By Denny O'Brien
©2008 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.

Skip Holtz has significantly improved East Carolina’s position in the sphere of college football. There is no other way to summarize his relatively short but successful tenure in Greenville to date.

From the competitive body of work to ECU’s national and regional perception, Holtz resurrected the Pirates from their darkest days and restored the program’s pride and relevance. More accurately, he resuscitated a program that was lingering on life support by breathing new life and a winning mentality into a school that was losing hope about its football future.

In a sport where quick and long-lasting fixes are fairly uncommon, Holtz has taken ECU on a worst to first journey in Conference USA over the span of a single presidential term.

When you consider the state of the Pirate Union when he arrived, it’s obvious that Holtz had a well-thought recovery plan for restoring faith in both the locker room and the stands.

It started with reeducating the Pirates on winning, a task that could hardly be labeled simple given ECU’s 3-20 record in the two seasons prior to Holtz’s arrival. That followed with the more difficult task of handling success, which became increasingly tough as East Carolina began knocking off opponents from BCS conferences.

When you evaluate the progress East Carolina has made over the past four years, you find a healthy, steady incline in the victory column. The Pirates have experienced five, seven, eight, and now nine-win seasons – with a chance for a 10th victory on January 2 – and have added championship banners on both the bowl and conference level.

Anyone outside of Holtz, the staff, and the players who envisioned that type of success would materialize so quickly did so with a purple-shaded telescope.

“Honestly, I felt like we could have gotten here even a little quicker,” Holtz said following ECU’s 27-24 victory over Tulsa in the C-USA championship game. “I say that because we had our opportunities at Rice two years ago. And then last year we had our opportunity at Marshall. We stubbed our toe there.

“To be able to get here, we didn’t really put a timeline on it. I thought we were close to getting here in the past. I’ll also say that we have needed every lesson learned that we have gone through to get to this point.”

Some of those lessons have been sobering. With each marquee victory, both expectations and adversity have risen. Success has a way of making a constituency demand more, but sometimes both the internal and peripheral obstacles that a program faces can stunt its growth.

There is no question that East Carolina has experienced its share of both over the past four years. Key injuries and untimely suspensions to frontline players have blindsided the Pirates in recent seasons, while an unfavorable travel schedule in a geographically challenging league has proven taxing.

Each time that anyone has declared a technical knockout of ECU in a specific season, the Pirates recovered when it seemed either mentally or physically a long shot for them to do so.

Holtz has proven his coaching mettle most over the latter portion of this season while escalating unknowns and walk-ons up the depth chart. By the time the gimpy Pirates boarded the bus following their loss to Southern Miss, they hardly looked like a team capable of beating a C-USA opponent, let alone one that could win the championship.

It’s those parameters – not the victories over Virginia Tech and West Virginia when ECU was healthy – that make Holtz a hot commodity for BCS jobs. At least they do for me.

“I have said this time and time again,” Holtz said. “I am very happy at East Carolina. I enjoy East Carolina. We have a great group of young men that I have the opportunity to work with. Greenville is a great place for my family, for myself professionally.

"You never say never. But at the same time, it would really have to be a special situation to get me out of here. I am not looking to leave. I will make that promise to you.”

What Holtz has not promised – and wisely so – is that he won’t leave East Carolina. When you closely examine the semantics of his rhetoric, the only conclusion that you can truthfully draw is that he is not the one pursuing coaching vacancies.

That doesn’t mean that he isn’t listening to interested suitors when they call or that he won’t at least entertain them in the near future. You can wager your 201(k) that he will. After all, it would make perfect professional sense for him to evaluate options that he genuinely believes will advance his career.

If that means a move to Syracuse, which is reported to be interested in him, it no doubt will disappoint fans who will insist that the Orange program, at this point in time, isn’t a ‘special’ situation. It might even tempt some to suggest that Holtz is disloyal or unappreciative of what East Carolina has done to posture his career.

On the other hand, perhaps in Holtz’s analysis of his options, he might ultimately decide that the grass truly is greener in Greenville. It would take some time for him to build the level of popularity that he currently enjoys among the constituency at ECU. Heck, he could probably run for mayor of Greenville... and win.

But should he decide to leave this week or anytime in the future, hopefully fans will take the high road and acknowledge that Holtz is doing what he feels is best for his family and career. Even if that includes cold winters. The Pirate faithful also should celebrate the long list of accomplishments that have been achieved during a highly-successful chapter of ECU football.

Every single detail of the East Carolina program has been upgraded since Holtz arrived, and because of that the Pirates are well-positioned to attract a reputable coach should he depart.

Waiting in the wings, if Holtz departs, will be perhaps the most talented roster in ECU history, improved facilities, stronger recruiting relationships, a winning mentality, and an energized fan base that is as loyal as any.

There also will be bowl and C-USA championship banners, and a stage that is set to add more.

That might not have been the case had ECU AD Terry Holland not hired Holtz in December 2004. If Saturday marked the end of his term in Greenville, it should be remembered as a prosperous one.