The end of the college football season usually marks change at a number of programs as coaches are fired and hired all over the nation.
Skip Holtz became one of those coaches over the weekend, as South Florida decided to fire their head coach after three seasons at the program. The school announced the news on Sunday.
"While our program remains young, having just completed our 16th season of competition, our history is rich, and the expectations of coaches, players, students, administrators and fans are high. That is why the past few months have been hard for all of us," athletic director Doug Woolard said in a statement, according to ESPN.com.
Holtz went 16-21 in three season at South Florida and was only 5-15 in the Big East. This past season the team had high expectations, but went only 3-9 and finished last in eighth place in the Big East with a 1-6 record. The season was the worst performance by a team in school history.
The firing comes just one season after Holtz received a contract extension from the school. Holtz will now receive a $2.5 million buyout, which will be paid over five seasons, according to ESPN.com.
"Our team has excelled in the classroom, setting a new USF standard for team GPA. Our APR scores are up as well," Woolard said in the statement. "Skip's hard work in stressing the academic side of student life has been critical in that progress. He has worked tirelessly, helping to mold our football players into outstanding young men."
Holtz was the second head coach in South Florida school history and is now the second coach in the school's history to be fired. Jim Leavitt was the first head coach hired by the program. He was fired three years ago after he hit a player in the locker room and then interfered with investigation into the incident.
The Bulls finished the season with a 27-3 defeat at home against Pittsburgh in which they gained a record-low of 117 yards and only scored one offensive touchdown over the final three games.
"Just a very frustrating night, a very frustrating year," said Holtz after the game, according to the Associated Press. There's been a lot of hard work that has gone into this. ... But I also understand that we've put some people in a very tough position with where we are, and I understand the nature of this business is to win games," Holtz added. "People don't really care if you're on a fourth quarterback, your fifth defensive end or how many freshmen you're playing. They want to win."
Holtz was the head coach at East Carolina from 2005 to 2009 and previously coached at South Carolina and Notre Dame with his father, Lou Holtz, who was head coach at both schools. In between jobs at Notre Dame and South Carolina, Holtz was the head coach at Connecticut from 1994 to 1998, where he had 34-23 record.
While at East Carolina, Holtz won two Conference USA Championships and was looked at as a hot coaching prospect.
In his career, Holtz has 88-70 overall record in 13 seasons as a head coach.
The best player to come out of the era at South Florida is defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who was drafted by the Super Bowl champion New York Giants in the first round of the 2010 draft and has become an All-Pro player.
Holtz won the first game he coached at South Florida against Stony Brook 59-14, but never sustained total success for one full season.
The team opened 2012 with two straight wins over Chattanooga and Nevada, but then lost their next six games, including four Big East conference matchups. The Bulls won only one of their final 10 games, a 13-6 victory over Connecticut at home on Nov. 3.
South Florida closed the season with three blowout losses against Miami, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. The Bulls didn't score more than 10 points in any of the three games and lost to Miami 40-9 on Nov. 17.
The team dealt with numerous injuries this season, including to quarterback B.J. Daniels. The Bulls had to play a redshirt freshman at quarterback for most of the season.
One of the biggest knocks on Holtz was his Big East record, which was only 5-16 over five seasons. When he was hired, Holtz said to the press: "We can win conference championships here. We can win national championships here."
According to the Associated Press, "USF has lost 14 of its past 16 against Big East opponents."
In 2011, the Bulls finished 5-7 and tied for last place in the Big East with a 1-6 record. The team had gone to six straight bowl games, but that streak was snapped with their losing record.
The team started off well in 2011, making it into the Top 25 after winning four straight, but slumped to end the season by only winning one of their final eight games.
The move was just the latest coaching change in major college programs this year. Boston College fired Frank Spaziani after four seasons, while NC State dismissed coach Tom O'Brien and recently hired Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren to take his place.
