Shutdown Fullcast - 40 FOR 40: The 2025 Cure Bowl

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

WWWWWWWWELCOME to the return of 40 For 40, our bowl preview series where every bowl game gets its own episode and each episode is exactly as long as that game deserves.Who decides what “deserves” means? We do! Thank you for askingNow through December 31, 100% of proceeds from all PTKU merch sales will be donated to Trans Ohio. Visit preownedairboats.com to purchase BRAND-NEW BLUE SHARKS GEAR #EXCLUSIVEThis episode was produced by Michael Ray SurberFullcast theme 40 For 40 intro arranged and performed by Russell PowellFullcast theme 40 For 40 outro arranged and performed by MattDID YOU KNOW: Spencer and Holly write Channel 6, a year-round newsletter that is mostly about football, until it’s notBefore the world ends (again), treat yourself to Jason’s critically praised novel and other workTravel in your mind palace to Phantom Island, Ryan’s new show with Steven Godfrey, which is not a college football show because another simply cannot existCheck out Surber’s band Killer Antz and his new show Podcasterino

Welcome Welcome to the 40 for 40 This is the preview of the Cure Bowl featuring Old Dominion in USF playing on December 17th. We're recording this on December 16th. I think we've tried in the past

to sort of like find kooky or weird things about the Cure Bowl, but it's a good cause. It's a good cause with money that actually goes to a good cause. Yeah, it's a good... It's hard for us to do. Right, so we're not really going to do that.

Instead, though, I would like to tell you both about USF's interim head coach. USF has a new coach incoming from Ohio State, previous coach outgoing to Auburn, and betwixt them stands Kevin Patrick, who two first names, has a shit ton of history with USF. His first coaching job was with USF when they were just starting out as a football team at the FCS level. Like he started, he started with the very early Jim Levitt teams. He then left out. after 1998 for what is described in his official bio on the USF website as private business.

That's just what it says, 1998 to 2008, private business. For context, when you look at a coach's bio on a team website, frequently there will be gaps. There will be time. I looked at Mac Brown's UNC bio, which is still out, for comparison. There is a big chunk of time where Mac Brown is not coaching. We know that he was doing television.

at that point. But they don't bother putting in, like, Mac, oh, from X to X, he was with Adamene doing, leaving games early so he could get on a plane. It is therefore very strange to me that they've decided to put private business up here, but no specific, no specificity about what that business was. Just, just that it was private business. Business for money. After a decade of private business, which does include, I believe, two economic collapses, we're counting in the 2001.com bubble and the 2007 financial crisis. That does sound like the name of a guy who would precipitate multiple financial crises. Right, right.

So I'm not saying Kevin Patrick wrecked the economy twice. I'm saying I would like to ask more questions. That's all. I'm saying they're certainly silent on the subject. Ryan, since we don't care about anything else happening in this game. Yeah. Can I give you an early Idaho potato bowl fact, a game which hasn't happened yet? Sure.

one of the very first newest websites on the Idaho Potato Bowl commissioned website this year is drum roll please leftover mashed potato muffins a point of contention for us during this year's Thanksgiving disasters episode that's true it does use two large eggs as a binder to create I guess kind of individual potato quiches and from the looks of this it looks like adding it looks like putting them in greased muffin tins and and adding those eggs for binder does create kind of a containing crust, like a little shiny crust around the outside. And they look like they're holding shape beautifully on the plate.

There's a YouTube video and everything. I take it back. To go back to USF's interim head coach, after 10 years in private business, he returns to USF, where Jim Levitt, the coach he started with, is still there. Jim Levitt was at USF for fucking forever. Somebody had to shelter Matt Grothy's rap career.

He then, was a holdover to the Skip Holtz administration at USF. He's still there. Now, finally, Skip Holtz was too much for him. He did leave. He did two seasons at North Texas. He coached for Cliff Kingsbury for a year at Texas Tech. He worked for Dave Doran.

Then he goes and works for Willie Taggart. USF Willie Taggart? No, FAU Willie Taggart, but still a USF coach. And then in 2023, he comes back to USF for the fourth coach that has had the USF job, the third that he's dealt with to coach with Alex Golish, which means Charlie Strong and Jeff Scott are the only two USF coaches he has never worked for. But here is the baffling part.

This man has spent a staggering amount of time, and I'm going to just assume all of the private business was in the state of Florida as well. He spent a ton of time in Florida. Do you know where Kevin Patrick went to college? And was a very accomplished college player in the early 1990s? Duke. Nope.

no no Miami what Kevin Patrick won big East defensive player of the year his season his senior season in 1993 he was part of the 1991 national championship he's in the Miami Sports Hall of Fame he's in my god he's in the Miami Hall of Fame so sleepy in this photo he has never in some first team all-american somehow he has never coached a single day at the U and the U is not a place that is like oh yeah they only they can be picky it's it's it's it's They're not like, we only let so many guys come coach it to you over the last 20 years. I am, I am just flabbergasted by this. He also lettered in track in his, in high school, he like threw discus and, yeah.

He was a legit good, uh, I think he was a defensive lineman. He's also shaped like he's, if you put him in silhouette with Mario, you could not tell them apart. Yes, he, yes, everything, but instead the siren song of USF continues to call this man over and over and over again. private private business is the only thing that successfully kept him away from usf for any amount of time what if the private business itself was usf and he's like this is a little too much usf on my resume just university of submarining financials we're going to sweep that usf under the rug i'm i'm going to be the john wick of usf and off book handle all of their business can i tell you an even not not an even but perhaps an equally alarming usf

act. Sure. Do you know what Skip Holtz's record is in the USFL slash UFL as head coach of the Birmingham Stallions or whatever? No, quick note for everyone who's just listening, Bob Stoops, has retired. Oh shit. Oh, shit. We know you come here for the Stoops.

This time. This time, that probably is news to most of you. Yeah. So, like, what did you want to hear in any of us? By the way, and I don't remember his screen name, but shout out to that one guy. Yeah. What is Skip Holtz? Skip Holtz was coaching the Birmingham team.

Yeah, he won like three, four, five titles in a row. So they were three championships in a row. They lost to the Michigan Panthers in the conference championship game this year. His combined record over four seasons is 33 and seven. Didn't he also win a title in one of the other spring leagues? Something like that. So for the first two years of this team's existence, they were in the U.S. FL and this is now in the U.S.

FL. So same team, but two different leagues. He was so good at it because it's got USF in the name of the league. Yeah. Most accomplished Holtz? Yeah, clearly, I can't think of another one. Seems hard not to, seems hard that he couldn't be. Yeah, definitely the most alive. Like, did, did Lou Holtz win 10 games at Yukon? Because Skip Holtz.

I mean, Skip has cratered far fewer programs. That's true. A far better hit rate in that regard. Yeah. I'm sure that we don't share. many politics, but I also don't think he's ever been fired from a Jim Crow state for buddying up with Jesse Helms. So hard to do now. Well, again, why doesn't Palantir sponsor a bowl game?