LA Tech, Holtz Announce Coaching Change Following Rice Game - latechsports.com

[Dawg Fan]

Fans want to be excited and entertained while watching a college football game - and they want a great pre-game experience too. Can't really blame Holtz for the decline of the pre-game experience, but even when Tech was winning - watching a Holtz offense is/was Boring (with a capital B). When you lose and the style of play is boring - it is a double whammy. The lack of fan excitement and vastly declining attendance spoke loudly. It was time for a change. The buyouts are a part of college football. You just do what you have to do and move on.

I hope the new coach brings an exciting brand of football and I also hope the coaching staff projects an aura that inspires high character individuals/highly skilled athletes to want to come play football at Louisiana Tech. And let's fix the pre-game and in-game experience while we are at it.

[champion110]

Fans want to be excited and entertained while watching a college football game - and they want a great pre-game experience too. Can't really blame Holtz for the decline of the pre-game experience, but even when Tech was winning - watching a Holtz offense is/was Boring (with a capital B). When you lose and the style of play is boring - it is a double whammy. The lack of fan excitement and vastly declining attendance spoke loudly. It was time for a change. The buyouts are a part of college football. You just do what you have to do and move on.

I hope the new coach brings an exciting brand of football and I also hope the coaching staff projects an aura that inspires high character individuals/highly skilled athletes to want to come play football at Louisiana Tech. And let's fix the pre-game and in-game experience while we are at it.

AMEN! I will add that I am totally against a former player hire. We need a good and EXCITING hire that will fire the fans up. No use bringing in a former player that we will end up not liking anymore if he can't get the wins.... Go for someone brand new, but one that has recruiting ties in Louisiana and Texas. No former players or sons of famous coaches!

[PawDawg]

Any argument that might be made would lose under that clause. He met all required media obligations and showed up to coach every game.

Not sure he met the media obligations. He passed those duties off to other coaches this year. Maybe not "cause" but he was never accessible going back to his refusal to be interviewed during off weeks and the time leading up to bowl games.

One of arguably the best periods for Tech football? Skip got us six of our 8 bowl wins...


Higher highs would've been great but we had a solid floor with him

How'd that translate into growth of our fan base and giving to LTAC? Oh yeah, you are one of those who doesn't think that was part of his job.

Lots of gnashing of teeth from the children online about how ole Skip is the best thing to ever happen to Tech

Those fans must be some of the 1500 or so who attended last weeks senior day game. It's more likely they chose to attend the Ruston game.

[techman05]

And Ruston showed up big too. Must have been fun to see a performance like that.

[dawg80]

"Skip and I talked and agreed it was time for a change for both parties," said Wood. "Louisiana Tech owes Skip a debt of gratitude for his loyalty and dedication to our football student-athletes, our University, and our community over the past decade.


First, Wood, you haven't earned the right to say "our" anything. You are just a hired hand without an ounce of loyalty to anything but yourself and your career. Now...you have a chance to show you can do this job by making the right hire for football coach. I have my doubts.

[dawg80]

The bottom is 0 wins. The bottom is some state admin cancelling the program. The bottom is what happened to Marshall in the 70s.

We are not at the bottom.

Dumb post...

[dawg80]

No firing a coach with a winning record and 7 bowl appearances without paying the buyout as some posters suggest is Busch league.

Then YOU pay it. Put your money where your mouth is.

[dawg80]

Well...yep, it's done. I have been wishing for this day for 9 years. And now that it is here, well, I have a little bit of mixed emotions. A little bit...

I am 90% happy Skippy is gone. He is NOT a very good coach...he is a "good" coach who does "okay," but I want a VERY GOOD to GREAT coach! And there's that 10% where I feel for Coach Holtz. I do thank him for his time here and some accomplishments, especially 6 straight bowl wins. I attended all but the Hawaii Bowl in person, and enjoyed those bowl wins very much. The best two were the wins over Illinois and Navy. The Miami win was pretty good too!

Holtz doesn't KNOW how to coach. He especially dosen't understand the role of a HC and tries to micro-manage too much. These are fundamental flaws that render him ineffective as a HC. I haven't seen any knowledge whereby I would think he'd make a good coordinator or even a position coach. He is at the very best, and this is a push, a mediocre football coach.

All that said, I am thankful for the bowl-run. I have been very consistent in acknowledging his success in the bowls, and give him a pass for last year's wreck. And now, I sincerely HOPE the players step up and send him out with a win today.

Goodbye Coach Skip Holtz.

[BCSDAWG]

I think it's telling that the short official announcement states "We continue to be committed to winning conference championships, and that expectation is stronger than ever". Something Holtz has not accomplished.

Looking back, the "off-field" incident that Skip mentioned and apparently caused him to hand over the play calling duties to Sloan for the USM game... I suspect he was processing the fact that he had been told the exit door was opening.

I wish Skip Holtz well, but it was way past time for us to part ways. The entire staff needs to go. Sloan as well. I just hope the administration doesn't mess this hire up. This is a very important hire.

[Amos Moses]

I say we look for a coach that does not have the word "compete" in their vocabulary.

[Blue Dawg]

Has Wood ever hired a football coach before?

[PawDawg]

Has Wood ever hired a football coach before?

Never been in a position to.

[Bone_afide_Dawg]

Has Wood ever hired a football coach before?

Never been in a position to.

I think we all know how this is going to go. AD Wood will propose to Guice that he hire whoever accepts the offer from the list the headhunters provide. I’d be very surprised if AD Wood actually involves himself in the process of researching any coaches. This is going to be a very sterile process and the most likely hire will be a name people will recognize by some sort of semi famous connection. Like, Nick Saban’s 1st cousin’s son, Sonny Saban, haha. Watch!

[FriscoDawg]

??

“ willful neglect by Coach of any material duties required under this contract or reasonably expected of a Division 1 Head Coach”, and/or “unwillingness…. to perform to best of his abilities”.

I’m looking for a loophole so I don’t have to pay a guy that didn’t do his job an extra $3M. You might pressure him into taking less.

That's a battle that no one who supports Tech should want ANY part of. Pay the $3M and move on.

I'd like it to be less too, but the only thing that matters (the contract wording) says it is $3M.

All we can do is push for clauses in the next contract as I suggested like loss of a buyout year for each year after the first year with less than 5 wins, including recovery of any lost buyout years with a conference championship game win. And the automatic contract extension year should only kick in for 9+ wins or a conference championship game win.

[Tech52]

"Skip and I talked and agreed it was time for a change for both parties," said Wood. "Louisiana Tech owes Skip a debt of gratitude for his loyalty and dedication to our football student-athletes, our University, and our community over the past decade.


First, Wood, you haven't earned the right to say "our" anything. You are just a hired hand without an ounce of loyalty to anything but yourself and your career. Now...you have a chance to show you can do this job by making the right hire for football coach. I have my doubts.

Dumb post.