games here an there. But to call it a solid program is laughable IMO.

I have my doubts whether Holtz is the right guy. But he is clearly recruiting a different type of athlete than the previous regime. Graduation rates are up, the locker room is not tearing itself apart. Players wives aren't leaking alleged cheating scandals to the local paper.

I think there are changes that Holtz should be making right now that would translate to more wins on the field in the short term. Long term the program is a lot more solid, whether it is Holtz or another coach that will turn the corner on the field.

I don't know about some of the stuff you cited.The guys that have been graduating are "Leavitt's recruits" if you will. We don't know how the kids that Holtz has brought in will graduate. We think they will be great, but how do we know yet?

People forget the graduation rates and APR was affected quite drasticaly by the churn of players we had as we came up the ladder in football recruiting. Each year the new recruits were better than the last group.

Better character of kids? Again, we hope so. Still yet to be seen. Leavitt had his share of problem kids, but also had a lot of very good kids.To get where he brought us he did bring in some kids of questionable character, but aren't we already seeing some of that with a couple of Skip's kids? (Dunkley, Boyd, Barrington was arrested under Skip's watch).

I don't know what is going on in the locker room here and I don't recall hearing anything about coaches wives, etc so I'll take your word for it.

I would challenge you on what you say about leaving the cupboard bare. Landi was still working out at QB when Leavitt left. More than likely the kid that is playing WR at Nebraska ends up here as a QB. If Leavitt had stayed you would not have had the mess at WR because Mitchell would have been back. I also think TRex stays on defense and you don't have the mess in the secondary you will for next year.

All I am saying about recruiting is that it is the same condition as 3 years ago only at different positions. I also don't think this staff has so many solid relationships around Tampa Bay area high schools or in the state for that matter.

I don't see where the program is more sound than it was before and with a losing record.

i dont recall C.Mitchell ever saying he would have stayed for Leavitt. i've seen him defend Skip on facebook and tweets.

T.Rex staying on defense wouldn't be a game changer.

nobody said anything about coach's wives. Data referenced a PLAYER'S wife who publicly aired accusations that she wrote essay assignments for her husband (a big player for us at the time).

I believe Mitchell would have stayed. Mitchell (TRex) was highly recruited as a DB and would have put us in better position in the defensive backfield than having walkons.

Funny how when Moffitt was here he was everyone's all American boy. The stuff with his wife didn't break until about a week before the draft and his career here was done. Just goes to show you never know what is going on in any locker room. I doubt that Leavitt knew that was going on. i am certainly not defending it. Just saying it didn't come to light until after the player was out of the program and I don't recall whatever became of it other than just accusations. Were there any investigations and anything proven to require sanctions against the program? Did it become just a case of a woman scorned> I don't remember.