When rumors came out this weekend that linked Skip Holtz with the open North Carolina coaching job, there was a good deal of consternation among USF Bulls fans. Holtz has only been the head coach at USF for two seasons, and by many, he's viewed as the one light of hope in an athletic program full of disappointment. Skip leaving would by the cherry on top of USF football's disaster of a 2011 season.
But how likely is it that Holtz actually leaves? He is only a couple years into his tenure at USF, so what could his motivation be for making a switch? That's exactly the question Jamie DeVriend attempted to answer this weekend over at Voodoo Five, and he found four possible reasons Skip Holtz might leave.
Follow the link to see DeVriend's full explanation, but I'd like to highlight one of the most interesting possibilities: Holtz is fed up with the status quo at USF.
From Jamie's piece:
We've documented here that working for Doug Woolard and Bill McGillis has been difficult for many people. [...] Skip could argue that corners have been cut, his product is marketed terribly, and maybe other things we wouldn't know about. He might be as miserable as many other people are in that building.
Holtz could have a lot of leverage here. If he has options and someone is willing to give him a potentially better job, why would he stay if the status quo is maintained here? But if he does want to stay, couldn't this also be a great opportunity to force some changes he might appreciate? Is this all a power play to force Doug and/or Bill to leave in order to keep him? That's obviously speculation here, but it is possible. And if so, that's a no-win situation for the USF administration. If Holtz leaves, some higher-ups very well might be gone too for driving him away. It would be the biggest in their series of blunders over the last few years, and it would make it impossible to ignore the gigantic clusterfuck USF Athletics can be considered right now.
There's no way to know exactly what's going through Holtz's mind, and it could be these rumors are far off base. If they are accurate, though, I hope this scenario is at least somewhat true. USF athletics needs a change, and it may be this is the kick in the pants they need to see some dramatic improvements.