Baseball fans at the University of South Carolina can now breath a sigh of relief as it was made known today that associate head coach Chad Holbrook has withdrawn his name from consideration for the head coaching position at the University of Tennessee.
Now the Gamecocks baseball team can get down to business at the College World Series and defend their National Championship.
Make no mistake about it, this is good news for USC. Holbrook is a great recruiter and will be a great head coach one day. It has been reported that he turned this job down at UT due to his connection to South Carolina (family ties), the progression of the Gamecock program and the not-so-stable situation Vols sports picture. Those are three solid reasons. A coach like Holbrook does not want to walk into a cloudy situation with a interim AD and the baseball program being looked at by the NCAA.
USC will step up and re-work is contract due to this. He currently makes $160,000 per year, not counting bonus money.
Prior to coming to USC, Holbrook spent fifteen years as an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina. Before his coaching career at Chapel Hill, Holbrook was an All-ACC performer at UNC – racking up 14 triples and 40 stolen bases. He is in his third year at USC and is responsible for hitting and recruiting along with being second in command.
This was a great quote by Holbrook and gives you insight on this reason decision to stay put at USC –
“I’m not in a hurry to be a head coach,” Holbrook said last week in an interview with SportsTalk. “I am not in a rush to be a head coach. I can be as happy as a pig in mud here at South Carolina the next eight to ten years as an assistant. I mean that sincerely. I love it here.”
