The University of South Florida fired head football coach Skip Holtz at the end of this third season. As I have been doing over the last few days, let's take a look at the USF Bulls under former head coach Holtz's tenure.
In 2010 the South Florida Bulls were 7-5 in the regular season and after defeating Clemson in their bowl game the Bulls finished 8-5. South Florida's most impressive win was a 23-20 win over #34 ranked Miami (FL) and their worst outing was a 9-13 loss to #63 ranked Syracuse. USF played an average strength of schedule and in terms of the FBS production model, finished as the #60 ranked team in the nation.
In 2011 USF finished 5-7 and bowl ineligible. USF's overall ranking was #62 - nearly identical to the previous season. USF played an average schedule as compared to the rest of the league and had impressive victory over #15 ranked Notre Dame.
This season (2012), the Bulls finished 3-9 and are currently ranked #119 overall with the #123 ranked offense and the #62 ranked defense. Given that USF has played an easier than average schedule as compared to the rest of the league, USF's performance is rather woefully.
Analysis of NCAA FBS coaches fired this season:
Southern Mississippi's Johnson,
North Carolina State's O'Brien,
Colorado's Embree,
Purdue's Hope,
Arkansas's Smith,
Boston College's Spaziani,
Auburn's Chizik,
California's Tedford,
Western Michigan's Cubit,
Tennessee's Dooley,
Kentucky's Phillips,
Idaho's Akey.