A Message To The Pirate Nation
December 16, 2009 | Football
Dec. 16, 2009
The Pirate Nation, the athletic department and the football program, under Coach Holtz, have established a mutual bond that has been the foundation for spectacular results. Each entity has made a 100% commitment to that mutual bond and also to supporting each other's best interests to the best of our abilities.
An important element of that commitment has been the ability of each of those entities to find a constructive way to deal with the annual musical chairs that invariably occurs when you have a highly successful coach. Coach Holtz has not sought any positions but has listened to preliminary conversations about a number of openings over the last few years. There's only been one opening that has advanced past a preliminary conversation to a serious discussion.
The conversations have allowed Coach Holtz to confirm how important continuing to build the ECU football program is to him, both professionally and personally. It has also allowed me to have very serious conversations with Coach Holtz about what it will take to elevate the ECU program to compete with teams that are currently playing in BCS Bowls.
Coach Holtz has never asked for additional salary as a result of these conversations and we have never offered additional salary. One reason for that is the fact that Nick Floyd and I always provide Coach Holtz with any contract changes we are recommending to the Board of Trustees prior to the end of the season even though the detail of any changes cannot be announced until approved by the ECU Board and the UNC Board of Governors (if applicable).
Our conversations always focus on making our program better for the long term. For example, this year we discussed indoor practice areas that could provide our players and the team the ability to practice in inclement weather. We came up with some ideas to try on the short term while we continue to plan for a long-term answer for all ECU outdoor sports - an indoor practice facility.
The truth of the matter is that Coach Holtz walked away from an opportunity several years ago to pursue an opening that would have allowed him to coach in two BCS bowls because he wanted to build ECU into a championship team in Conference USA. There are very few coaches in this business who would have stayed at ECU given the same opportunities, and I do not know any that would not have used those situations to try to "sweeten" their current contract situation. Coach Holtz' personal integrity and love of his players are part of the reason for such loyalty, but the rest of the equation is that the Pirate Nation has earned his respect and admiration by the way they have supported the program and the players through good times and bad.
Coach Holtz' teams have won a total of 15 games by one touchdown or less over the last three years. That cannot be simply a matter of luck. Such success can only be the result of a lot of hard work and belief in our long-term destiny by every entity involved, and most important of all, is the support of the Pirate Nation.
