Miami football program has multiple connections to Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz

Louisiana Tech football head coach Skip Holtz’s career has multiple connections to Florida State and former Miami football head coach Mark Richt and the Hurricanes current staff.

Like current Miami football head coach Manny Diaz and his predecessor Mark Richt. Skip Holtz began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Florida State under Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden. Holtz was a graduate assistant at Florida State during the 1987 and 88 seasons.

Richt was a grad assistant at FSU under Bowden from 1985-88. Richt left to become the offensive coordinator at East Carolina for the 1990 season. Holtz left Florida State to become the wide receivers coach at Colorado State under former Ohio State head coach Earle Bruce.

Richt returned to Florida State in 1990 as the quarterbacks’ coach. The former Miami QB almost became the offensive coordinator at (gasp) Notre Dame! The 2005 book Notre Dame“Where have you gone” tells the story of how Lou Holtz asked his son skip for a recommendation for an offensive coordinator.

"“He offered it to Joe Moore first, but Joe turned him down because he saw himself as an old line coach, not a coordinator…he then asked me if I knew who’d make a great coordinator.  I told him that I’d really like to have the opportunity, but he said he couldn’t do it at the time with me being his son. Then I told him Mark Richt at Florida State. When coach Holtz called coach Bowden with permission to speak to Mark. Coach Bowden told him only if he could hire me if Coach Holtz hired Mark. So Coach Holtz said ‘well if I am going to switch coaches I might as well hire Skip.”"

Holtz and Richt staying in their respective football programs benefited both schools. They even piloted the offenses for the Seminoles and fighting Irish in the game of the year in 1993. FSU entered the game ranked number one and Notre Dame was number two. Florida State won 31-24.

The Seminoles returned to number one after Notre Dame lost their final game of the regular season to Boston College. FSU defeated Nebraska 18-16 in the Orange Bowl after the Cornhuskers missed a last-second field goal to earn Bowden’s first national championship. Diaz began his career as a graduate assistant at Florida State.

Diaz worked under legendary Seminoles defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews in the 1998 and ’99 seasons.