Sports News, Nuggets and Notes from East Carolina and Beyond

PREVIOUS NUGGETS

12.28.03: FSU AD Hart blasts NCAA over Romero ruling... .. Cards, Tigers pace productive Saturday for C-USA... .. USF's Baxter honored with NCAA Valor Award... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. More...

12.27.03: Petrino adds one-time ECU assistant Cassity to Cards staff... .. Scrutiny of Houston-Hawaii brawl underway... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. More...

12.26.03: Leach earns award in losing cause in Blue-Gray game... .. Blue-Gray scoring summary and statistics... .. Fisticuffs mar spine-tingling finish in Honolulu... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. More...

12.25.03: ECU trio set for action in today's Blue-Gray Classic... .. Houston seeks victory and esteem in paradise... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. More...

12.24.03: Cincinnati looks to Buckeyes for new coach... .. Broncos' postseason streak survives sans blue turf... .. Coach of disbanded program gets Elon job... .. Swofford minimizes impact of refs' mistakes... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. More...

12.23.03: Spectacular performance punctuates Rivers' career... .. Suspensions rock TCU on eve of bowl game... .. ACC refs botched FSU-Florida football game... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. Associated Press basketball poll... .. More...

12.22.03: Women Pirates hijack Wake Forest... .. ECU-bred coach's Mustangs upend Purdue... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. Scholars label BCS formula unreliable... .. More...

12.21.03: AutoZone replacing AXA as Liberty Bowl sponsor... .. Prominent agent with Logan ties passes... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. UCLA honors its most famous coach... .. More...

12.20.03: NFL-bound Roethlisberger plucks Cards in Mobile Bowl... .. New pact in store for Houston coach... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. Peacock network wraps up Irish through 2010... .. More...

12.19.03: NFL-bound Roethlisberger plucks Cards in Mobile Bowl... .. New pact in store for Houston coach... .. Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams... .. Peacock network wraps up Irish through 2010... .. More...

COLUMBIA — South Carolina coach Lou Holtz's offseason took another unexpected twist Saturday when recently hired assistant Robbie Caldwell returned to his old position at Vanderbilt.

Holtz said Caldwell accepted South Carolina's offer to coach the offensive line. "But he has now informed me that he has decided to remain at Vanderbilt University," Holtz said.

Caldwell and his family were in the Carolinas on Christmas Eve. Holtz announced the hiring just hours before the holiday. Caldwell, a native of Pageland, called the chance to return to the state and work for Holtz "a dream come true."

But Holtz and Caldwell spoke several times on Saturday about Caldwell's second thoughts. In the end, Caldwell said he couldn't give up on the Commodores and Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson. "I could not renege on that commitment," Caldwell said in a statement.

A message to Caldwell from The Associated Press was not immediately returned. Holtz was at his Florida home on Christmas break, South Carolina athletics spokesman Kerry Tharp said Saturday night.

Caldwell's decision means Holtz has three positions to fill on his staff in what has been his most turbulent offseason at South Carolina.

Two days after the Gamecocks finished a 5-7 season with a horrific 63-17 loss at home to archrival Clemson, Holtz dismissed four coaches in a shakeup some have called "Black Monday."

Defensive coordinator Chris Cosh, quarterbacks coach Todd Fitch, offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo and secondary coach John Gutekunst — who had all been with the Gamecocks all five of Holtz's seasons — were let go. Then first-year receivers coach Charlie Williams left to take a position with new Arizona coach Mike Stoops.

Holtz's first hire also was surprising — bringing in East Carolina offensive coordinator Rick Stockstill, who spent 1989-02 at South Carolina's chief rival Clemson, to coach receivers.

The status of Holtz's offensive coordinator son, Skip, also is up in the air because his father announced Dec. 17 that starting next year he would take control of the attack.

HONOLULU — Hawaii will always have a place in the Hawaii Bowl so long as it meets NCAA bowl qualifications and does not want to play in another game, organizers said.

When the contract creating the Hawaii Bowl was signed in 2002, it included a clause stating that for the first two years of the four-year deal, the Warriors would be invited as long as they met the NCAA bowl-eligible requirement of having six victories over Division I-A opponents.

The game pits a selection from Conference USA against Hawaii — or another team from the Western Athletic Conference.

Hawaii (9-5) won Thursday's Hawaii Bowl against C-USA foe Houston 54-48. The Warriors went 10-3 in last year's regular season then lost the Christmas Day game to Tulane of C-USA, 36-28.

Jim Donovan, the game's executive director, said Friday that the Hawaii clause will be extended "for the foreseeable future." Donovan said the clause initially was limited to the first two years because organizers were unsure if the NCAA would approve of a long-term arrangement favoring Hawaii.

But during this year's meeting of the Football Bowl Association, NCAA officials approved the clause, noting that without the Hawaii Bowl the Warriors' chances of landing in a postseason game are slim.

The Hawaii Bowl was created after Hawaii's 9-3 record in 2001 did not lead to a postseason bowl. That also was the year that two Hawaii games, the Oahu and Aloha bowls, moved to the mainland due to sagging attendance at Aloha Stadium.

Donovan said the Hawaii Bowl would not stand in the way if the Warriors wanted to play in another bowl, saying it would be up to coach June Jones and athletics director Herman Frazier to accept the invitation.