Skip Holtz’s return to SC didn’t go as planned

It had been 13 years since Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz coached in a football game at Williams-Brice Stadium, but the thing he remembers most about the University of South Carolina is the people.

“This is a special place with incredible facilities, but it’s the people that make this place special,” Holtz said Saturday, after his Bulldogs lost 17-16 on a last-second field goal. “That’s what echoed that much more in having the opportunity to see so many people. From Ernie who cuts the grass to the people who are in the building every day.”

Holtz worked as an assistant coach at South Carolina under his father, Lou Holtz, who was the head coach of the Gamecocks from 1999-2004. When Steve Spurrier was named Lou Holtz’s successor in 2004, Skip Holtz resigned in advance of being let go. He coached at East Carolina and South Florida before accepting the head coaching position at Louisiana Tech in 2012.

When the matchup between the Gamecocks and Bulldogs was scheduled, he knew he’d have a chance to make waves in his former stomping grounds.

While Holtz made a statement in his return to Columbia on Saturday, the end result wasn’t what he had hoped.

“It was a great football game,” Holtz said. “I’m just frustrated we came out on the bottom side of it.

“There is no moral victory here. We’re not walking out of here excited, jumping up and down because it was a close football game. We came in here with the mindset that we wanted to win.”

The Bulldogs led the entire game until USC running back Ty’Son Williams scored a 35-yard touchdown run with 4:52 left in the fourth quarter. The game came down to a 31-yard field goal from freshman kicker Parker White.

The Bulldogs kicked a 25-yard field goal with 55 seconds left on the previous drive, taking a 16-14 lead. Holtz said his plan was to run out the clock and was comfortable with the decision based on the way his defense played.

“In hindsight, you can go ‘Oh wow, if he would’ve thrown the ball, maybe you could’ve scored the touchdown.’ But if we had thrown an incomplete pass, they might’ve had two minutes instead of 55 seconds to go the length of the field,” Holtz said.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t trust the quarterback. We threw it to get down there. I felt like our defense played a strong football game. I thought they played physically competitive with an SEC team.”

Holtz credited South Carolina coach Will Muschamp and the Gamecocks for the come-from-behind win. He added that USC is well positioned for the future.

“I think Will Muschamp will do a great job,” Skip Holtz said. “He’s a really good football coach. They have a very solid football team. I think he’ll continue to build this thing in his image and his likeness as he gets his recruits in here. I think they’ll do nothing but improve.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2017 at 8:21 PM with the headline "Skip Holtz’s return to SC didn’t go as planned."