Lou Holtz Jr. Works For Dad But Isn't A Clone

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Lou Holtz Jr. doesn't know yet how much he is his father's son - or for sure whether he will be his father's successor.

Gamecocks fans have Skip Holtz all but hired to follow his famous father as head coach, although both have been at South Carolina less than a year.

"People are going to say what they're going to say," said Holtz, who gave up the head job at Connecticut to be offensive coordinator for his father. "I came here to be an assistant coach to Lou Holtz."

Both have successfully restarted programs, but with different styles: dad at William & Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota and Notre Dame and son at Connecticut.

Lou Holtz is famous for grabbing a player's face mask, and will run a player until his legs wear out.

Skip Holtz's last UConn quarterback set school passing records and his coaching approach is more mellow, at least compared with how he talks about his father.

"Sometimes that anger was at me," he said, laughing. "A lot of people talk about his anger, his excitement, his enthusiasm, but it's all because he knows what he wants to do."

He doesn't feel his father forces him to be a clone, and he says there are times to be calm and nurturing with players, and other times to get upset.

"I don't know that I've sat and figured out, `How do I compare to him?' because I've never looked at it like that," he said.