He met the Pope and visited the Holy Land. But at the same time, I look at the problems we have, I don't think we're going to give up on this season or say we can't win. The Gamecocks have played football for 107 years, and have won more than eight games in a season once. South Carolina has won one bowl game, and has never been to a bowl game two consecutive seasons. For all the jokes made about Vanderbilt football, the sad state of the history of South Carolina football makes the Commodores look like Holtz's old team, Notre Dame.
Players have to change, coaches have to change.
It was Holtz who made the change in December that no one thought he would, leaving the posh surroundings of his football analyst job at CBS Sports to get back on the sidelines and coach. It just didn't seem to make sense. Moreover, his wife was fighting for her life, battling a rare form of throat cancer in which doctors initially gave her a 10 percent chance of survival. She said I think it's something you ought to do. I'm the happiest when I'm a teacher.