Skip Holtz, who was fired by Louisiana Tech in November, was a name in consideration for a lot of open coach and coordinator positions in the weeks since but didn’t take any of them. Turns out, he was just biding his time as Holtz has been announced as the new head coach of the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions.
The announcement was made by FS1’s Colin Cowherd, who has made many of the USFL reveals so far. The league, which will begin play in April, is owned by Fox Sports.
Holtz joins the previously announced league coaches who include Kevin Sumlin (Houston Gamblers), Mike Riley (New Jersey Generals), Todd Haley (Tampa Bay Bandits), and Bart Andrus (Philadelphia Stars). Kirby Wilson was also introduced as head coach of the Pittsburgh Maulers on Thursday.
Holtz, son of longtime college football coach Lou Holtz, has a long coaching resume of his own. After a stint as the head coach of the UConn Huskies, he parlayed success there into the East Carolina job, where he helped make them a consistent winner. From there he spent three seasons with the South Florida Bulls where things fell apart quickly. His once-rising star took a step back to Louisiana Tech where he coached the Bulldogs for nine seasons, seven of which ended in bowl games.
In all, he led teams to 12 bowls games and holds a 152-121 lifetime record as a head coach in college football.
Now we wait to find out who the final two head coaches for the league will be as the Breakers and Panthers remain.
[The Herd]
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.