Legendary Notre Dame Football Coach Lou Holtz Passes Away

The Holtz family has announced the passing of former Head Football Coach, National Champion, and College Football Icon, Lou Holtz.

The Irish Tribune wishes to celebrate Lou Holtz's legacy by sharing an excerpt from a past article, which highlights his many accomplishments and astounding career with the Fighting Irish. Lou Holtz will forever be remembered as a beacon of joy and passion for Notre Dame fans and alumni everywhere. May he rest in peace.

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Lou Holtz’s relationship with Notre Dame didn’t begin on the field or in attending classes on campus. Instead, he was a longtime admirer and fan of the program. His admiration grew when he began his coaching career, and the hallowed head coach position at the University of Notre Dame became his dream job. After making a name for himself coaching the Arkansas Razorbacks for 7 seasons, Holtz was offered the top spot at the University of Minnesota, which he accepted with only one stipulation. He requested a clause in the agreement that would release him immediately from his contract if Notre Dame, and only Notre Dame, came knocking. 

Thankfully for everyone, they did, and Holtz was officially named the next head coach at Notre Dame for the 1986 season. He inherited a struggling program, desperate to return to the glory of years past but struggling to find its footing. With everything stacked against him, Holtz arrived in South Bend with a new vision for the former powerhouse and immediately made his mark. He decided to remove the names on the back of player jerseys to foster a team-first mentality over individual accomplishments. Outside of a few postseason exceptions, Holtz’s nameless jerseys have remained a staple of the program’s tradition and were only the beginning of his contributions to its history. 

The 1986 season was a baptism of sorts for Holtz, posting a 5-6 record. Despite the poor start, the season was encouraging, with 5/6 losses coming by single digits. These losses came against #3 Michigan (23-24), Michigan State (15-20), #2 Alabama (10-28), Pitt (9-10), #3 Penn State (19-24), and #8 LSU (19-21). In the final game of the season, Notre Dame stunned USC, mounting a 17-point come-from-behind 4th quarter victory, squeezing by the Trojans (38-37). While his first season was a losing one, the Irish fought several tough breaks, and Holtz managed to beat USC in his first go.

Holtz’s second season was an improvement, with the Irish going 8-1 through their first 9 games, beating #9 Michigan at the Big House, #17 Michigan State, USC, and #10 Alabama. Despite starting strong, the Irish dropped their final 3 games, falling to Penn State in a (20-21) heartbreaker, a crushing (0-24) loss against Miami to end the regular season, and a (10-35) loss in the Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M. While most were left reeling from the late season collapse, Holtz again saw promise and potential in his squad, and Irish fans were left to dry their tears with Tim Brown’s 1987 Heisman Trophy.

After only two years in South Bend, 1988 was when everything finally clicked for Holtz and the Irish. Notre Dame began the season as the #13 team in the polls and an underdog in their opening game against #9 Michigan. The Irish struggled mightily on offense, failing to score a single touchdown and forced to lean on their defense and special teams. Their only points came from an 81-yard Ricky Watters punt return for a touchdown and 3 field goals from walk-on kicker Reggie Ho. Down 2 points and the game on the line, Notre Dame’s fate hung on the leg of Ho as he lined up for his 4th attempt of the day and only 1:13 left on the clock. Just as they had all day, the Irish special teams rose to the occasion and knocked a 4th kick through the uprights to steal the game (19-17). After narrowly escaping disaster, Holtz and his squad responded by handily dispatching Michigan State (20-3) before crushing Purdue (52-7) the week after. Now in full stride, the Irish added wins against Stanford (42-21) and Pitt (30-20) to bring their record to 5-0 as they stared down the barrel of their biggest challenge yet.

On October 15th, Jimmy Johnson and the #1 Miami Hurricanes arrived in South Bend to face off against the #4 Fighting Irish. The reigning National Champions brought plenty of hype and cockiness with them, but instead of intimidating Holtz and his squad, it fueled them. Just before kickoff, simmering tensions boiled over when both teams encountered one another in the tunnel, leading to an all-out brawl that only ended when police intervened. Miami’s opening drive ended with a fumble, allowing the Irish to strike first on a 12-play 75-yard touchdown drive. The Hurricanes responded quickly with a touchdown of their own, but an 80-yard drive ending with a Tony Rice touchdown pass put the Irish up once again. Only 4 plays later, Irish Safety Pat Terrell snagged a tipped ball and returned it 60 yards for a score, extending the Irish lead to 14. The Hurricanes scored 2 quick touchdowns in the final minutes of the 2nd quarter and levelled the score at (21-21) just before the half. Notre Dame’s defense came up big on Miami’s first play of the 3rd quarter, forcing a fumble to give the Irish offense a short field. They capitalized with a rushing touchdown and later added a Reggie Ho field goal to extend their lead to 10 as the 4th quarter began.

A Miami field goal cut Notre Dame’s lead to 7, and a quick defensive stop gave them the ball back about halfway through the 4th. After marching deep into Irish territory, Miami’s drive culminated in a 4th & 7 red zone situation. They initially converted on a pass over the middle but controversially fumbled the ball on Notre Dame’s 1-yard line, just a yard shy of tying the game and their 7th turnover of the day. Shortly after the momentum swing, Tony Rice was stripped on Notre Dame’s 14, giving the Hurricanes yet another chance to decide the game. This time, Miami would capitalize on the turnover with a 4th down touchdown pass, drawing within a point of the Irish. Instead of kicking the extra point to tie, head coach Jimmy Johnson decided to go for the death blow and try for a 2-point conversion. Once again, Pat Terrell saved the day, knocking down a last-ditch toss to the back corner of the end zone, sealing the win for the Irish and snapping Miami’s 36-game regular-season win streak. The game became an instant classic, dubbed “Catholics vs Convicts”, and is still considered one of the greatest games in college football history.

After knocking off the #1 team in the country, the Irish improved to #2 in the polls and would continue their campaign with wins over Air Force (41-13), Navy (22-7), Rice (54-11), and Penn State (21-3) before their final regular-season game against their biggest rival. #1 Notre Dame entered its annual contest with #2 USC, looking to cap off their season with a statement. For the first time in the rivalry’s history, both sides entered the matchup undefeated, but with the game in LA, Notre Dame was considered the underdog. The Irish jumped out to an early lead with 2 first-quarter rushing touchdowns, with one coming via a 65-yard Tony Rice scramble that gave him his 9th rushing score of the season. The score made Rice the first QB since Irish legend Paul Hornung in 1956 to lead the team in rushing. The Irish defense piled on, scoring on a pick-six, and forced 4 USC turnovers to put the Trojans away (27-10).

The 11-0 Irish earned a shot at the National Title, heading to the Fiesta Bowl to face #3 West Virginia. Both teams entered the matchup at their peak; the Mountaineers were the best team WVU had ever fielded, and the Irish brought a #1 ranking into a postseason bowl game for the first time ever. Notre Dame stunned the Mountaineers by scoring twice in the 1st quarter, once via an Anthony Johnson rush with a missed PAT, and the second on a 45-yard field goal. West Virginia only managed 2 FGs in the 2nd quarter, while the Irish padded the lead with another rushing score and a 30-yard dagger from Tony Rice to The Rocket, sending the game into halftime with a lopsided (23-6) score. The Mountaineers put up their first touchdown in the 3rd quarter, while Notre Dame added a field goal to bring the score to (26-13). Both sides traded touchdown passes and 2-point conversions in the 4th, but the Irish defense stepped up like they had all season, and put the game out of reach with a late interception in WVU’s end zone. Notre Dame held on to beat West Virginia (34-21). This win gave Lou Holtz his first National Championship, the program’s 11th, and its first since 1978. Holtz joined Leahy, Parseghian, and Devine by winning it all in his 3rd season in South Bend, and he was awarded the Coach of the Year by three different presenters. The 1988 team is considered one of the greatest of all time, going undefeated, beating 10/12 opposing teams by double digits, and taking down the #2, #4, #5, and #7 ranked teams at the end of the season.

Following the 1996 season, Holtz announced his retirement from the game, finishing his time at Notre Dame with a .765 win percentage, a 100-30-2 record, and 1 National Title. In 11 seasons with the Irish, Holtz took the program to 9 bowl games, winning 5 of them, and posted only 1 losing season. He coached Notre Dame’s last Heisman Trophy winner (Tim Brown), 3 College Football Hall of Fame inductees (Tim Brown, Raghib “The Rocket” Ismael, and Chris Zorich), 10 all-Americans, and sent more than 70 Irish players to the NFL. 

Holtz inherited a downtrodden program struggling to find its footing after the disappointment of Gerry Faust’s tenure and remains the most modern example of Notre Dame’s success and potential. The Irish owe their last National Title and Heisman Trophy to Holtz, and his mark on the program’s legacy continues to this day. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008, and the University unveiled a statue of his likeness on campus in the same year. Right until the end, Holtz remained ever-present in coverage of his beloved Fighting Irish and holds a special place in the heart of South Bend’s lore, forever stoking the fire of Notre Dame’s pride.

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