Holtz: Jeff Driskel became 'scapegoat' in toxic situation at Florida

Just a few days after Jeff Driskel made his Louisiana Tech debut with a career-high five touchdowns, Bulldogs coach Skip Holtz opened up Tuesday night during his radio show about his new quarterback, which included Driskel's recruitment and his time at Florida.

Holtz, who has spoken highly of Driskel since he landed on Tech's campus in March, delivered his strongest words Tuesday, noting the "difficult situation Driskel experienced at Florida.

"I think down at Florida, it got very toxic for him. He became the scapegoat," Holtz said. "He became the guy that was tied to losing at Florida as a fan base that does not take very well to losing. It really became a negative situation, which is unfortunate because he's such a great Christian young man with such great values who is a leader.

"If you ever have a chance to sit down and talk with him, he's almost too good to be true. He's exactly the way you'd want to raise your son. I'm really proud of him and really happy for him that he was able to go out, play that way. Our fan base was able to embrace him the way that they did."

Tech's fan base hardly had anything to complain about after this past Saturday's 62-15 win over Southern where Driskel threw for 247 yards and four touchdowns and added a score on the ground. He continued his hot start Thursday, totaling 412 yards and three scores in a loss to Western Kentucky.

Driskel received cheers, and not jeers, for his performance against Southern, something he hadn't experienced since 2012 when he helped lead the Gators to an 11-2 year and a BCS bowl berth. During the next two years, Driskel suffered a season-ending injury then lost his job in 2014 as Florida patched together an 11-13 mark.

Driskel hasn't used as strong of words as Holtz, but he did say during spring practice he was enjoying himself again.

"I'm getting a sense that football is going to be fun again, and that's really what I needed was a fresh start and that's what I'm getting here," Driskel said in April.

Driskel, who never threw for more than 12 touchdowns in a season at Florida, is well on his way to make the most of his fresh start.

As for the fun part, Holtz noticed that against Southern. Holtz noted after one of Tech's touchdowns how Driskel came off the field with his eyes "real big," looked at Holtz and said "we got some playmakers!"

"There are some guys that are really helping him, and I don't know how much he got that when he was at Florida," Holtz said Tuesday. "I don't know how much he had the help around that he has here right now."

Another noteworthy topic Tuesday was Driskel's recruitment. Holtz shared a few laughs looking back on how everything played out last December. Tech was one of a handful of schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Southeastern Conference and Big 12 that were after Driskel.

"I was just trying to hang on," Holtz said.

Holtz then recalled when he spoke with Driskel on the phone in December. Driskel told Holtz he had made his decision and wanted to transfer to Tech. Holtz cautioned Driskel that he might not want to decide or announce before Florida's bowl game in January. Driskel reiterated he wanted to play at Tech, to which Holtz quickly changed his tune.

"I said wow, we need to get that out now," Holtz said laughing. "I mean we need to get that out immediately. We need to let everybody know how you feel."

One sticking point with Driskel and his family seemed to be how Holtz consoled former quarterback Cody Sokol after a crucial interception late in a loss to Marshall for the Conference USA title. Instead of barking at his quarterback after Sokol threw a pick with Tech trailing 26-23 and less than two minutes left on the clock, Holtz put his arm around Sokol for support. Driskel saw that on TV and knew he wanted to play for Holtz.

"It's certainly not what I wanted to say to him at the time when I went over to put my arm around him," Holtz joked. "You certainly can't condemn a young man because he made a mistake.

"There's time when the young man needs a pat on the back and there's sometimes where they need a kick in the seat to get them going and get them motivated."

Holtz compared Driskel and Sokol noting how both came to Tech with a purpose and a realization "this is my last shot and I want to make the most of it."

"I feel very blessed and really a sense of obligation that we've got an obligation to make sure Jeff Driskel has success," Holtz said. "He's got a tremendous amount of talent. We've got to make sure we put him in a position and that we give him something he can mentally and physically do in this offense."