Skip Holtz said Thursday there was an agreement in place for him to succeed his father as the head coach at South Carolina when Lou Holtz ultimately left the school.

The Gamecocks then opted to go with Steve Spurrier as the new head coach, who had resigned from the Washington Redskins, and the rest is history.

“It was talked about quite a bit. But at the same point and time I understand South Carolina had to do what was in their best interest,” Holtz said on a teleconference Thursday. “I have great respect for Steve Spurrier, for that whole program, the success that he was able to continue to build, the success he had on the field and for Coach Muschamp and the job he has to do.”

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Holtz had been the offensive coordinator in Columbia for four seasons and then was the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach in his father’s last season at South Carolina.

When Spurrier was brought in, he didn’t retain Holtz and brought in his own staff. Spurrier took South Carolina to new heights with three straight 11-win seasons, while Holtz has been the head coach at three different schools since then: East Carolina, South Florida and currently Louisiana Tech.

He took the Pirates to four straight bowl games, notching his first-ever bowl win as a head coach against Boise State in the 2007 Hawaii Bowl.

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He went 16-21 in three seasons with South Florida before moving on to help rebuild the Louisiana Tech program.

In his fifth season leading the Bulldogs, he’s taken the program from a 4-8 record his first year to a 9-5 finish that included a Conference USA Championship Game berth and a Armed Forces Bowl win last season.

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So while things didn’t necessarily work out the way he thought they would, stepping up to become the head coach at South Carolina, Holtz has no regrets.

Holtz's Bulldogs travel to South Carolina and will play the Gamecocks at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

“Things don’t always turn out the way we want, things happen for a reason and it happened the way it did. I’m not carrying a cross over the whole thing. It was a decision South Carolina made at the time and one we all lived with,” Holtz said. “I don’t look back with regrets and what ifs. It’s a decision that was made, and we all have to put on our big boy pants and live with it.”