.jpg) Holtz in 2020 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1937-01-06)January 6, 1937 (age 88) Follansbee, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1956–1957 | Kent State |
| Position | Linebacker |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1960 | Iowa (assistant) |
| 1961–1963 | William & Mary (assistant) |
| 1964–1965 | Connecticut (assistant) |
| 1966–1967 | South Carolina (assistant) |
| 1968 | Ohio State (assistant) |
| 1969–1971 | William & Mary |
| 1972–1975 | NC State |
| 1976 | New York Jets |
| 1977–1983 | Arkansas |
| 1984–1985 | Minnesota |
| 1986–1996 | Notre Dame |
| 1999–2004 | South Carolina |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 249–132–7 (college) 3–10 (NFL) |
| Bowls | 12–8–2 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1National (1988) 1SoCon (1970) 1ACC (1973) 1SWC (1979) | |
| Awards | |
| 2×Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (1977, 1988) 2×Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (1977, 1988) 2×Sporting News College Football COY (1977, 1988) Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (1977) 2xWoody Hayes Trophy (1977, 1988) ACC Coach of the Year (1972) SWC Coach of the Year (1979) SEC Coach of the Year (2000) Presidential Medal of Freedom (2020) | |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2008 (profile) | |
Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937)[1] is an American formercollege football coach and television analyst. He served as the head football coach at theCollege of William & Mary (1969–1971),North Carolina State University (1972–1975), theNew York Jets (1976), theUniversity of Arkansas (1977–1983), theUniversity of Minnesota (1984–1985), theUniversity of Notre Dame (1986–1996), and theUniversity of South Carolina (1999–2004), compiling a career college head coaching record of 249–132–7. Holtz's1988 Notre Dame team went 12–0 with a victory in theFiesta Bowl and was the consensusnational champion. Holtz is the only college football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 15 rankings.
After retiring from coaching, Holtz worked as a TV college football analyst forCBS Sports in the 1990s andESPN from 2005 until 2015. On May 1, 2008, Holtz was elected to theCollege Football Hall of Fame.[2]
Holtz was born inFollansbee, West Virginia, the son of Anne Marie (Tychonievich) and Andrew Holtz, a bus driver.[3] His father was of German and Irish descent, while his maternal grandparents were emigrants fromChernobyl, Ukraine.[4][5] He grew up inEast Liverpool, Ohio, where he was raised as aCatholic. He graduated fromEast Liverpool High School. After high school, Holtz attendedKent State University. He was a member of theDelta Upsilon fraternity, and graduated in 1959 with a degree in history. Holtz also trained under Kent State's ArmyReserve Officers' Training Corps and earned a commission as a Field Artillery Officer in the United States Army Reserve at the time of his graduation from college. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 1960, atIowa, where he received his master's degree.[6] From there, he made stops as an assistant atWilliam & Mary (1961–1963),Connecticut (1964–1965),South Carolina (1966–1967) andOhio State (1968). The1968 Ohio State team won anational championship with Holtz as an assistant.
Holtz's first job as head coach came in 1969 at theCollege of William & Mary, who played in theSouthern Conference at that time. In1970, he led the William & Mary Indians (nowTribe) to the Southern Conference title and a berth in theTangerine Bowl.[7]
In 1972, Holtz moved toNorth Carolina State University and had a 33–12–3 record in four seasons. His first three teams achieved final Top 20 rankings including a final Top 10 finish in the 1974 Coaches Poll. His 1973 team won the ACC Championship. His Wolfpack teams played in four bowl games, going 2–1–1.[7] Following the 1975 season, Holtz accepted an offer to leave college football and become the head coach of the NFL's New York Jets.
Holtz's lone foray into the professional ranks began when he was appointed as head coach of theNew York Jets on February 10, 1976. He was selected overJohnny Majors,Darryl Rogers, andMarv Levy.[8] Holtz resigned ten months later on December 9 with the Jets at 3–10 and one game remaining in the1976 season.[6] Upon his departure, he lamented, "God did not put Lou Holtz on this earth to coach in the pros."[9]
Holtz went to theUniversity of Arkansas in 1977. In his seven years there, theRazorbacks compiled a 60–21–2 record and reached sixbowl games.[10][11] In his first season at Arkansas, he led them to a berth in the1978 Orange Bowl against theOklahoma Sooners, then coached by University of Arkansas alumnusBarry Switzer.[7] The Sooners were in position to win their third national championship in four seasons after top-rankedTexas lost earlier in the day to fifth-ranked Notre Dame in theCotton Bowl Classic. Arkansas' chances looked slim after the team lost several key personnel just before the game. In one of his last practices, All-American guard,Leotis Harris suffered a season-ending injury, and only a couple of days later Holtz suspended both startingrunning backs,Ben Cowins and Michael Forrest, and top receiver, Donny Bobo, for disciplinary reasons. However, behind an Orange Bowl record of 205 yards rushing from reserve running backRoland Sales the Hogs defeated the Sooners, 31–6.[12] That team was recognized by theRothman (FACT) poll as co-national champions, along with Texas and Notre Dame for 1977. Holtz was widely considered to be the leading candidate to replaceWoody Hayes atOhio State in 1979, but Holtz did not pursue the job because he did not want to follow Hayes.[13][14]
After a 9-2-1 record in 1978 and a tie in the1978 Fiesta Bowl against UCLA, Holtz led Arkansas to a 10–2 record and a share of the SWC championship in 1979. His 1980 team slipped to 7-5 but beat Tulane in the Hall of Fame Classic, and his 1981 squad finished 8-4 after losing to North Carolina in the Gator Bowl. Holtz and his Hogs finished with a 9-2-1 record in 1982 after a Bluebonnet Bowl victory over Florida. Holtz was then dismissed following a 6–5 campaign in 1983. At the time, athletic directorFrank Broyles stated that Holtz had resigned because he was "tired and burned out", and was not fired.[15] Broyles testified 20 years later that he had fired Holtz because he was losing the fan base with things he said and did.[16] Holtz confirmed that he had been fired, but that Broyles never gave him a reason,[17] although reports cited his political involvement as a major reason: controversy arose over his having taped two television advertisements from his coach's office endorsing the re-election ofJesse Helms as Senator from North Carolina at a time when Helms was leading the effortto block Martin Luther King Jr. Day from becoming a national holiday.[18][19]
Holtz accepted the head coaching job at theUniversity of Minnesota before the 1984 season. TheGolden Gophers had only won one game vs.Rice in 1983, but under Holtz won four games including 3 in the Big Ten. In 1985 the team was 7-5 and were invited to theIndependence Bowl, where they defeatedClemson, 20–13. Holtz did not coach the Gophers in that bowl game, as he had already accepted the head coaching position atNotre Dame.[7] His contract purportedly included a "Notre Dame clause" that allowed him to leave if that coaching job were to become available.[20]
Holtz's tenure at Minnesota was not without controversy. Just prior to the1991 Orange Bowl, the NCAA implicated the Holtz-era Golden Gophers for recruiting violations. Sanctions handed down in March 1991 included a bowl ban in 1992 for the Golden Gophers and "two more years ... [of] continued probation".[21][22]
In 1986, Holtz left Minnesota to take over the then-struggling Notre Dame Fighting Irish football program. A taskmaster and strict disciplinarian, Holtz had the names removed from the backs of the players' jerseys when he took over at Notre Dame, wanting to emphasize team effort. With the exception of select bowl games, names have not been included on Notre Dame's jerseys since. Although his 1986 squad posted an identical 5–6 mark that the 1985 edition had, five of their six losses were by a combined total of 14 points.[23] In the season finale against the archrivalUSC Trojans, Notre Dame overcame a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit and pulled out a 38–37 win.[23]
In his second season, Holtz led the Fighting Irish to an appearance in the1988 Cotton Bowl Classic, where the Irish lost to theTexas A&M Aggies, 35–10.[23] The following year, Notre Dame won all eleven of their regular season games and defeated the third-rankedWest Virginia Mountaineers, 34–21, in theFiesta Bowl, claiming the national championship. The 1989 squad also won their first eleven games (and in the process set a school record with a 23-game winning streak[23]) and remained in the No. 1 spot all season until losing to Miami in the season finale. A 21–6 win overColorado in theOrange Bowl gave the Irish a second-place ranking in the final standings, as well as back-to-back 12-win seasons for the first time in school history.
Holtz's 1993 Irish team ended the season with an 11–1 record and ranked second in the finalAP poll. Although theFlorida State Seminoles were defeated by the Irish in a battle of unbeatens during the regular season and both teams had only one loss at season's end (Notre Dame lost to seventeenth-rankedBoston College), FSU was then voted national champion in the final 1993 AP andCoaches Poll. Between 1988 and 1993, Holtz's teams posted an overall 64–9–1 record.[23] He also took the Irish to bowl games for nine consecutive seasons, still a Notre Dame record.[23]
Following an investigation in 1999, the NCAA placed Notre Dame on two years probation for extra benefits provided to football players between 1993 and 1999 by Kim Dunbar, a South Bend bookkeeper involved in a $1.4 million embezzlement scheme at her employer, as well as one instance of academic fraud that occurred under Holtz's successor,Bob Davie. The NCAA found that Holtz and members of his staff learned of the violations but failed to make appropriate inquiry or to take prompt action, finding Holtz's efforts "inadequate."[24][25]
On September 13, 2008, Lou Holtz was invited back to the campus where a statue of the former coach was unveiled. The ceremony took place during the weekend of the Notre Dame/Michigan game, almost twenty-two years to the day after Holtz coached his first Notre Dame team against the Wolverines.
Occasionally, despite his lack of success with the New York Jets, he was rumored to be leaving Notre Dame for the NFL. Following a 6–10 season in 1990 and an 8–8 showing in 1991, theMinnesota Vikings were rumored to replaceJerry Burns with Holtz. However, Holtz denied these rumors each of those two seasons. Holtz remained at Notre Dame; the Vikings, meanwhile, hiredDennis Green to replace the retired Jerry Burns.[26][27]
Lou Holtz left Notre Dame after the 1996 season. In 1996, two members of theMinnesota Vikings's ownership board,Wheelock Whitney andJaye F. Dyer, reportedly contacted Holtz. They wanted to bring him in to replaceDennis Green.[28] Of the rumors surrounding the reasons for Holtz's retirement, one of them was the possible Vikings head coaching position.[29]
After two seasons as a commentator forCBS Sports, Holtz came out of retirement in 1999 and returned to theUniversity of South Carolina, where he had been an assistant in the 1960s. The year before Holtz arrived, theGamecocks went 1–10, and the team subsequently went 0–11 during Holtz's first season. In his second season, South Carolina went 8–4, winning theOutback Bowl over the heavily favoredOhio State Buckeyes. The eight-game improvement from the previous year was the best in the nation in 2000 and the third best single-season turnaround in NCAA history.[30] It also earned National Coach of the Year honors for Holtz fromFootball News andAmerican Football Coaches Quarterly. In his third season, Holtz's success continued, leading the Gamecocks to a 9–3 record and anotherOutback Bowl victory over Ohio State. The nine wins for the season were the second highest total in the history of the program. Under Holtz's leadership, the Gamecocks posted their best two-year mark in school history from 2000 to 2001, going 17–7 overall and 10–6 in SEC play.[7]
After consecutive 5–7 campaigns in 2002 and 2003,[31][32] Holtz finished his South Carolina tenure on a winning note with a 6–5 record in 2004.[33] Holtz's time in Columbia saw the resurrection of Gamecock Football, as the program had only one bowl win and no Top 25 finishes in the ten years before his hire. Upon his exit, USC had posted AP Top 25 finishes in 2000 and 2001 (#19 and No. 13 respectively) and had made consecutive New Year's Day bowls for the first time in its history. Holtz finished his six-year tenure at South Carolina with a 2–4 record versus his former team, Arkansas, beating the Razorbacks in Columbia, SC in 2000 and 2004.
In 2005, the NCAA imposed three years probation and reductions in two scholarships on the program for ten admitted violations under Holtz, five of which were found to be major. The violations involved improper tutoring and off-season workouts, as well as a lack of institutional control. No games were forfeited, and no television or postseason ban was imposed. Holtz issued a statement after the sanctions were announced stating, "There was no money involved. No athletes were paid. There were no recruiting inducements. No cars. No jobs offered. No ticket scandal."[34][35]
On November 18, 2004, Holtz announced that he would retire at the end of the season. On November 20, 2004, theClemson – South Carolina brawl took place during Holtz's last regular season game.[36] Instead of ending his career at a post-season bowl game, which was expected, the two universities announced that each would penalize their respective football programs for theirunsportsmanlike conduct by declining any bowl game invitations.[36] At his last press conference as South Carolina's coach, Holtz said “Isn’t it a heck of a note, Lou Holtz is going to be remembered along withWoody Hayes for having a fight at theClemson game"[37]
Holtz has written or contributed to 10 books:
Holtz has worked forCBS Sports as a college football analyst and in the same capacity for the cable networkESPN. He worked on the secondary studio team, located in Bristol as opposed to the game site. He typically appeared on pregame, halftime, and postgame shows of college football games. In addition, he appeared onCollege Football Scoreboard,College Football Final,College Football Live,SportsCenter, and the occasional game. He typically partnered withRece Davis andMark May. Holtz came under scrutiny after referencingAdolf Hitler in an on-air comment while appearing onCollege Football Live in 2008.[38][39] In his analysis ofMichigan Wolverines head coachRich Rodriguez, Holtz stated sarcastically, "Ya know, Hitler was a great leader, too." The next day, Holtz apologized for the comment during halftime of a game between Clemson and Georgia Tech.[40] On April 12, 2015, it was reported bySB Nation that Holtz was leaving ESPN.[41]
Holtz was married to Beth Barcus from July 22, 1961, until her death from cancer on June 30, 2020.[42] Holtz currently resides inLake Nona Golf & Country Club inOrlando, Florida. He and Beth had four children, three of whom are Notre Dame graduates. His children include head coachSkip Holtz. His cousins Ashton and Kerosene Holtz both played football inFort Scott, Kansas, as a linebacker and defensive end. Holtz is on the Catholic Advisory Board of theAve Maria Mutual Funds, and gives motivational speeches. Coach Holtz is a member at theAugusta National Golf Club inAugusta, Georgia. On June 23, 2015, Holtz's Lake Nona home was damaged by a house fire that was most likely triggered by a lightning strike.
Holtz has long been active inRepublican Party politics, including his support for Helms, hosting former Vice PresidentDan Quayle in a 1999 fundraising tour,[43] speaking at a 2007 House Republicans strategy meeting[44] and considering entering the Republican primary for a congressional seat in Florida in 2009.[45] However, he also made a contribution of $2,300 to the campaign ofDemocratic Party Presidential candidateHillary Clinton in 2008.[46] In 2016, Holtz endorsedDonald Trump for president.[47] In 2020, Holtz voiced his support forAmy Coney Barrett's nomination theUnited States Supreme Court.[48] He often appears onHannity on theFox News Channel.
On August 26, 2020, Holtz spoke at the Republican National Convention endorsing Donald Trump for re-election. During his address at the2020 Republican National Convention, Holtz said that Democratic Presidential NomineeJoe Biden was "a Catholic in name only."[49] The University of Notre Dame also released a statement the following day to distance itself from Holtz's comment regarding Biden.[50]
Holtz has been vocal about his disapproval ofColin Kaepernick taking a knee beforeNFL games and NFL commissioner,Roger Goodell, allowing players to do so. Holtz told Scoop B Radio'sBrandon Scoop B Robinson that players should go to inner city neighborhoods and be influential in their community rather than kneeling.[51]
Holtz appeared as himself in aDiscover Card commercial in November 2011.[52] A 1994 episode ofCoach had the protagonist Hayden Fox covertly traveling to a nation under sanction from the United States in an attempt to sign a native who is an incredible place kicker, only to find Lou Holtz has beaten him to the punch, signing the kicker for Notre Dame.
In 1990, Holtz received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement.[53] Holtz was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from theUniversity of Notre Dame on May 22, 2011.[54] On April 19, 2012, Holtz was inducted into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame.[55] Holtz was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Education from theUniversity of South Carolina on December 17, 2012. Holtz was awarded an honorary Doctor in Public Service fromTrine University and elected to the board of trustees in 2011.[56] Trine also honored Holtz in 2013 by naming a program the Lou Holtz Master of Science in Leadership Program.[57] He was also awarded an honorary Doctorate in Communications fromFranciscan University of Steubenville on May 9, 2015, and delivered a commencement address.[58] Holtz was elected to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1983, and the Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame in 1998. On December 3, 2020, Holtz was awarded thePresidential Medal of Freedom by PresidentDonald Trump.[59]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| NYJ | 1976 | 3 | 10 | 0 | .231 | 4th inAFC East | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 3 | 10 | 0 | .231 | – | – | – | |||
| Overall Total | 3 | 10 | 0 | .231 | NFL Championships (0) | |||||
U.S. football coach/broadcaster Lou Holtz in 1937 (age 82)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
