How Skip Holtz saved first USF class

[NUance]

Brion Carnes, a 6-foot, 181-pound quarterback from Manatee High in Bradenton, Fla., committed to USF in December 2008. He was the first player to commit to Leavitt for 2010, and Carnes fully expected to be a Bull until the day Leavitt was fired. "He had no other visits set up until all this happened," said Manatee coach Joe Kinnan, who coached former Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier and former Green Bay Packers cornerback Tyrone Williams and who also once served as an assistant at Arkansas.

 

Carnes, shaken up by the change, decided he wanted to examine other options. Soon after Leavitt was fired, Carnes scheduled a visit to Nebraska for the weekend of Jan. 23. He made his official visit to USF the weekend Holtz arrived. Then Carnes went to Lincoln. For the weekend of Jan. 30, he scheduled a visit to Western Kentucky, where Manatee grad Willie Taggert had just taken over as head coach. The visit seemed a mere courtesy, and Holtz, who shuddered every time he looked at his quarterback depth chart, wanted to know where the Bulls stood with Carnes.

 

USF has a potential star in B.J. Daniels, a redshirt freshman who took over in September 2009 after senior starter Matt Grothe suffered a season-ending knee injury. But Daniels is the only quarterback the Bulls have on scholarship. His former backup, Evan Landi, is a likely starter at receiver, and Holtz didn't want to ask Landi to become a backup again. Holtz absolutely had to sign a quarterback in this class. "Spring is going to be interesting," Holtz said. "We may be in the Wing-T in spring practice."

 

At the same time, Holtz didn't have many scholarships left to give. The NCAA allows schools to keep 85 players on scholarship at a given time, and at the moment the Bulls had just 13 open slots. Holtz said he told Carnes days before he visited Western Kentucky that he needed an answer. Either Carnes wanted to play for the Bulls, or he wanted to play for someone else. If he wanted to play at USF, he needed to re-commit and cancel his final visit. "He said he needed to take some other visits," Holtz said. "He needed to be able to compare South Florida to another school. He needed to take some other options, and he did. ... I understand that, but at the same time, we have one quarterback on scholarship. I can't afford to go to the 11th hour and have no quarterbacks."

 

Further muddying the issue was Holtz's impression that Carnes didn't want to play for any coordinator but Canales, with whom he'd developed a bond. "When I let Canales go, I more or less lost the quarterback," Holtz said. "I hate it. But you could sit there and try to lie and mislead and keep everybody in place until recruiting ends and then let everybody go."

 

Kinnan said neither Holtz nor any of his assistants gave Carnes a hard and fast deadline. "Coach Holtz was under the impression that information had been conveyed," Kinnan said. "However, I never got that information. Brion said he never was aware that was the case."

 

Kinnan said Carnes had just arrived at Western Kentucky on Jan. 29 when he learned he no longer had an offer from USF. Two days later, it became apparent why. Multiple outlets reported Jamius Gunsby, a 6-4, 220-pound quarterback from LaGrange, Ga., had committed to USF. "I've lost a lot of respect for the South Florida program," Kinnan told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on Jan. 29. Carnes, meanwhile, followed in the footsteps of Manatee grad Frazier and signed with Nebraska. linky

 

CNNSI.com article about Skippy Holtz at USF. Holtz's fubar on the Carnes recruitment worked out to our advantage.

[Eric]

With the talent Manatee seems to have, it would be in coaches best interest to remain on their good side! Glad we are

[HuskerBruin]

You mean "except for Brion Carnes and Ace Sanders."

[irieboy8]

You mean "except for Brion Carnes and Ace Sanders."

 

i mean i can understand where UCF was holtz was coming from... i mean bo has a similar philosophy and coming in and finding no info on recruiting holt needed to make sh#t happen fast...... i think it was a hot mess going around for everyone..... but i agree i bet holtz wished he handled it better

[Husker Richard]

"When I let Canales go, I more or less lost the quarterback," Holtz said. "I hate it. But you could sit there and try to lie and mislead and keep everybody in place until recruiting ends and then let everybody go." -You gotta respect that.

[default_28]

You mean "except for Brion Carnes and Ace Sanders."

I love your Gareth avatar

[HuskerBruin]

"When I let Canales go, I more or less lost the quarterback," Holtz said. "I hate it. But you could sit there and try to lie and mislead and keep everybody in place until recruiting ends and then let everybody go." -You gotta respect that.

 

True. He botched the Carnes situation (at least according to the Manatee High coach), but at least he didn't pull an Urban Meyer and wait to announce one of your coordinators is leaving the day after signing day.