Skip Holtz Strolls Through His First USF Practice

Two lush green fields awaited his arrival. Players started filtering in a half-hour before the scheduled practice.

There was something very different about the practice facility at the University of South Florida. Assistant coaches were smiling and greeting onlookers as they showed up. There were smiles everywhere. The gates that formerly served as the entrance to a world of paranoia now seemed inviting.

Then he strolled in.

He doesn't run, doesn't scream, doesn't dress to work out. He strolls, confidently.

He is Skip Holtz, head football coach at the University of South Florida, and it was 3:50 p.m. on Tuesday, almost time for his first practice.

Holtz smiled and smiled some more.

He has the command of a teacher, not a taskmaster. He got right into his teaching mode, as did his assistants.

No screaming, no cursing, unlike the former regime. This is a new era and new atmosphere, and it showed.

There is an air of confidence, not arrogance around Holtz.

"He's great, simply great, it's great to be here with him," said a surviving coach from the Jim Leavitt regime.

The air was crisp and cool this Tampa afternoon. Kinda like Holtz. He's Cool-Hand Skip, not Hot-Head Harry.

He put his players through agility drills, speed drills, running, and more running. They were the type of drills that make it easy to identify the real athletes.

At the far end of the field, an amazing specimen was working his own set of drills.

It was Jason Pierre-Paul, the one-season sensation who will be selected in the first round of the NFL draft next month. He left after one season at USF. No doubt Holtz wishes he'd stayed.

Regardless, Holtz had his team running as a unit. Coaches were coaching, not screaming.

Shirts and shorts were the uniform of the day. Nothing drastic on the first day of spring practice.

On Monday, Holtz struggled on a beast of a golf course, the Copperhead at Innisbrook Resort, where he played in a pro-am for this week's PGA Tour event.

There was no struggling for Holtz on Tuesday.

Afterwards, it was obvious that the atmosphere reflected his attitude.

"There was a lot of excitement out there, a lot of energy," he said. "Their attitudes are great. We gave them a lot with the new schemes but soon we'll throw the ball out there and start to develop the depth chart."

It was a good day for that first workout, shorts, shirts, a cool breeze, and the new guy, Cool Hand Skip.