Skip Holtz to lead Bulls forward

Skip Holtz woke up Thursday morning uncertain what his decision would be.

Would he stay at East Carolina, where he built consecutive Conference USA champs the past two seasons, or would he accept an offer to become the second head football coach in University of South Florida history?

The answer: At noon today, we will get to see how Holtz looks in green and gold when he is introduced at a news conference on USF's campus.

"It was a 50/50 situation," Holtz told reporters Thursday afternoon shortly after telling his East Carolina players that he was taking the South Florida job. "I was not looking to leave. There are probably about 110 other jobs in the country that I would not have considered.

"This is not a money decision. This is not a career decision. This is something I feel I need to do for me, my family and my children."

Holtz said he finally accepted USF's offer around 2:30 p.m. Thursday amid numerous online reports the deal was pending. He then spoke to his East Carolina players and boarded a flight for Tampa.

Holtz arrived in town Thursday night and is eager about the opportunity ahead as the replacement for Jim Leavitt, the only coach in the program's 14-year history until he was fired Jan. 8.

Holtz signed a five-year, $9.1 million contract that includes an annual salary of $1.7 million the first two seasons and a $100,000 increase per season in each of the final three years. The contract includes a $1 million buyout clause the first two seasons, a $500,000 buyout in the third and fourth years, and a $300,000 buyout in 2014, the final season of the contract.

"This is a really special opportunity, and I am incredibly excited about joining the USF team," Holtz said in a prepared statement. "I believe there are great things on the horizon for this program. It's obvious to everyone that Coach Leavitt has built a successful program from the very beginning. There is a solid foundation in place that we will build upon."

Holtz is no stranger to West Central Florida. His wife, Jennifer, is from Port Charlotte and her parents still live there. Holtz's mother and father, former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, live in Orlando, and the elder Holtz is a national football commentator for ESPN.

When USF officials first contacted Holtz to gauge his interest in the job Sunday, he immediately considered the stability that taking the USF job would provide his wife and three children - Chad, Trey and Hailey.

"I've had some other opportunities to go BCS (conference school), and I didn't accept," he said. "The family was the thing that put it over the top for me."

Holtz's hiring capped a busy six days for South Florida athletic director Doug Woolard, who started contacting potential candidates Saturday as part of a three-man search committee that also included executive associate athletic director Bill McGillis and former athletic director Lee Roy Selmon.

USF hired Neinas Sports Services to assist in the search, which ended with the 45-year-old Holtz returning to the state where he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant on Bobby Bowden's staff at Florida State in 1987. He also met his wife during his time in Tallahassee.

USF also interviewed Michigan offensive coordinator Calvin Magee and Bucs pro personnel director Doug Williams this week in Orlando.

Others mentioned as potential candidates included former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer, Bucs special teams coach Rich Bisaccia, Middle Tennessee State's Rick Stockstill and former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden. Miami offensive coordinator Mark Whipple's name surfaced late Wednesday, although it was not clear if USF officials contacted him about the job.

Woolard said once the search got under way, Holtz quickly surfaced as a top candidate.

"Trust me, there was a tremendous amount of interest in this opportunity," Woolard said in a statement Thursday night. "As I spoke to other athletic directors, coaches and conference office personnel, one name continued to surface - Skip Holtz. We are very fortunate to be able to announce Skip as our head football coach."

One of Holtz's first tasks is to fill out his coaching staff. USF's current assistants will have a chance to interview with Holtz to keep their jobs. Holtz also plans to ask some of his assistants from East Carolina to join him in Tampa. As part of his contract, Holtz received a $1.55 million pool to pay his assistants next season.

"At this point, I don't know a lot of those questions," Holtz said about the staff's makeup. "There are some (coaches from East Carolina) I would like to take."

Holtz's departure made it a difficult day on the East Carolina campus, where the well-liked head coach was 38-27 in five seasons.

"My heart is in a place that no sports writer or anyone can feel right now," Pirates running back Norman Whitley tweeted shortly after the team meeting where Holtz told the Pirates he was leaving. "We are going to grow from this."

In Tampa, the reaction was much more joyous.

Prominent USF booster Mike Charles sees Holtz as a perfect fit to take over a program that has been plagued by off-the-field headlines the past month.

"I think he is the right pick," Charles said. "Of all the guys out there, he was the one I thought could rise to the top and move the program forward.

"He is going to be very personable with the community, and most importantly, under the current circumstances, be able to unite the players and bring them together. We need to move forward."