The only thing missing is Howie Mandel. But trust me, college football coaches all over the country are being asked the question Howie has made famous. Deal or No Deal?
 
Here is the basic premise for those unfamiliar with the show. The contestant selects one suitcase, out of 26, he/she believes has a million dollars inside. From there, the other cases are opened to reveal the amounts not in the contestant case. However, after a certain number of cases are opened, the banker makes an offer. The contestant either takes the "Deal" or says "No Deal" and the game continues. The goal is to make as much money as possible and seal the deal.
 
Yet, some in the Pirate Nation are bent out of their frames that ECU coaches, including Skip Holtz, are being interviewed to fill bigger school coaching vacancies. And despite the fact that talks between Skip and the Cincinnati Bearcats ended with "No Deal," that simply means the game continues.
 
I believe the offers will keep coming in and eventually a "Deal" will be reached. Maybe not this season, but in the near future, Skip Holtz will leave East Carolina for greener pastures. And by greener, I mean MONEY. A BCS conference may also play a role, but the willingness to pony up the big bucks will be a deal maker or breaker.
 
Skip Holtz is not going to be the ECU coach for the next 20 years. Forget about it. It won’t happen. Don’t point at Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden and say, "That could be us." No, it couldn’t. We’re not Penn State or Florida State.
 
Here are two examples that are the exception, not the rule. Southern Mississippi’s Jeff Bower and Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer. So. Miss is on the same level as ECU, but the Golden Eagles Athletic Department still found a way to keep Bower for 16 years. How??? MONEY. When Frank Beamer took over at Va. Tech, the Hokies were not a power house. They weren’t on any national radar. Beamer built that program from the ground up. Now, 20 years later, he’s taken them from nowhere to the Big East to an A-C-C Champion. How?? They PAID him. And paid him well.
 
The saying goes, "Money is not everything." However, the little known next line is "unless you are a college football coach." Don’t blame the coaches or call them greedy. No mountain climber’s goal is to reach the halfway point of Mount Everest. They all want to reach the peak.
 
Look at it this way Pirate Fans, it’s always a good sign when other major conference schools want your coach(es). That means your program is successful. No one wants a losing coach. In the meantime, Skip Holtz will keep getting offers. Hopefully, not big enough that he decides to take the "DEAL."

Chris Stansbury