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Temple 37, USF 28: Holtz And Woolard Sitting In A Tree, F-A-I-L-I-N-G

You can't ignore what a train wreck USF football has become. But if we're going to grab the torches and pitchforks, let's at least make sure we carry them to the right person's front door.

By chuckycrater
From Bill McGillis's Twitter feed (a), when he wasn't publicly throwing staff members under the bus for showing someone else's game on TV after USF was done (b).

You all have eyes. This is a horribly-coached team no matter how you slice it. If you want to talk about bad in-game process, there's plenty of that. If you want to talk about the players being seemingly uninspired and passive, that's coaching too. (I feel the worst for the players - they deserve so much better.) If you want to talk about the stream of excuses and woe-is-us talk instead of fixing the team's many problems, then you can pin that on the staff. If you want to talk about the single worst coaching hire I can ever remember USF making (Chris Cosh), one that alert fans knew was a bad hire as soon as it was made, that's also on the head coach. At this point, there's ample reason to get rid of Skip Holtz. If you coach the far more talented team and you still give up 37 points to Temple, you're lucky to have a seat on the flight home, let alone a job when you get back.

This program is sliding all the way past mediocrity and into total disarray. Remember how USF was ranked in the top 20 just one year and one week ago? When is that going to happen again? What if the Bulls hadn't pulled that game out of their ass in Reno? (And remember, Skip punted with seven minutes to go, with the ball at midfield and trailing by 11. He pretty much conceded that game and got away with it.) Would a 1-5 USF team, with no wins over FBS competition, be considered one of the worst teams in the country? Would they surpass Houston as the biggest disappointment in FBS?

The problem with everyone begging Doug Woolard to do something about this is that Doug Woolard isn't going to do something about this. Let me repeat this as clearly and loudly as possible so that you understand the real problem here:

DOUG WOOLARD GAVE SKIP HOLTZ A FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION THIS PAST SUMMER. SKIP HAPPILY SIGNED THAT PIECE OF PAPER, BECAUSE WHY THE HELL WOULDN'T HE. HOLTZ IS SIGNED THROUGH 2017 AT $2 MILLION-PLUS A YEAR. USF DOES NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO FIRE HIM AND WON'T FOR AT LEAST A COUPLE OF YEARS.

PLUS, EVEN IF THE MONEY WAS THERE, DOUG WOULD HAVE TO ADMIT HE FAILED, WHICH HE WON'T DO. ALSO HE GOT HIMSELF A CONTRACT EXTENSION AT THE SAME TIME AND THEN DECIDED TO TRY AND KEEP IT A SECRET.

It's program malpractice. Woolard pulled an Orsini with the football team. You know how Steve Orsini lost his mind in Orlando and gave George O'Leary a ludicrous 10-year extension before he had accomplished anything, and then that contract stunted UCF's growth for like half a decade because they couldn't afford to fire him when they should have? Like when they started losing, or when O'Leary sorta kinda killed a kid? There's probably a countdown clock on Todd Stansbury's desk that says when he can fire O'Leary without crippling the athletic department.

So in his infinite wisdom, Doug Woolard watched that happen, saw the potential consequences of tying up a lot of money in someone who hadn't actually produced any results, and DID IT ANYWAY. Is he going to hide behind his "we don't evaluate until the end of the season" mantra, letting Skip twist in the wind for two months and making him take all the heat in the media and in front of the fans? (I'm sure Holtz's radio show on Tuesday night is going to be a debacle of epic proportions.) Does Woolard get to sit in his office and count his half-million dollars a year, knowing no one will ask him what in God's name he was thinking giving Skip that contract extension when he could have waited one more year, seen the results, and then made the informed, prudent decision that he had usually made up to now?

I obviously don't have any faith left in him as a coach, but Skip Holtz is still a good person, and he runs a program that knows how to do the right thing (note his handling of Chris Dunkley, as opposed to UConn's handling of Lyle McCombs in a similar situation yesterday). He doesn't deserve to take 100% of the blame here. Someone had to give him that contract extension to sign. Someone who you need to demand an explanation out of.

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Sources for the photo caption:

(a)

(b)

In This Stream

USF Football Vs. Temple, 10/06/12

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