Fired by USF less than a week ago, Holtz has new job

It didn't take Skip Holtz long to land on his feet and keep his money to the chagrin of the University of South Florida.

Fired by USF on December 2nd, Holtz was hired as the new head football coach at Louisiana Tech today. He replaces Sonny Dykes, who resigned to take head job at California.

Skip Holtz lands on feet quickly

Holtz inherits a program that went 9-3 and led Division I-A (FBS) in scoring averaging 52 points per game. The Bulldogs were second in the nation in total offense and fourth in passing offense averaging 350.7 yards per game through the air.

In what might be a twist of fate, Louisiana Tech had problems stopping opponents ranking 120th in total defense giving up 520 yards per game and was 117th in scoring defense allowing 38.5 points per game.

A lack of defense was the biggest criticism of Holtz during his time at USF so he will get an opportunity to show he can be a defensive fixer-upper.

 Louisiana Tech is moving from the Western Athletic Conference to Conference USA, the league where Holtz coached (for East Carolina) before he was hired by USF three years ago.

Holtz was 16-21 in his three years at USF with 14 losses in his last 16 Big East Conference games finishing in the league cellar the last two years. The Bulls were 3-9 this past season, their worst record in the history of the 16 year old program.

"I am tremendously excited for the opportunity to build on what Coach Dykes started and to lead this great team forward," Holtz told FoxNews.com. "This is a football program with outstanding student athletes, a history of winning and optimism in the future. I'm honored to be part of the Bulldogs family and I'm ready to get to work."
Willie Taggart is the new head coach at USF. But according to reports, the school owes Holtz $2.5 million (spread out over 5 years at $500,000 annually). USF athletic director Doug Woulard extended Holtz's contract through 2017 after the 2011 season despite a losing season and finishing last in the Big East.