Lou Holtz, legendary Notre Dame football coach, dead at 89

SOUTH BEND — Lou Holtz, the hard-driving coach who in 1988 became the last to lead Notre Dame football to the national championship, died Wednesday, March 4. He was 89.

Multiple media outlets reported on Jan. 29 that Holtz was in hospice care.

Brash, direct and occasionally controversial during his 11 seasons on the Irish sideline from 1986-96, Holtz remained one of the leading proponents of Notre Dame’s football tradition, even in retirement.

“For those who know Notre Dame, no explanation is necessary,” Holtz liked to say. “For those who don’t, no explanation will suffice.”

The same could be said of Holtz, who had his share of detractors yet inspired fierce loyalty among his former players during a 33-year head coaching career that included stops at William & Mary (1969-71), N.C. State (1972-75), Arkansas (1977-83), Minnesota (1984-85) and South Carolina (1999-2004).

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Lou Holtz,” Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman said in a statement. “Lou and I shared a very special relationship. He welcomed me to the Notre Dame family immediately, offering me great support throughout our time together. Our relationship meant a lot to me as I admired the values he used to build the foundation of his coaching career: love, trust and commitment.”

Slightly built, bespectacled and speaking with a pronounced lisp, Holtz demanded excellence from his players and routinely pushed his teams to new heights with his motivational tactics.

“Lou was always good at that kind of stuff,” former Irish offensive lineman Tim Grunhard said in a 2022 interview with the South Bend Tribune. “Bringing people back to reality and using motivation to get the best out of his players.”

Considered a wizard of sports psychology, Holtz staged dramatic turnarounds and stunning upsets at several stops, stalking sidelines and berating officials along the way.

In October 1988, No. 4 Notre Dame knocked off top-ranked Miami, 31-30, in the infamous “Catholics vs. Convicts” matchup on its way to a 12-0 season and the school’s first national title in 11 years. A 34-21 win over West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl completed the quest.

Five years later, in the highly anticipated “Game of the Century,” Notre Dame stunned top-ranked Florida State, 31-24, only to lose the following week at home to underdog Boston College.

Holtz’s Notre Dame tenure included a 100-30-2 record for a winning percentage of .765. The Irish won five New Year’s Six bowl games for Holtz, including back-to-back Cotton Bowl wins after the 1992 and 1993 seasons.

It would take Notre Dame more than three decades to claim its next New Year’s Six bowl win.

“Oh, he was incredible,” Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis told the South Bend Tribune’s “Pod of Gold” podcast in 2022. “He has been a rock in terms of my career and how I was able to transition from college to the NFL. He taught me the work ethic and what I needed to be great every day, not just in football.”

A stern disciplinarian who inspired uncommon loyalty, Holtz could throw a player out of practice for missing an assignment and walk off the field that same day with his arm around the chastened pupil.

“Coach was great because he taught life lessons, not necessarily football lessons,” Bettis said. “He used football as the backdrop, but those messages were life lessons that he was teaching. If you received it, then you were better for it. He was spectacular in how he motivated us and how he kept us going.”

How Lou Holtz concocted the 'Notre Dame Clause'

Holtz’s most notable failure came in an abortive attempt to transfer his methods to the NFL. He went 3-10 as New York Jets coach in 1976 and resigned with one game remaining.

Forced out at Arkansas in 1983 despite four top-11 finishes during his seven seasons, Holtz had the foresight to include the so-called “Notre Dame Clause” in his Minnesota contract.

“The clause,” Holtz wrote in his 2006 autobiography, “was short and direct: If Minnesota accepted a bowl bid during my tenure, and I was contacted and offered the job as head coach at the University of Notre Dame, I was free to terminate my contract with Minnesota.”

A second provision was included in which Holtz promised he would not “initiate contact with Notre Dame even if the job became vacant. Notre Dame had to contact me. I could not pursue it,” he wrote in “Wins, Losses and Lessons," his 2006 autobiography.

Holtz proposed that language with the knowledge that Irish athletic director Gene Corrigan had previously tried to hire him “three different times” at the University of Virginia. When Gerry Faust stepped down after five seasons in 1985, the runway was clear for Holtz’s legend to soar.

“Notre Dame mourns the loss of Lou Holtz, a legendary football coach, a beloved member of the Notre Dame family and devoted husband, father and grandfather,” Rev. Robert A. Dowd, the school's president, said in a statement. “We will remember him above all as a teacher, leader and mentor who brought out the very best in his players, on and off the field, earning their respect and admiration for a lifetime.”

Father Dowd also noted Holtz and his late wife, Beth, assisted Notre Dame in the refurbishment of four residence hall chapels and the construction of the Beth and Lou Holtz Grand Reading Room, dedicated in 2021, on the first floor of the Hesburgh Library.

“Whenever Notre Dame called to ask for his help, Lou answered with his characteristic generosity, and he will be sorely missed,” Father Dowd added. “The prayers of the entire Notre Dame community are with his family and many friends in this time of sorrow. May he rest in the peace and love of Christ.”

The widespread impact of Lou Holtz

The son of a bus driver, Louis Leo Holtz was born in Follansbee, W.Va., in January 1937. Of German, Irish and Ukrainian descent, Holtz was raised in East Liverpool, Ohio and went on to play two seasons as a 165-pound linebacker at Kent State before starting his coaching career in 1960 as a graduate assistant at Iowa.

Ohio State’s 1968 national championship came with Holtz on the sideline as an assistant to Hall of Fame coach Woody Hayes. Holtz coached defensive backs for the Buckeyes.

The first coach to lead six different programs to bowl games, Holtz was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. His career head coaching record in 33 college seasons was 249-132-7 (.651).

From 2004-15, Holtz was a regular part of ESPN’s studio coverage of college football. His verbal sparring sessions with former NFL offensive lineman Mark May drove ratings and made headlines.

A popular headliner on the motivational speaking circuit, Holtz also had a stint in broadcasting at CBS in the late 1990s.

Holtz was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2020 by then-President Donald Trump, of whom Holtz became a vocal supporter on social media and beyond in his later years. Holtz addressed the Republican National Convention in support of Trump’s re-election bid in 2020.

Married for nearly 59 years to the former Beth Barcus, Holtz lost his wife to cancer in June 2020.

Three of the couple’s four children are Notre Dame graduates, including Skip Holtz, who served as an offensive assistant on his father’s Notre Dame coaching staff for four seasons (1990-93) and went on to lead four college programs (Connecticut, East Carolina, South Florida and Louisiana Tech).

Skip Holtz, 61, was head coach and general manager of the Birmingham Stallions from 2022-2025, opening his tenure with three consecutive USFL or United Football League championships. The younger Holtz stepped away from that role in mid-December.

Hearing from Lou Holtz

Rick Mirer, the former Goshen High School star who went 29-7-1 as Notre Dame’s starting quarterback from 1990-92, praised his former coach on social media.

“Lou Holtz was more than a football figure,” Mirer wrote. “He was a true leader. One of one. He consistently encouraged others in life. The message never changed. Trust, Love, Commitment. Prayers to the entire Holtz family.”

Formed in 1996, the Holtz Charitable Foundation provided educational assistance to the children of his former players and financial assistance to those who have fallen on hard times.

Even those Holtz protégés who have found great success in the business world and beyond hold their former coach in high esteem.

“Everybody has stories about their interaction with Coach Holtz,” Bettis said. “Everybody’s interaction was different, but that’s what made him so special.”

Bettis won a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers and later made his mark as an entrepreneur, but the mere sound of Holtz’s voice on the telephone would return the burly running back to his Detroit youth.

“You get the phone call, and it feels like 30 years ago,” Bettis said. “You’re on pins and needles, but that’s the respect that he commands. Every player really appreciates him and what he’s done for all of us. … We still love him.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.

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