Holtz and the 'Do Right' rule

By Harry King | hking@arkanasnews.com

Posted: January 2, 2010 at 2:09 a.m.

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LITTLE ROCK — Whether through osmosis or genetics, Skip Holtz has this Do Right thing down pat.

His father, Lou, wrote a book about that life lesson and a couple of others and, while the head coach at Arkansas, used the phrase in one of the most quoted utterances of the 1977 college football season.

Less than two weeks prior to the Orange Bowl against then-No. 2 Oklahoma, Holtz suspended his two best running backs — Ben Cowins and Micheal Forrest — and wide receiver Donny Bobo. Badgered for details, Holtz said the players violated the “Do Right Rule.”

In his book, he said the rule “governs personal conduct,” and that the players simply made a bad decision. “They chose not to play when they decided to behave badly,” he said. “Now I had to support that choice.”

Skip had to make a choice on that early December day in 2004 when he moved into his office in Greenville, N.C. On his desk was a personal post-it from his predecessor, John Thompson. It went something like this: “Skip, if I can help, please call me,” and included Thompson’s phone number.

That night, Skip Holtz called, and they talked quite a while.

“The conversation was about players and not who was good and was bad, it was about his players that used to be my players,” Thompson said. “It was a little about recruiting. His intentions were all for the players.”

The fact that Skip Holtz called and listened says something about the man who will coach against Arkansas today in the Liberty Bowl. Someone with an inflated ego — he is, after all, the son of a man who was recently inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame — would have trashed the note with an aside such as, “It’s my program now and I’ll do it my way.”

“He didn’t have to do that, he didn’t have to be kind, and he didn’t have to be receptive to us trying to help,” said Thompson, an assistant to Bill Curry in the program that is under development at Georgia State in Atlanta.

The personal note about Skip Holtz is assurance that he and his coaches will do right in preparing the Pirates for the Razorbacks. Sometimes, that is not enough — a mid-pack team from the Southeastern Conference should have more good athletes than the champion of Conference USA.

Although the Pirates have recorded an impressive 17 interceptions, note that their opponents have attempted 499 passes, 128 more than Arkansas’ foes.

As has been the case almost weekly, the Razorbacks will have opportunities to make big plays downfield if they can protect quarterback Ryan Mallett. East Carolina has the No. 2 defense in Conference USA, but the league is all about offense and the Pirates do not stack up with Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss, and LSU, who held Mallett to a cumulative 53-of-135.

The Pirates seek balance on offense but made less than 115 yards rushing in losses to Virginia Tech, North Carolina and West Virginia. Arkansas will miss defensive tackle D.D. Jones, out with a high ankle sprain, and will have to contend with quarterback Patrick Pinkney. Granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA in January, he has completed 59.5 percent or better each of the past three years.

Arkansas must keep him in the pocket, coach Bobby Petrino said.

Pinkney is the son of Reggie Pinkney, a sixth-round pick of the Detroit Lions in 1977. Today in Memphis, the football genes of the coach and the quarterback will only go so far.

Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau.

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