My Coach Holtz appreciation thread!

[jharris]

My freshman year at Tech was 1987. The first Tech game I attended was NLU’s 44-7 thrashing. Tech was moving up to 1-A (and NLU would win the 1-AA national championship). It would be the beginning of three losing seasons for Tech that ultimately paid off with our tie against Maryland in the Independence Bowl. This would establish what would be Tech’s enduring pattern since moving to 1-A, an even mix of winning and losing seasons marked by flashes of brilliance and pathos. Coach Holtz has broken that pattern with six winning seasons (seven if you count last year’s regular season). Along the way, he held the nation's longest bowl winning streak with blowout wins over Miami, Illinois, and Hawaii and a thriller against ranked Navy. Tech has the third best bowl winning percentage in the country, and no one has contributed more to that than Coach Holtz. As an alum and Tech fan, I appreciate his steady leadership.


Some here have dismissed his accomplishments because they say Conference USA is an easy football conference. My observation has been the best CUSA teams are typically pretty good, while the worst absolutely suck. Nevertheless, I recall Tech being a member of the lowly Big West football conference, and we didn’t exactly light it up then either. Since 1987, Tech has only won a conference championship twice. And in his seven seasons, Coach Holtz has gotten us to the CUSA championship game twice. I don’t relate to others’ criticism in this regard.



And since everyone here hates LSU, I’ll point out that in 2018 Coach Holtz led Tech in a very competitive game against LSU. With that and our 2009 game against LSU, Tech has proven the only in-state school in recent times to be competitive against them.


So here’s to Coach Holtz! I’m looking forward to his making 2021 a bounce back year, especially with these new transfers.

[jtrammell]

It appears that he has done an excellent job in the transfer portal of bringing in some real talent. I am pretty excited about the year. I think betting the over on 4.5 wins for Tech this year is a great bet.

[jycww]

While I respect your viewpoint, I actually have just the opposite reaction. I don't believe we have had a conference championship under Coach Holtz. To say that we have been in bowl games........... in truth, you have to try to not to get in a bowl.game. And for the majority of those wins, while some are named universities, they were all having down years when we played them. So I am not impressed with our bowl record. One of the telling signs to me is how often are bigger programs trying to steal your coach. While I fully admit I don't get the "inside information" on any program making overtures to Holtz, I certainly don't see anyone coming after him. He, and sadly our program, is in a state of mediocrity and will remain so until he is forced out. Heck, ULL is now ranked in the preseason Top 25. Where is La Tech? Nowhere to be found. Season ticket renewals are down, and many point to the offense and leadership of Holtz. Best said the way I told an LTAC volunteer that called asking for donations......... Once you get rid of your head coach, call me. Otherwise, don't waste my time or yours.

[SicemDawgz]

Holtz is a good man that runs a clean program. He is a players coach. He has brought in some very good talent to Ruston. Having said that, he always underperforms every year and manages to choke when it counts the most. With the amount of NFL level talent we’ve had pass through Ruston, there’s no reason we shouldn’t have at least one Championship on the wall. I don’t hate Holtz, but he needs to get it done this year.

[champion110]

I have mixed feelings. I love the fact that Holtz runs a good clean program and I love the fact that even though it is easy to get into a bowl - we WON those bowls more than anyone else in the country. The only problem I have with him is that I want more. We were told by his former school fans that he would get wins and get bowl wins, but we would never be at the top. In other words, he would have a good winning program and be consistent with it. That has turned out to be very true. I appreciate what he has done, but I want to break out of the "almost" group and be the top G5 program in the country. I just want the next level. Saying that, I have some hope for this next year. I had been dreading it since our embarrassing bowl loss last year. Now, with the transfers he has brought in, I have hope again! MAYBE we will finally have a break out year and, IF WE DO, I will definitely give him credit! I have never been on the fence about a coach for this long. I do love the accomplishments that you brought up and you are correct, but I want a top 10 ranking and a break into one of the big bowl games! I will always want more. My biggest fear this year is a whooping by our former coach at SMU. With all his faults, that coach knows how to put on a show with offense. I do miss that excitement, but if we beat SMU, I will be over the top excited!

[LEEDAWG]

I certainly believe HCSH is a genuinely good human being. That matters most.

As a D1 coach I am not convinced he wants his teams to be excellent. Seems he wants to be good and competitive, but not excellent. CUSA championships should be the regular expectation at this point especially lately with how down the conference has been overall. As mentioned SicemDawgz above Holtz manages to lose the when it counts the most..

I am cautiously optimistic about this season thanks to some transfers on offense, but in the back of my mind the disaster of the O-line play, the play-calling and the bowl butt whooping last season loom large. It could be a quick trip back to overly pessimistic for me because the amount of improvement needed is drastic.

[jharris]

While I respect your viewpoint, I actually have just the opposite reaction. I don't believe we have had a conference championship under Coach Holtz. To say that we have been in bowl games........... in truth, you have to try to not to get in a bowl.game. And for the majority of those wins, while some are named universities, they were all having down years when we played them. So I am not impressed with our bowl record. One of the telling signs to me is how often are bigger programs trying to steal your coach. While I fully admit I don't get the "inside information" on any program making overtures to Holtz, I certainly don't see anyone coming after him. He, and sadly our program, is in a state of mediocrity and will remain so until he is forced out. Heck, ULL is now ranked in the preseason Top 25. Where is La Tech? Nowhere to be found. Season ticket renewals are down, and many point to the offense and leadership of Holtz. Best said the way I told an LTAC volunteer that called asking for donations......... Once you get rid of your head coach, call me. Otherwise, don't waste my time or yours.

Thanks. The respect is mutual.

I said Holtz got us to the championship GAME twice. In other words, we've come in second twice.

Every P5 team has a tremendous advantage in several areas over G5's. I know because I've seen (seemingly) good Tech teams lose too many times to the sorry likes of Kansas and Vandy. To have a multi-score win over a bowl-qualified P5 team is big. Also, when we beat Navy they were ranked #25, and ESPN said our win was one of the best games of the bowl season.

Tech's never been ranked pre-season, Why would you expect them to be now?

Tech's teams have never gotten the fan support they deserve. Tech is in the middle of region supposedly crazy about football with nothing better going on for hundreds of miles, and yet our consistently winning program typically plays for a stadium that is half empty--pathetic. Ultimately, I blame the university's inability to connect to the local community. I do not blame the coach though. His job is not selling tickets. His job is winning games, which he does consistently.

[jharris]

The only problem I have with him is that I want more.

I think this perfectly encapsulates the prevailing attitude on this board toward Coach Holtz and the program in general. That is, Tech fans here will not fully appreciate our program as it is and only promise to fully appreciate our program once it has achieved some status of being "on TOP" or "excellent" (as if winning six bowls games in a row isn't excellent).

My observation is that Tech sports culture is defined by an unrealistic fixation on status and a complete lack of appreciation for what we have.

Big-time football programs have two primary components: the team on the field and the fans around them. Our teams have performed far, far better than our fanbase. Given the circumstances, what our teams deserve are all home games sold out. Our teams have done a far better job of keeping up their end of the deal than the fanbase has.

[PawDawg]

He did a great job keeping JMar clean.

[Tech79]

I also appreciate a number of things about Coach Holtz. The tone he sets for the program and the way he seems to develop playerss to be high-quality individuals. His ability to interact with the media, the contacts he has in the business, and his obvious (except for last year) ability to prepare teams for bowl games. On the other hand, I do fell like the program is satisfied with being moderately successful and consistent, and not pushing to be exceptional.

I do not understand the dismissive attitude of a lot of posters about the bowl victories. I agree with the idea that it's not hard to get to a bowl game any more, but, it's still very impressive to win a number of them in a row. Think about those six bowl wins.

2014 - A 17-point victory over BIG10 Illinois
2015 - A 19-point victory over the SunBelt Champions (who were 8-0 in their conference). The second half of that game wasn't even close.
2016 - The last-second victory over Navy. How great was it to finally get a win against a service academy that was running the option. I didn't think I would ever see it.
2017 - The absolute domination of SMU, basically in their own back yard.
2018 - A victory over Hawaii in their own stadium. How many years in the WAC would we have loved to see that happen?!
2019 - The shutout of Miami. They did have one of the weakest offenses I've ever seen for a P5, but this same team put 52 points on Louisville a couple of months earlier.

On another subject, as far as fan support, I think almost all G5 teams are in that same boat. You can look at almost any fan message board and you see the same complaints about lack of attendance. I think you just have to accept that if you're not in a P5 conference on national television every weekend, the casual fan is just going to care that much. However, I think Tech has nothing to be ashamed about as far as fan support for road games. Tommy McClelland mentioned that over this bowl streak, Tech has sold more tickets to bowl games that anyone else in C-USA, and it's not even close. And basically every road game I've been to has had a large contingent of Tech fans in attendance. I don't think most comparable G5 teams can say that.

[PawDawg]

Our home attendance has progressively gone down due to our former AD destroying tailgating and Holtz not selling tickets.

[jharris]

I also appreciate a number of things about Coach Holtz. The tone he sets for the program and the way he seems to develop playerss to be high-quality individuals. His ability to interact with the media, the contacts he has in the business, and his obvious (except for last year) ability to prepare teams for bowl games. On the other hand, I do fell like the program is satisfied with being moderately successful and consistent, and not pushing to be exceptional.

I do not understand the dismissive attitude of a lot of posters about the bowl victories. I agree with the idea that it's not hard to get to a bowl game any more, but, it's still very impressive to win a number of them in a row. Think about those six bowl wins.

2014 - A 17-point victory over BIG10 Illinois
2015 - A 19-point victory over the SunBelt Champions (who were 8-0 in their conference). The second half of that game wasn't even close.
2016 - The last-second victory over Navy. How great was it to finally get a win against a service academy that was running the option. I didn't think I would ever see it.
2017 - The absolute domination of SMU, basically in their own back yard.
2018 - A victory over Hawaii in their own stadium. How many years in the WAC would we have loved to see that happen?!
2019 - The shutout of Miami. They did have one of the weakest offenses I've ever seen for a P5, but this same team put 52 points on Louisville a couple of months earlier.

On another subject, as far as fan support, I think almost all G5 teams are in that same boat. You can look at almost any fan message board and you see the same complaints about lack of attendance. I think you just have to accept that if you're not in a P5 conference on national television every weekend, the casual fan is just going to care that much. However, I think Tech has nothing to be ashamed about as far as fan support for road games. Tommy McClelland mentioned that over this bowl streak, Tech has sold more tickets to bowl games that anyone else in C-USA, and it's not even close. And basically every road game I've been to has had a large contingent of Tech fans in attendance. I don't think most comparable G5 teams can say that.

Yep. I agree. Though, I will grant you that it's easier to get in a bowl if you're in a conference than an indy, and we would know. However, every year there are teams not in a bowl that would like to be. They aren't because the didn't win enough games. We were because we did. And I appreciate that.

I hear you about away games. I've gone to plenty of them.

Ultimately, I attribute the lack of interest in Tech's athletics to an inability by the university to make itself seem relevant and connected to the lives of people in north Louisiana. Tech should invest in a big-time PR campaign developed by a nationally big-time PR campaign.

[jharris]

Our home attendance has progressively gone down due to our former AD destroying tailgating and Holtz not selling tickets.

He did a great job keeping JMar clean.

I do think our lack of attendance rests heavily on the AD.

But the coach's job is to win games, which Holtz does, not sell tickets.

Regarding J'Mar, you're referring to Tech's first and only 10-win season since going 1-A that culminated in the Indy's Bowl first shutout as we beat Miami to claim the nation's longest bowl winning streak. THAT is the lack of appreciation that I'm talking about.

[PawDawg]

But the coach's job is to win games, which Holtz does, not sell tickets.

Regarding J'Mar, you're referring to Tech's first and only 10-win season since going 1-A that culminated in the Indy's Bowl first shutout as we beat Miami to claim the nation's longest bowl winning streak. THAT is the lack of appreciation that I'm talking about.

You are wrong. Part of Holtz job is to sell tickets. He's just never had a boss who holds him accountable.

I'm talking about the year that we lost the last two games to lose the conference along with a likely top 25 finish and New Years Day bowl game.

[DJDAWG]

I'm not going to drive in from Plano to watch the piece of crap offense that Skip has turned Tech's offense in to.