Lou Holtz, the college football titan whose prolific coaching career included a brief stint with the Jets, has died, his family announced on Wednesday.
He was 89.
Holtz was best known for his illustrious 11-year run as head coach of Notre Dame, with whom he went 100-30-2 and won the 1988 national championship.
But Holtz’s résumé was far more wide-reaching, as he is the only coach in NCAA history to lead six different programs to bowl games.
He went 249-132-7 (.651) over 33 collegiate seasons with William & Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina from 1969-2004.
Holtz was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.
After three years at William & Mary and four at North Carolina State, Holtz became the Jets’ head coach before the 1976 season.
However, the Jets went just 3-10 before Holtz resigned that December with one game left in the season. That year proved to be Joe Namath’s final one with the Jets.
“God did not put Lou Holtz on this earth to coach in the pros,” Holtz famously said at the time.
Indeed, Holtz never returned to the NFL ranks.
He became Arkansas’ head coach before the 1977 season and immediately led the Razorbacks to an 11-1 record and a victory in the Orange Bowl.
Holtz spent seven years at Arkansas, going 60-21-2 (.735), and two at Minnesota before joining Notre Dame in 1986.
He led the Fighting Irish to nine bowl games and won at least 10 games in five of his 11 seasons with the school.
Holtz became immortalized in NCAA lore when he led Notre Dame to a 12-0 record and a 34-21 victory over West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl for the national title. That was Holtz’s lone NCAA championship.
Among the star players coached by Holtz at Notre Dame were Heisman-winning wide receiver Tim Brown, running backs Rocket Ismail and Jerome Bettis, defensive tackle Chris Zorich and linebacker Michael Stonebreaker.
Holtz’s 249 wins are the 10th most among coaches in NCAA history. He finished with a 12-8-2 record in bowl games.
He earned numerous national coaching honors, including winning the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award for the 1977 and 1988 seasons.
After leaving coaching, Holtz was a popular football analyst for ESPN from 2005-14.
“Oh at some point I think we all knew we’d be lucky to hold on to Lou and legends like him much longer,” Fox Sports announcer Tim Brando wrote on social media following reports that Holtz had entered hospice care.
“So many we’ve looked up to and many I had the honor and privilege of not only covering, but working alongside eventually head to their next life of eternal glory. … Coach Holtz has always been a National Treasure.”
