Skip Holtz
Followed Sonny Dykes. Skip Holtz moved Louisiana Tech from Regional Program II to National Program III in 9 seasons.
Career arc
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached National Program in his 6th career season — faster than 12% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #580 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
4–7 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Doc Holliday.
His own effect, isolated
A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.
Model fit as of 2026-09-04.
Coaching career
4th-best Louisiana Tech tenure of 11 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
Followed Sonny Dykes (2010–2012) · succeeded by Sonny Cumbie (2022–2026).
| Season | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||||
| Record | 4–8 | 9–5 | 9–4 | 9–5 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 10–3 | 5–5 | 3–9 | |
| Postseason | — | W bowl | W bowl | W bowl | W bowl | W bowl | W bowl | L bowl | — | |
| Recruiting rank | — | #89 | #82 | #94 | #100 | #77 | #83 | #75 | #120 | |
| Style — pass rate | ||||||||||
| Pass rate | — | 48.8 | 52.6 | 56.6 | 45.9 | 52.0 | 49.1 | 51.2 | 49.7 | |
| Coordinators | ||||||||||
| OC | — | Tony Petersen | Tony Petersen | Todd Fitch | Todd Fitch | Todd Fitch | Todd Fitch | Joe Sloan | Joe Sloan | |
| DC | — | Manny Diaz | Blake Baker | Blake Baker | Blake Baker | Blake Baker | Bob Diaco | David Blackwell | David Blackwell | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||||||
| Offense | — | 79 | 85 | 97 | 72 | 27 | 55 | 24 | 32 | |
| Defense | — | 93 | 71 | 11 | 73 | 70 | 87 | 23 | 17 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | ||||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | 42.4 | 54.6 | 61.0 | 42.1 | 49.2 | 46.3 | 52.2 | 46.7 | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | 33.3 | 43.4 | 44.2 | 31.9 | 42.4 | 35.5 | 44.9 | 43.3 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | 17.1 | 17.4 | 15.6 | 17.8 | 24.1 | 27.5 | 32.3 | 35.4 | |
A typical amount of portal roster-building.
Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.
Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.
15 NFL Draft picks: Quinton Patton (2013), Jordan Mills (2013), Justin Ellis (2014), IK Enemkpali (2014), Vernon Butler (2016), Kenneth Dixon (2016), Jeff Driskel (2016), Carlos Henderson (2017) + 7 more
2nd-best South Florida tenure of 9 by the numbers.
Followed Jim Leavitt (2000–2009) · succeeded by Willie Taggart (2013–2016).
11 NFL Draft picks: Jason Pierre-Paul (2010), Nate Allen (2010), Jerome Murphy (2010), Carlton Mitchell (2010), George Selvie (2010), Terrell McClain (2011), Mistral Raymond (2011), Jacquian Williams (2011) + 3 more
6th-best East Carolina tenure of 15 by the numbers.
Followed John Thompson (2003–2004) · succeeded by Ruffin McNeill (2010–2015).
7 NFL Draft picks: Guy Whimper (2006), Aundrae Allison (2007), Chris Johnson (2008), Davon Drew (2009), Linval Joseph (2010), Matt Dodge (2010), C.J. Wilson (2010)