Lou Holtz

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This article is about the American football coach; for other people named Lou Holtz, see Lou Holtz (disambiguation).
Lou Holtz
Date of birth January 6, 1937
Place of birth Follansbee, West Virginia
Sport Football
Championships
  won		 National Championship (1988)
Schools as a coach
1969-1971,
1972-1975,
1976,
1977-1983,
1984-1985,
1986-1996,
1999-2004		 College of William & Mary,
North Carolina State University,
New York Jets (NFL),
University of Arkansas,
University of Minnesota,
University of Notre Dame,
University of South Carolina

Lou Holtz (born Louis Leo Holtz on January 6, 1937 in Follansbee, West Virginia) is a former NCAA football head coach, and is currently an author and a motivational speaker who has spoken to the likes of Fortune 500 companies on topics such as the importance of teamwork and goal setting. Holtz grew up in nearby East Liverpool, Ohio, and graduated from East Liverpool High School. He attended and graduated from Kent State University. Holtz led six teams that he helmed as a head football coach to a bowl game within two years of joining each program. To date, Holtz is also the only coach to ever guide four different programs to final top 20 rankings. In 2005 Holtz joined ESPN as a college football analyst.

Contents

[edit] Career

Holtz's first job as head coach was at William & Mary, then playing in the Southern Conference, starting in 1969. Before becoming head coach at William & Mary, Holtz served as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa (1960), William & Mary (1961-63), Connecticut (1964-65), South Carolina (1966-67), and Ohio State (1968).

In 1970, the Holtz-led Tribe won the Southern Conference title, and played in the Tangerine Bowl—as of 2007 the only bowl game a William & Mary team has ever played in (since Holtz's tenure there, William & Mary has dropped to Division I-AA). In 1972, Holtz moved to North Carolina State University and had a 31-11-2 record in four seasons. His team played in four bowl games, winning two, losing one, and tying one.

After an unsuccessful 13 game tenure as an NFL head coach with the New York Jets, Holtz went to the University of Arkansas in 1977. In his seven years there, the Razorbacks compiled a 60-21-2 record and reached six bowl games.

In his rookie season with the Razorbacks, he led Arkansas to a berth in the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma, coached by Arkansas alumnus Barry Switzer. The Sooners were in position to win their third national championship in four seasons after top-ranked Texas lost to Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl earlier in the day, and Holtz had suspended his team's top two running backs for the Orange Bowl for disciplinary reasons. However, behind 205 yards rushing from reserve running back Roland Sales, the Hogs defeated the Sooners 31-6.

Holtz accepted the head coach job at the University of Minnesota before the 1984 season. The Golden Gophers had won only four games in the previous two seasons, but had a winning record in 1985, and was invited to the Independence Bowl, where they defeated Clemson 20 to 13.

In 1986, Holtz left Minnesota to take over the then-struggling Notre Dame program. In his second season, Holtz led the Fighting Irish to an appearance in the Cotton Bowl. The follow year, Notre Dame won all their 11 regular season games and defeated third-ranked West Virginia 34 to 21 in the Fiesta Bowl, claiming the national championship. The 1989 squad also won their first 11 games (and in the process, set a school record with a 23-game winning streak) and remained in the #1 spot all season until losing to Miami in the season finale. A 21-6 win over Colorado in the Orange Bowl gave the Irish a second-place ranking in the final standings. Holtz's 1993 squad also wound up with a second-place ranking with an 11-1 record. Only a last-second 41-39 loss to Boston College in the season finale spoiled an undefeated campaign.

[edit] First retirement

Holtz left Notre Dame after the 1996 season and walked away from a lifetime contract for reasons that were never fully disclosed. When pressed, all he would say was that "it was the right thing to do." It is widely believed that concerns about his wife's health (she had been diagnosed with throat cancer) prompted him to step down. After two seasons as a commentator for CBS Sports, he came out of retirement in 1999 and returned to South Carolina, where he had been an assistant in the 1960s. Taking over a team that had gone 1-10, his Gamecocks went 0-11 during his first year, but then rebounded to go 8-4 and 9-3 in his second and third seasons and had two victories in the Outback Bowl, both over Ohio State.

[edit] Second retirement

On November 18, 2004, Holtz announced that he would retire a second time, at the end of the current season. His retirement was marred by a brawl between South Carolina and Clemson players during a game on November 21, 2004, resulting in the two universities announcing they would decline any post-season bowl game invitations. At the press conference, Holtz commented on the irony that both he and former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes would both be remembered for "getting into a fight at the Clemson game". He was referring to an incident at the 1978 Gator Bowl where Hayes punched a Clemson player in the neck after making an interception.

[edit] Controversy

While Holtz has clearly been a successful coach, his career has been followed with controversy. Minnesota and South Carolina were placed on probation shortly after he left. It should be noted that in none of these cases did the NCAA find Holtz culpable.

Preceded by
Marv Levy		 William & Mary Head Football Coach
1969–1971		 Succeeded by
Jim Root
Preceded by
Al Michaels		 North Carolina State University Head Football Coach
1972–1975		 Succeeded by
Bo Rein
Preceded by
Ken Shipp		 New York Jets Head Coach
1976		 Succeeded by
Mike Holovak
Preceded by
Frank Broyles		 University of Arkansas Head Football Coach
1977–1983		 Succeeded by
Ken Hatfield
Preceded by
Joe Salem		 University of Minnesota Head Football Coach
1984–1985		 Succeeded by
John Gutekunst
Preceded by
Gerry Faust		 University of Notre Dame Head Football Coach
1986–1996		 Succeeded by
Bob Davie
Preceded by
Brad Scott		 University of South Carolina Head Football Coach
1999–2004		 Succeeded by
Steve Spurrier

[edit] Books

Holtz is the author of five books. His first, The Fighting Spirit: A Championship Season at Notre Dame, (ISBN 0-671-67673-3) was written with John Heisler and came out in September of 1989. It's an insider account of the 1988 dream season that shocked college football experts.
His next book, The Kitchen Quarterback, came out in 1980. It outlines the basics of the game for beginning football fan.
Then he wrote Winning Every Day (ISBN 0-88730-953-4), which was published in August 1999 and was a New York Times bestseller.
In it, Holtz writes:"Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it."
He followed this in 2002 with A Teen's Game Plan for Life, (ISBN 10-1-893732-56-8) which draws on his own experience and determination and encourages teens to be the best they can be.
Most recently, in August 2006, he released his autobiography, Wins, Losses, and Lessons (ISBN 0-06-084080-3. Holtz details his youth and his greatest wins -- and losses:
"When I die and people realize that I will not be resurrected in three days, they will forget me. That is the way it should be. For reasons known only to God, I was asked to write an autobiography. Most people who knew me growing up didn't think I would ever read a book, let alone write one."
The autobiography is a revealing look into what shaped the child of such humble beginnings into a legendary college football coach and sought-after motivational speaker. His now-famous "Do Right" Rule and other philosophies on making youngsters into people of strong character serve not only as a methodology to his coaching success but a testimony to parenting skills that will stand the test of generation after generation. His life story intertwines with the lives other other well-known individuals, such as President Bill Clinton, entertainer Bob Hope, Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Bill Cowher and Steeler legend Jerome Bettis, Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes, golf great Arnold Palmer and Pope John Paul II.

[edit] Broadcasting career

Holtz currently works as a College Football analyst for the cable network ESPN. His main duty is to provide analysis for College Gameday Final.

[edit] Trivia

  • The Lou Holtz/Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame in East Liverpool, Ohio, is where much of Lou Holtz's memorabilia is displayed. It also serves as a means for raising scholarship funds for Upper Ohio Valley area residents to attend trade school and seeks to preserve the cultural history of the valley, recognizing those who have made outstanding contributions in the fields of sports, entertainment, commerce, industry, medicine and education. To view the web site, visit www.louholtzhalloffame.com .
  • While at Kent State Holtz was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Preceded by
Johnny Majors
Dick MacPherson		 Paul "Bear" Bryant Award
1977
1988		 Succeeded by
Joe Paterno
Bill McCartney


NC State Wolfpack Head Football Coaches
Busbee • Gatling • Gatling • Riddick • McKee • Devlin • Keinholz • Whitney • Heston • Whitehurst • Green • Hegarty • Paterson •Hartsell • Stafford • Fetzer • Shaw • Tebell • Van Liew • Smith • Anderson • Newton • Feathers • Hendrickson • Edwards • Michaels • Holtz • Rein • Kiffin • Reed • Sheridan • O'Cain • Amato • O'Brien
Arkansas Razorbacks Head Football Coaches
Futrall • B.N. Wilson • Searles • Thomas • D.A. McDaniel • A.D. Brown • F.C. Longman • Bezdek • E.T. Pickering • T.T. McConnell • Paine • J.B. Craig • G.W. McLaren • Schmidt • Thomsen • Cole • Tomlin • Rose • Barnhill • Douglas • Wyatt • Mitchell • Broyles • Holtz • Hatfield • Crowe • Kines • Ford • Nutt
Minnesota Golden Gophers Head Football Coaches
Peebles • Jones • McCord • McCord • Heffelfinger • Morse • Eck • Moulton • Winter • Cochrane • Heffelfinger • Jerrems • Minds • Harrison • Leary • Williams • Spaulding • Spears • Crisler • Bierman • Hauser • Fesler • Warmath • Stoll • Salem • Holtz • Gutekunst • Wacker • Mason
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Head Football Coaches
Harper • Rockne • Anderson • Layden • Leahy • McKeever • Brennan • Devore • Kuharich • Parseghian • Devine • Faust • Holtz • Davie • O'Leary • Willingham • Weis
New York Titans/Jets Head Coaches
Baugh • Turner • Ewbank • Winner • Shipp • Holtz • Michaels • Walton • Coslet • Carroll • Kotite • Parcells • Groh • Edwards • Mangini
South Carolina Gamecocks Head Football Coaches
W. A. Whaley • W.P. Murphy • W. Wertenbaker • I. O. Hunt • B. W. Dickson • C. R. Williams • Benet • McKay • Neff • N. B. Edgerton • Warren • Foster • Dobson • Metzger • Bocock • Lightsey • Laval • McCallister • Enright • J. P. Moran • Newton • McMillan • Giese • Bass • Dietzel • Carlen • Bell • Morrison • Woods • Scott • Holtz • Spurrier
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