Lou Holtz was more teacher than coach, spreading his gospel everywhere

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Lou Holtz was more teacher than coach, spreading his gospel everywhere

Matt Hayes, USA TODAY · USA TODAY Sports

Wed, Mar 4, 2026 ·

5 min read

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Pull up a chair, and take a load off, everyone. And soak in the world around you.

Forget about football or winning and losing, or championships and near-misses. That's the very last thing Lou Holtz would've wanted any celebration of life to include.

Not that football wasn't part of Holtz's story, but that his life story — the last chapter finally played out Wednesday, March 4 , after 89 full years — was so much more than that. This is about life and love, and finding the very best of who and what you are.

Remembering Lou Holtz: Highlights of 35-year coaching career

If that included the football field, great. But it wasn't the message Holtz delivered over and over, through decades of coaching football and years on the speaker circuit.

This is the Gospel of Lou.

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Follow Lou Holtz's legacy of leadership as a college football coach

Lou Holtz, the College Football Hall of Fame coach who led Notre Dame to the 1988 national title, has entered hospice care , according to ABC57 and other reports.
Lou Holtz, 89, was at the helm for the Fighting Irish from 1986 to 1996, leading the team to a perfect 12-0 season and the national championship in 1988.
Notre Dame Lou Holtz is seen during a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich.

(Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images)

Notre Dame Irish head coach Lou Holtz during the 1988 season at Notre Dame Stadium.
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Lou Holtz, Head Coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish before the NCAA Independent Conference college football game against the University of Purdue Boilermakers on Sept. 24 1988 at the Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Ind.
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Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz prior to the 1989 Fiesta Bowl against West Virginia at Sun Devil Stadium.The Irish defeated the Mountaineers 34-21 to win the National Championship and finish the season undefeated at 12-0.
(Malcolm Emmons-US PRESSWIRE, Imagn Images)

Notre Dame Irish head coach Lou Holtz on the sideline against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Notre Dame Stadium on Oct. 18, 1989.
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Lou Holtz walks off the field following a game against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Nov. 18, 1989 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa.
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Notre Dame Irish head coach Lou Holtz is carried off the field following their victory over Colorado winning the 1989 National Championship at the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1990 in Miami.
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Notre Dame Irish head coach Lou Holtz leads his team onto the field during the 1993 season at Notre Dame Stadium.
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Lou Holtz, head coach of Notre Dame on the sideline on Sept. 4, 1993: .
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Lou Holtz on the field prior to the game against Stanford Cardinal at Foster Field at Stanford Stadium on Oct. 2, 1993.
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Coach Lou Holtz of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish argues with the official during a game against the Northwestern Wildcats on Sept. 3, 1994.
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Coach Lou Holtz of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish watches his players during a game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio on Sept. 30, 1995
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Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz addresses his team in the locker room post game after playing Southern California Trojans at Notre Dame Stadium on Oct. 21, 1995.
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Head coach Lou Holtz of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish gives some words of encouragement to his quarterback Tom Krug during the Orange Bowl in Miami on Jan. 1, 1996. FSU defeated Notre Dame 31-26.
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Head coach Lou Holtz of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is carried off the field by his team after defeating the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 62-0 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. on Nov. 23, 1996.
(Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images)

Head coach Lou Holtz of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish addresses the crowd at the completion of his final home game as Notre Dame head coach on Nov. 23, 1996.
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Head Coach Lou Holtz of the South Carolina Gamecocks yells at the line judge during the game against the Florida Gators in Gainesville, Fla on Nov. 11, 2000.
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Head coach Lou Holtz of the South Carolina Gamecocks motions for the team to leave the field prior to the start of the game against the Georgia Bulldogs on Sept. 13, 2003 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga.
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Former head coach Lou Holtz of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish has a statue unveiled before the game against the Michigan Wolverines on Sept. 13, 2008 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind.
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Former head coach Lou Holtz of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish walks out for the coin toss with David Grimes, David Bruton and Maurice Crum prior to playing the Michigan Wolverines on Sept. 13, 2008 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind.
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ESPN reporter Lou Holtz looks on during the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game between the Oregon Ducks and the Auburn Tigers at University of Phoenix Stadium on Jan. 10, 2011 in Glendale, Ariz.
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Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz speaks during a campaign rally for Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun and attended by President Donald Trump at the County War Memorial Coliseum Nov. 5, 2018 in Fort Wayne, Ind.
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President Donald Trump speaks with the press alongside former American football player and coach Lou Holtz upon arrival at Pittsburgh International Airport on Oct. 31, 2020.
(MANDEL NGAN, AFP via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump presents the Medal of Freedom to former college football coach Lou Holtz in the Oval Office of the White House on Dec. 3, 2020 in Washington, DC. Holtz is best known for his time as head coach of University of Notre Dame's football team, winning a national championship in the 1988 season.
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Lou Holtz leaves the stage during a rally with former President Donald Trump at the Florence Regional Airport on March 12, 2022 in Florence, S.C.
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Former North Carolina State Wolfpack head coach Lou Holtz is honored along with his 1973 football team during the first half at Carter-Finley Stadium on Oct. 7, 2023 in Raleigh, N.C.
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Former Notre Dame Fighting and Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Lou Holtz holds a press conference prior to the game at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Sept. 27, 2025 in Fayetteville, Ark.
(Nelson Chenault, Imagn Images)

"Everybody wants to win. I always used to ask my players, 'Can you live with losing? Can you live with failure?' That's life's motivator."

Years ago when I lived in Orlando, I went to see Holtz speak to the Orlando Touchdown Club, a lively group of a couple of hundred that used to meet at the old Citrus Bowl Stadium before it was rehabbed a couple of times.

I still have the notebook from that day, because by the time Holtz finished speaking, it was clear why he was paid thousands all over the country to spread the gospel. It was more than motivation, Holtz had the rare ability to make you think ― long after hearing him speak.

Every speech hit the same talking points, each tweaked to fit the audience, the locale, the moment.

From the billion dollar Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Mich, to the folksy yet fiery Little Rock Touchdown Club, to all of those companies and clubs between, Holtz spread the message. He used football analogies to underscore the points he was making.

It wasn't about Notre Dame or South Carolina or Arkansas or the New York Jets , it was about being the best you. And how every day is a chance to change.

"If you're bored with life, you haven't set your goals high enough."

He's the only coach in NCAA history to lead six schools to bowl games, back when bowl games actually meant something. When he retired from Notre Dame and walked off the field in South Bend for the last time in November of 1996, he did so specifically knowing he was six wins shy of setting the school record for victories.

He could've stayed at least another year and set the record (later broken by Brian Kelly), but said there was only one greatest ever coach at Notre Dame. And who was he to win more games than Knute Rockne ?

He loved stalking the sidelines, lived for beating USC . He cherished those early Saturday morning prayers at the Grotto, and the Concert on the Steps at Bond Hall — before he and his team even stepped on the grass at Notre Dame Stadium.

He was quick to point out every game was played amid the loving, open arms of Touchdown Jesus, and the 4,000-pound gold statue of the Virgin Mary on top of the tallest building on campus. Or as Holtz called her, the Lady on the Dome.

These were rare life experiences, and if you aren't chasing life's thrills every day, what exactly are you doing?

Lou Holtz at the SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio Town Hall broadcast.

"Are you committed, or are you the kamikaze pilot who flew 42 missions?"

Holtz was always committed to teaching and preaching, and the facilitator was football. Maybe that's why he only stayed away from the game for two years after leaving Notre Dame.

He took a job with the ragtag program at South Carolina, and didn't win a game in his first season. He then won 17 games over the next two seasons, and finished each with a victory in the Outback Bowl.

But it eventually fell apart over the next three seasons, ending in 2004 with what Holtz routinely described as his biggest professional disappointment: a brawl after the rivalry game with Clemson.

He never coached again. Football, anyway.

"No one has ever drowned in sweat."

He won 249 games as a college coach, and three lousy games in one season with the NFL. When he quit his job with the Jets with one game remaining in the 1976 season, Holtz declared, "God did not put me on this earth to coach professional football."

More likely, God put Lou Holtz on the earth to preach.

When he spoke, his unique voice and delivery — and the escalating, booming sound of his voice, despite his lisp, driving home point after point — had every person in every room on the edge of their seat.

Not unlike the way he motivated his players, typically poor-mouthing them in public while winding them up privately. Before maybe the biggest game of his Notre Dame coaching career, when loaded Miami came to South Bend in 1988 and the pre-game devolved into Catholics vs. Convicts, Holtz got his team zeroed in like only he could.

He spoke about the Canes and the bombastic bravado of their players and coach Jimmy Johnson, and how this Notre Dame team would take it all from them. Then right on cue — his voice rising to that unique crescendo — he said, "But save Jimmy Johnson's ass for me!"

The Irish then went out and beat the Canes 31-30.

"It's not the load that breaks you, it's the way you carry it."

Holtz often spoke of his time at Arkansas, where his first team in 1977 famously won the Orange Bowl over 18-point favorite Oklahoma — despite Holtz suspending three starters days before the game after an incident at their dorm.

Holtz used to speak of driving to work in Fayetteville, and how every day he'd cruise by a cemetery. The enormity of the moment was never lost.

"I thank god I have the opportunity to solve my problems. We tend to look at how bad things are instead of picking up ourselves up and embracing the wonderful opportunities we have."

And that, everyone, is the Gospel of Lou.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB .

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lou Holtz coached more than football. He offered life lessons

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