BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
-----
From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
|
Annual gossip fest
in full swing
By
Brian Bailey
©2008 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
NASCAR calls it the
“Silly Season.” It’s the
time of year when rumors
run rampant about this
driver changing teams,
this team dropping a
driver, this team losing
a sponsorship, etc.
The Silly Season has hit
Greenville full force.
Rumors haven’t had these
kinds of legs since
former UNC-Chapel Hill
coach Matt Doherty
bought a house in
Greenville’s Star Hill
Farms neighborhood just
before Ricky Stokes was
hired as the East
Carolina basketball
coach. (Doherty didn’t
buy that house and is
now the head coach at
Southern Methodist.)
The first text I
received came last week.
“It’s a done deal. Skip
(Holtz) has taken the
Syracuse job. Presser on
Monday.”
That was last Tuesday
night. Two phone calls
came Wednesday. Holtz
shook off questions
about the rumor
Wednesday night, saying
that he didn’t have an
agent and that he wasn’t
looking for a job.
The Syracuse rumor
rumbled on into the
weekend. Holtz then
turned in one of his
finest coaching jobs in
ECU’s
27-24 win over Tulsa
to take the Conference
USA championship, adding
another big star to his
resume.
Sunday started with
another phone call. The
NFL Network reported
that Holtz was taking
the Syracuse job and
there would be a press
conference on Monday.
Last week’s text had
made it all the way to
New York.
Holtz spent his Sunday
in Charlotte as the
keynote speaker for the
Charlotte Touchdown
Club. He told reporters
that he would like to
speak with Syracuse
Athletics Director Daryl
Gross while he is in New
York this week for his
father’s induction into
the College Football
Hall of Fame. He said he
was not going through a
formal interview at this
point. He went as far as
to label reports
indicating he would be
named as the Syracuse
coach on Monday as
“inaccurate.”
Holtz added that he was
“very happy in
Greenville.”
“You never say never in
this business because
you don't know," said.
"But I've said in order
for me to leave
Greenville it's going to
have to be a pretty
special situation for me
to leave."
Several sources close to
Holtz told me on Sunday
that they would be
surprised if Holtz took
the Syracuse job. They
wouldn’t go as far as
ruling it out
completely, but their
feelings were that Holtz
wouldn’t leave ECU for
Syracuse.
Holtz has to listen to
the Syracuse pitch.
Perhaps the offer may be
so overwhelming that he
can’t say no. Holtz is a
family man, and whatever
move he makes, if any,
will impact those he
loves the most.
The weather would have
to be a big concern.
Greenville’s winters are
downright tropical
compared to the winters
in Syracuse!
One thing is for
certain. There was no
press conference on
Monday to announce Skip
Holtz as the new coach
at Syracuse.
I talked to two coaches
on the staff on Monday
night. Neither had heard
anything from Holtz and
his ventures in New
York.
Stay tuned.
Conference USA Champs
East Carolina forced
seven turnovers in
upsetting Tulsa in the
Conference USA title
game on Saturday.
I thought this quote
from Coach Holtz from
Saturday night’s bowl
press conference in
Greenville spoke
volumes.
“I’m more proud of what
this football team has
accomplished then I am
had they stayed totally
healthy and went
undefeated,” Holtz said.
Holtz and his staff
actually coached two
different teams this
season. The one that
started the year had the
experience and
confidence of veteran
squad. The team that
finished the season, the
one that stunned Tulsa
as a two-touchdown
underdog, is a glimpse
ahead at the Pirate
future.
With the win, the
Pirates return to
Memphis for the first
time in thirteen years.
In 1994, Illinois shut
out East Carolina, but
the Pirates came back to
beat Stanford the next
year.
There is certainly a lot
of fun to be had on
Beale Street for New
Year's!
BB
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12/09/2008 02:13:13 AM |