Holtz denies interest in Boston College

Fresh off a 9-5 season and a Conference USA title, ECU coach Skip Holtz was bound to be a hot commodity for athletic directors around the country when it came to filling vacant head coaching positions.

While Holtz flirted with Syracuse in the weeks between the C-USA title game and the Liberty Bowl, he ultimately turned the job down. Now rumors of Holtz interviewing with Boston College have lead to Holtz personally issuing the following statement on Monday, stating that he will be the head coach of the Pirates next season, putting any rumors to rest.

"The continuing speculation and various media reports regarding my candidacy for positions other than the one I currently have and enjoy at ECU, are inaccurate," said Holtz.

"As I have previously stated, I am not seeking another position and am not involved in any discussions that would promote or verify such conjecture. On the other hand, I view this apparent media-based interest as another positive reflection on what our players, coaches, administration and the Pirate Nation have been able to accomplish over the last few seasons. I couldn't be more proud of how hard they played and what they accomplished on the field.

While some aspects of this added visibility might be considered flattering, my primary focus remains solely on continuing to build our program. In the short term, that centers around recruiting."

Holtz took over at ECU in perhaps the darkest days of the program in which the Pirates had gone 3-20 in the two years prior to his arrival.

In 2006, Holtz's second season at the helm, ECU competed in the first PapaJohns.com Bowl, a 24-7 loss to South Florida, but the programs first trip to a bowl game since 2001.

The following season saw ECU carry the momentum from 2006 and ride it to an 8-5 finish and a 41-38 victory over No. 23 Boise State in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

Once the Pirates got their first bowl win under Holtz, the new objective became to play in the C-USA title game ¬- something ECU had come painstakingly close to the two following years only to falter in the latter weeks of the regular season.

The Pirates not only got to the C-USA title game this past season, they also won it with a 27-24 victory over Tulsa.

While ECU lost in the Liberty Bowl to Kentucky 25-19, the season could be considered successful and featured Holtz's greatest coaching performance in his four seasons at the helm.

ECU rolled to a 3-0 start that included back-to-back victories over No. 17 Virginia Tech and No. 8 West Virginia, but ultimately a BCS busting season turned into a season of survival as the Pirates would find themselves at 3-3 and on the cusp of disaster.

But to the credit of Holtz and his team, the Pirates never gave up even as injuries and suspensions threatened to doom the team.

It would have been easy for Holtz to pack his bags and leave for another program, but to stick around for one more season speaks volumes of how much of a leader he is as well as how far the ECU program has rebounded in the years since his hire.

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.