Lou Holtz

Holtz was born in Follansbee, West Virginia, and grew up in East Liverpool, Ohio, where he attended East Liverpool High School. In July 1961, he married his high school sweetheart, Beth Barcus. The couple remained married until her death from cancer on June 30, 2020. Together they had four children: Luanne, Skip, Kevin, and Elizabeth. His son Skip Holtz followed in his footsteps to become a collegiate football coach, serving on his father's coaching staff at South Carolina.

A devout Catholic, Holtz served on the Catholic Advisory Board of Ave Maria Mutual Funds and frequently credited his religious faith as the foundational compass for his life and coaching philosophy. In his later years, he lived at the Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Florida. Holtz entered hospice care in late January 2026 and died in Orlando on March 4, 2026, at the age of 89. He was buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

After playing college football as a walk-on linebacker at Kent State University and graduating with a history degree in 1959, Holtz earned a commission as a field artillery officer in the U.S. Army Reserve. He launched his coaching career in 1960 as a graduate assistant at the University of Iowa before taking assistant coaching positions at William & Mary, Connecticut, South Carolina, and Ohio State. In 1968, he served as an assistant under head coach Woody Hayes during Ohio State's national championship season.

Holtz received his first head coaching opportunity in 1969 at William & Mary, guiding the program to a Southern Conference title and a Tangerine Bowl berth in 1970. In 1972, he took over at North Carolina State University, directing the Wolfpack to a 33-12-3 record over four seasons, an Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 1973, and four consecutive bowl appearances. His success at NC State led to a brief foray into professional football in February 1976 when he was hired as head coach of the NFL's New York Jets. After compiling a 3-10 record through thirteen games, Holtz resigned before the final contest of the season, remarking that he was not suited for coaching in the professional ranks.

Holtz returned to the college game in 1977 as the head coach of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, succeeding Frank Broyles. In his debut season, he led Arkansas to an 11-1 record capped by a 31-6 upset victory over the Oklahoma Sooners in the 1978 Orange Bowl, despite suspending three key offensive starters prior to kickoff for disciplinary reasons. Over seven seasons in Fayetteville, Holtz compiled a 60-21-2 record, won a share of the 1979 Southwest Conference title, and guided the Razorbacks to six consecutive postseason bowl games.

His tenure at Arkansas concluded after the 1983 season following controversy surrounding his public political endorsements, including television commercials taped in his office supporting North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms. In 1984, Holtz became head coach at the University of Minnesota, guiding the Golden Gophers from a one-win campaign to a 7-5 record and an Independence Bowl invitation in 1985. His contract contained a specific clause permitting him to leave if the head coaching position at Notre Dame became available.

Holtz fulfilled a lifelong dream in 1986 when he was named head coach at the University of Notre Dame. Known as a strict disciplinarian, he immediately established a team-first culture by removing player names from the backs of the Fighting Irish jerseys. By his third year in 1988, Holtz guided Notre Dame to a perfect 12-0 season. The championship campaign included a memorable 31-30 regular-season victory over top-ranked Miami in the famous Catholics vs. Convicts game, culminating in a 34-21 win against West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl to capture the consensus national championship.

Holtz maintained Notre Dame among the elite programs in college football, establishing a school-record 23-game winning streak across 1988 and 1989 and achieving back-to-back 12-win seasons. He also led the Irish to runner-up finishes in the national rankings in 1989 and 1993, and took the program to nine consecutive major bowl games. When he stepped down following the 1996 season, Holtz had compiled a 100-30-2 record at Notre Dame, placing him among the winningest head coaches in the history of the program.

After two years working as a television analyst for CBS Sports, Holtz returned to coaching in 1999 at the University of South Carolina. After suffering a winless 0-11 inaugural season, he orchestrated one of the largest turnarounds in NCAA history in 2000, leading the Gamecocks to an 8-4 record and an Outback Bowl victory over Ohio State. He repeated as Outback Bowl champion the following season, compiling a 33-37 record during his six-year tenure before retiring from coaching for good after the 2004 season.

Following his coaching career, Holtz joined ESPN in 2005 as an in-studio college football analyst, appearing regularly on College Football Final and SportsCenter alongside host Rece Davis and analyst Mark May. Known on the network as Dr. Lou, he remained with ESPN until 2015 while maintaining a successful career as an author and motivational speaker. Holtz was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump in December 2020.