Skip Holtz Will Provide What South Florida's Been Missing

Loved him in purple and gold.

Watched him take my East Carolina Pirates from doormats to darlings.

It's a sad day for Pirate Nation today but should be a joyous one for the University of South Florida.

Louis Leo Holtz Jr. will take the reigns of the USF football program at high noon when he's introduced in front of the Marshall Center. He will begin the healing process. He'll get rid of the contamination spread through the program by the misdeeds of Jim Leavitt.

You see, Louis Leo Holtz Jr., call him Skip, is an impressive upgrade from Leavitt.

His coaching pedigree is outstanding. His dad, Lou, a coaching legend, sent Skip to Bobby Bowden at Florida State for tutoring back in 1987. He met wife Jennifer there. It was a time when Bowden was forging a powerhouse. Bowden did it the right way and it was the ultimate compliment to have the elder Holtz send Skip there for some football lessons.

Skip returned to Notre Dame, the school he got his degree from. You see, Skip was kind of a "Rudy" when it came to Notre Dame. He played high school football in Arkansas when his dad coached the Razorbacks. He wanted to go to Notre Dame but his grades were average and he never learned a foreign language. That's a no-no if you want in at Notre Dame.

Skip went to Rudy Reuttiger's first alma mater, Holy Cross Junior College there in South Bend. You remember it from the movie.

Skip, like Rudy, got his grades up and transferred to Notre Dame. His playing career as a wide receiver was, well, not much to talk about. He never caught a pass. Had one carry of the football for one yard but lettered with enough playing time on special teams.

Skip knew he wasn't a player, so he figured he'd follow dad and coach.

And coach he has.

He was offensive coordinator at Notre Dame from 1992-1994. The Irish went 40-8-1. My how they long for those days. His resume only got better and you can bet Pirate Nation was excited when he showed up in Greenville, N.C. after the miserable 2004 season.

He put the pride back in the purple, big time. He recruited in the shadow of the ACC—Carolina, N.C. State, and the rest. He recruited in the shadow of the SEC—South Carolina and those guys. He succeeded at a regional school that was perhaps the last team to run the single-wing offense, back in 1968 and 1969.

Skip will do well at the University of South Florida.

He'll look great in green and gold. He'll bring a genuine personality. He'll change the culture of fear and paranoia that became Jim Leavitt's trademark and downfall.

The players will love him; the fans will love him.

We at East Carolina have loved what he has done for our school and its football program. Make no mistake; Skip Holtz will recruit his rear end off. He'll find talent. He'll find a guy like our Chris Johnson who tore up the NFL this year for the Titans en route to becoming the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year. He'll find that kind of guy, somewhere here in Florida.

Skip Holtz will make USF a real Big East power. He doesn't shy away from the big boys. ECU took on teams like Virginia Tech and West Virginia as non-conference opponents.

Skip Holtz will not want to play the Western Kentuckys and Charleston Southerns and Woffords.

Yes, he is East Carolina's loss and USF's gain.

And it's a great gain for the University of South Florida.