By: Steve Smith
Most 8-or 9-year-old boys are into superheroes when they are growing up. Spiderman, Batman, Superman, you name it, and each character can capture the attention of a young man who looks up to them. Formative years are spent playing with figurines, watching cartoons, and perhaps even going to the theatre to see the latest superhero movie. My childhood was a bit different. I am not going to say I never played with toys, but my superheroes were college football personalities, namely, the 1990 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Raghib “Rocket” Ismail, Rick Mirer, and Ricky Watters were some of my favorite players. Every Saturday, I sat in front of the TV watching them do their thing, usually against a cloudy South Bend backdrop, and it was something I looked forward to every week.
The games were special, thanks in large part to the players I listed above and so many more, but the center of this love for college football was the Notre Dame head coach, Lou Holtz. Louis Leo Holtz was a few inches shy of six feet and barely 140lbs soaking wet with boots on. It is fair to say that Coach wasn’t the most physically imposing sideline general we’ve ever seen. A Luke Fickell or Mario Cristobal, he was not. With that being said, the personality and wisdom that filled that slight frame were what legends are made of. Whether he was chewing out a player, putting an official in a headlock, asking his players to “Save Jimmie Johnson for me”, or ridiculously building up the threat of an upset to a service academy at his weekly press conference, Lou did it with equal parts self-belief and humor. I imagine the journalists on the Fighting Irish beat those days loved those press conferences. Coach was always a story. Wait, Coach IS always a story. That has been made abundantly clear since he passed this week at age 89.
While it goes without saying that the news of Lou’s passing was tough, there was a bit of a silver lining as so many stories about Coach Holtz were shared this week. While there were countless tales about the old coach online, I felt like the words from Rece Davis really stood out. It is no secret that Coach Holtz was a mentor for Rece, and Davis did a wonderful job over the years reminding his audience just how important Coach Holtz was to him. It could be a podcast, a tweet, or even a gameday bit, and Rece always had a fun way to introduce us to a Lou Holtz story. I could listen to Rece talk about all things related to college football, but when he spoke of Lou Holtz, you could feel the authenticity of their relationship. It was more than College Football Playoff rankings or AP All-Americans. In a full-circle kind of way, Rece is one of the the guys I admire most in today’s game, and it warmed my soul to hear him talk about my childhood hero. In some regards, it even gave me peace.
Much like Rece Davis, most people who spent anytime at all with Lou had a story or four. It could be a former player, a former opponent, or even Ohio State head coach Ryan Day. Lou Holtz’s words and actions impacted everyone, one way or another… but why? Thousands of football coaches have passed through over the years. Why did Lou Holtz make an impression on almost everyone? Was it the humble West Virginia beginnings? Perhaps it was the fact that he coached in so many places and left each place better than when he found it. Maybe it’s because he said things like “I need to recruit more Williams than Marys” if he was to turn around the William & Mary football team in Williamsburg, Virginia. Whatever the reason, Coach Holtz had an enormous personality that was just slightly bigger than his resume of accomplishments. He had successful coaching stints at the previously mentioned William & Mary, University of Notre Dame, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, and South Carolina. He won 249 college football games, including 12 bowl games and the 1988 National Championship. He clearly had a legendary coaching resume and he also went on to become the highest-paid motivational speaker in the United States at one point, an accomplished author (I still give his book “Wins, Losses, and Lessons” as a graduation gift), and added a Presidential Medal of Freedom for good measure. This doesn’t even mention his brilliant television career as a college football analyst. Lou would probably also want us to mention he had seven hole-in-ones in his golf career as well. He was just that kind of guy.
Lou accomplished so much in his lifetime and, of course, worked so hard to reach all of these lofty standards. Ironically, every time you saw the man, he never looked like he was working. He was having fun on his way to his next round of success. It’s a lesson for most; if you can make it fun, it isn’t work. Lou perfected that lifestyle.
On the night of his passing, I lit a cigar for him, and I watched old YouTube clips of ESPN “Final Verdict” and “Dr. Lou”. I got so caught up in the emotion that I rewatched two full episodes of “College Football Final” as Rece, Coach, and Mark May led me through 15-20-year-old highlights. That is how captivating Lou still is to this day. It was a perfect way to spend some time with a guy that I really enjoyed. Now is as good a time as any to remind everybody that Father Time is undefeated. As we get older, we unfortunately will start to lose some of the people who really impacted our youth. I’d love to think that Coach Holtz, Beano Cook, and Keith Jackson are all somewhere hanging out and talking college football. I imagine that the legend of Lou Holtz will live on through the years, as we will always take time to recognize the true character and personality that Lou brought to our world. I’ll end it with words from On3’s Chris Low: “Coach Holtz was one of the true football icons of my lifetime.” Me too, Chris. Me too.
