Lou Holtz facts for kids
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Holtz in 2020
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| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 6, 1937 Follansbee, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1956–1957 | Kent State |
| Position(s) | 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 | |
| 1 National (1988) 1 SoCon (1970) 1 ACC (1973) 1 SWC (1979) |
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| 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) 2x Woody 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) |
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| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2008 (profile) |
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Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is a famous American former college football coach and TV sports analyst. He was the head coach for many college teams, including Notre Dame and the University of South Carolina. His 1988 Notre Dame team had a perfect season, winning all 12 games and becoming the national champions.
Lou Holtz is special because he is the only college football coach to lead six different teams to bowl games. He is also the only coach to guide four different teams to finish in the top 15 rankings. After coaching, he worked as a college football analyst for TV networks like CBS Sports and ESPN. In 2008, he was chosen to be in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Contents
Early Life and First Coaching Steps
Lou Holtz was born in Follansbee, West Virginia. He grew up in East Liverpool, Ohio, and went to East Liverpool High School. After high school, he attended Kent State University, where he studied history and graduated in 1959. He also trained with the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps.
Holtz started his coaching career in 1960 as an assistant coach at Iowa. He then worked as an assistant at William & Mary (1961–1963), Connecticut (1964–1965), South Carolina (1966–1967), and Ohio State (1968). The 1968 Ohio State team won a national championship while Holtz was an assistant coach there.
Coaching at William & Mary
Lou Holtz got his first head coaching job in 1969 at the College of William & Mary. In 1970, he led the team to win the Southern Conference title. They also played in the Tangerine Bowl.
Leading North Carolina State
In 1972, Holtz became the head coach at North Carolina State University. Over four seasons, his teams had a great record of 33 wins, 12 losses, and 3 ties. His teams often finished in the Top 20 rankings. In 1973, his team won the ACC Championship. They played in four bowl games, winning two of them.
A Short Time with the New York Jets
After his success in college football, Holtz decided to try coaching in the professional league. He became the head coach of the New York Jets in 1976. However, he only coached for ten months. He left the team with one game left in the season, realizing that professional football coaching was not for him.
Success at Arkansas
Holtz moved back to college football in 1977 to coach the Arkansas Razorbacks. In his seven years there, the team had a strong record of 60 wins, 21 losses, and 2 ties. They played in six bowl games.
In his first season, Arkansas played in the 1978 Orange Bowl against the Oklahoma Sooners. Even though Arkansas had some key players out, they won the game 31–6. This win helped them be recognized as co-national champions for 1977 by one poll. Holtz led Arkansas to a conference championship in 1979. He left Arkansas in 1983.
Coaching the Minnesota Golden Gophers
Before the 1984 season, Holtz took over as head coach at the University of Minnesota. The team had only won one game the year before. Under Holtz, they improved, winning four games in 1984 and seven games in 1985. They were invited to the Independence Bowl in 1985, where they won. Holtz did not coach in that bowl game because he had already accepted a new job at Notre Dame.
The Notre Dame Years
In 1986, Holtz became the head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He was known for being a strict coach who wanted his players to focus on teamwork. He even had the names removed from the back of the players' jerseys to emphasize this.
In his second season, Notre Dame played in the 1988 Cotton Bowl Classic. The next year, his 1988 team had a perfect 12–0 season, winning the Fiesta Bowl and becoming the national champions. The 1989 team also had a great season, winning their first eleven games and setting a school record with a 23-game winning streak. They finished second in the national rankings.
Between 1988 and 1993, Holtz's teams had an amazing record of 64 wins, 9 losses, and 1 tie. He also led the Irish to bowl games for nine years in a row, which is still a Notre Dame record. Holtz left Notre Dame after the 1996 season. In 2008, a statue of Lou Holtz was put up on the Notre Dame campus to honor him.
First Retirement
After leaving Notre Dame, Lou Holtz worked as a commentator for CBS Sports.
Return to South Carolina
In 1999, Holtz came out of retirement to coach the South Carolina Gamecocks. The team had a very tough season in his first year, going 0–11. However, in his second season (2000), South Carolina made a huge improvement, winning 8 games and beating the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Outback Bowl. This was one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history.
His success continued in 2001, as the Gamecocks went 9–3 and won the Outback Bowl again, also against Ohio State. The 17 wins over two years (2000-2001) were the best two-year record in the school's history. Holtz helped bring the South Carolina football program back to success.
Second Retirement
On November 18, 2004, Lou Holtz announced he would retire at the end of the season. His last regular season game was against Clemson. During that game, a fight broke out between players from both teams. Because of this, both universities decided not to accept any bowl game invitations that year. Holtz finished his coaching career at South Carolina with a 6–5 record in 2004.
Broadcasting Career
After his coaching career, Lou Holtz worked as a college football analyst for CBS Sports and later for ESPN. He appeared on many college football shows, sharing his thoughts on games and teams. He often worked with Rece Davis and Mark May. Holtz left ESPN in 2015.
Personal Life
Lou Holtz was married to Beth Barcus from 1961 until she passed away in 2020. They had four children, and three of them graduated from Notre Dame. His son, Skip Holtz, is also a football coach. Lou Holtz lives in Orlando, Florida. He is known for giving motivational speeches.
Political Views
Lou Holtz has been involved in Republican Party politics for a long time. He has supported Republican candidates and spoken at political events. In 2016, he supported Donald Trump for president. In 2020, he spoke at the Republican National Convention, endorsing Donald Trump for re-election.
Holtz has also shared his opinions on other topics, like football players kneeling during the national anthem. He believes players should focus on helping their communities.
Honors and Awards
Lou Holtz has received many awards and honors throughout his life.
- In 1990, he received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement.
- He has received honorary degrees from the University of Notre Dame (2011), the University of South Carolina (2012), Trine University (2011), and Franciscan University of Steubenville (2015).
- He was inducted into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in 2012.
- He is also a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame (1983) and the Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame (1998).
- In 2020, President Donald Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is a very high honor for civilians in the United States.
Coaching Records
College Coaching Record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William & Mary Indians (Southern Conference) (1969–1971) | |||||||||
| 1969 | William & Mary | 3–7 | 2–2 | 4th | |||||
| 1970 | William & Mary | 5–7 | 3–1 | 1st | L Tangerine | ||||
| 1971 | William & Mary | 5–6 | 4–1 | 2nd | |||||
| William & Mary: | 13–20 | 9–4 | |||||||
| NC State Wolfpack (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1972–1975) | |||||||||
| 1972 | NC State | 8–3–1 | 4–1–1 | 2nd | W Peach | 17 | |||
| 1973 | NC State | 9–3 | 6–0 | 1st | W Liberty | 16 | |||
| 1974 | NC State | 9–2–1 | 4–2 | 2nd | T Astro-Bluebonnet | 9 | 11 | ||
| 1975 | NC State | 7–4–1 | 2–2–1 | 4th | L Peach | ||||
| NC State: | 33–12–3 | 16–5–2 | |||||||
| Arkansas Razorbacks (Southwest Conference) (1977–1983) | |||||||||
| 1977 | Arkansas | 11–1 | 7–1 | 2nd | W Orange | 3 | 3 | ||
| 1978 | Arkansas | 9–2–1 | 6–2 | 2nd | T Fiesta | 10 | 11 | ||
| 1979 | Arkansas | 10–2 | 7–1 | T–1st | L Sugar | 9 | 8 | ||
| 1980 | Arkansas | 7–5 | 3–5 | 6th | W Hall of Fame Classic | ||||
| 1981 | Arkansas | 8–4 | 5–3 | 4th | L Gator | 16 | |||
| 1982 | Arkansas | 9–2–1 | 5–2–1 | 3rd | W Astro-Bluebonnet | 8 | 9 | ||
| 1983 | Arkansas | 6–5 | 4–4 | 5th | |||||
| Arkansas: | 60–21–2 | 37–18–1 | |||||||
| Minnesota Golden Gophers (Big Ten Conference) (1984–1985) | |||||||||
| 1984 | Minnesota | 4–7 | 3–6 | 8th | |||||
| 1985 | Minnesota | 6–5 | 4–4 | 6th | Independence | ||||
| Minnesota: | 10–12 | 7–10 | |||||||
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Independent) (1986–1996) | |||||||||
| 1986 | Notre Dame | 5–6 | |||||||
| 1987 | Notre Dame | 8–4 | L Cotton | 17 | |||||
| 1988 | Notre Dame | 12–0 | W Fiesta | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 1989 | Notre Dame | 12–1 | W Orange | 3 | 2 | ||||
| 1990 | Notre Dame | 9–3 | L Orange | 6 | 6 | ||||
| 1991 | Notre Dame | 10–3 | W Sugar | 12 | 13 | ||||
| 1992 | Notre Dame | 10–1–1 | W Cotton† | 4 | 4 | ||||
| 1993 | Notre Dame | 11–1 | W Cotton† | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 1994 | Notre Dame | 6–5–1 | L Fiesta† | ||||||
| 1995 | Notre Dame | 9–3 | L Orange† | 13 | 11 | ||||
| 1996 | Notre Dame | 8–3 | 21 | 19 | |||||
| Notre Dame: | 100–30–2 | ||||||||
| South Carolina Gamecocks (Southeastern Conference) (1999–2004) | |||||||||
| 1999 | South Carolina | 0–11 | 0–8 | 6th (Eastern) | |||||
| 2000 | South Carolina | 8–4 | 5–3 | 2nd (Eastern) | W Outback | 21 | 19 | ||
| 2001 | South Carolina | 9–3 | 5–3 | 3rd (Eastern) | W Outback | 13 | 13 | ||
| 2002 | South Carolina | 5–7 | 3–5 | 4th (Eastern) | |||||
| 2003 | South Carolina | 5–7 | 2–6 | 4th (Eastern) | |||||
| 2004 | South Carolina | 6–5 | 4–4 | 3rd (Eastern) | |||||
| South Carolina: | 33–37 | 19–29 | |||||||
| Total: | 249–132–7 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
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NFL Coaching Record
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| NYJ | 1976 | 3 | 10 | 0 | .231 | 4th in AFC East | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 3 | 10 | 0 | .231 | – | – | – | |||
| Overall Total | 3 | 10 | 0 | .231 | NFL Championships (0) | |||||
See also
In Spanish: Lou Holtz para niños
