Lou Holtz, Legendary National Championship Coach, Passes Away

Lou Holtz, the legendary college football coach who led the University of Notre Dame to the 1988 National Championship, has passed away at the age of 89. 

One of the most affable coaches of his generation, Holtz won 249 games as a collegiate head coach with 100 of those victories earned at Notre Dame from 1986 through 1996. He led the Irish to the 1988 National Championship with a 12-0 record capped by a victory over West Virginia in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl. The ‘88 title season began a 64-9-1 (.871) run for Holtz at Notre Dame that included a 23-game win streak, back-to-back 12-win seasons for the first time in school history and a program record nine consecutive bowl game appearances. 

“Notre Dame mourns the loss of Lou Holtz, a legendary football coach, a beloved member of the Notre Dame family and devoted husband, father and grandfather,” said University of Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C.

“Among his many accomplishments, we will remember him above all as a teacher, leader and mentor who brought out the very best in his players, on and off the field, earning their respect and admiration for a lifetime.  In the years since leaving the head football coach position, Lou, together with his beloved wife Beth, supported Notre Dame in innumerable ways, among them making possible the refurbishment of four residence hall chapels and the construction of the Beth and Lou Holtz Grand Reading Room on the first floor of  Hesburgh Library – tangible signs of their great love for their Catholic faith and the mission of Our Lady’s University.  Whenever Notre Dame called to ask for his help, Lou answered with his characteristic generosity, and he will be sorely missed.  The prayers of the entire Notre Dame community are with his family and many friends in this time of sorrow. May he rest in the peace and love of Christ.”

Holtz was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and instituted several traditions at Notre Dame that carry on to this day. The famous “Play Like A Champion” sign in the football locker room, which Fighting Irish players continue to honor on the way out to the playing field, was first displayed during the Holtz era. Holtz also removed names from the back of the football jerseys to emphasize the team dynamic, a tradition that is still followed today during all regular-season games. 

Holtz returned to campus during the 2025 football season and presented the colors for the National Anthem before the kickoff of the Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M game. 

Among the legendary players coached by Holtz at Notre Dame are 1987 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown and College Football Hall of Famers Raghib ‘Rocket’ Ismail, Michael Stonebreaker, Aaron Taylor and Chris Zorich. 

Holtz’s lasting legacy at the University of Notre Dame goes beyond his accomplishments and traditions with the football program. Football student-athletes who played for him developed Holtz’s Heroes, a charitable foundation that supports former student-athletes facing financial, physical, or mental hardships, provides scholarship aid to deserving youth and serves communities in need through charitable works. 

In 2021 the University dedicated the Beth and Lou Holtz Family Grand Reading Room at the Hesburgh Library, made possible by a generous gift to the University by Holtz in memory of his wife Beth, who passed away on June 30, 2020. 

The Holtz family also supported the Rockne Heritage Fund, which underwrites financial aid to Fighting Irish student-athletes, and in 1991 they established the Lou and Beth Holtz Family Scholarship, which assists deserving undergraduate students with financial need. They also served as members of University President Father John I. Jenkins’ Cavanaugh Council, funded the renovation of the chapels in the Breen-Phillips, Morrissey and St. Edward’s residence halls and created the Liz Holtz Endowment for Excellence for Lyons Hall to provide an annual operating budget and for future needs and enhancements for residents of the hall.

At the 2011 Commencement ceremonies, Holtz received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Notre Dame. 

In 2011-12, the couple was named the University’s first “ambassadors for research” and took a prominent role in increasing awareness of Notre Dame’s research mission. They took a particular interest in cancer research after Beth was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 1997. She recovered after being given a five percent chance of survival.

Holtz began his coaching career at William & Mary in 1969, then moved to NC State for the 1972 season. He won 33 games in four years with the Wolfpack and claimed the 1973 ACC Championship. 

He spent one season in the NFL with the New York Jets, then returned to college football at Arkansas in 1977. His first season at Arkansas culminated with a 31-6 upset victory over No. 3 Oklahoma in the 1978 Orange Bowl. That victory, coupled with Notre Dame’s dominating upset of top-ranked Texas in the Cotton Bowl, allowed the Fighting Irish to move from fifth to number one after the bowl season and earn the national championship. 

Holtz would finish his run at Arkansas 60-21-2 and eventually move to the University of Minnesota in 1984. He won 10 games in two years with the Gophers before accepting the Notre Dame opportunity at the end of the 1985 season. 

After his retirement at Notre Dame at the end of the 1996 season, Holtz joined CBS Sports as a game commentator but still had one more coaching run left. In 1999 he took the job at South Carolina and rebuilt the Gamecock program, finishing 0-11 in his first season then 8-5 in year two which included an upset of Ohio State in the Outback Bowl. The eight-game turnaround earned him national coach of the year honors. Holtz would eventually win 33 games in six years at South Carolina, which included back-to-back Outback Bowl wins in 2000 and 2001. 

Born January 6, 1937, in Follansbee, West Virginia, Holtz grew up in East Liverpool, Ohio, and played linebacker at Kent State University. His first coaching opportunity was at Iowa as a graduate assistant in 1960, then William & Mary, Connecticut, South Carolina and Ohio State as an assistant coach. He was a member of the Buckeye coaching staff for the 1968 national championship season. 

Holtz is survived by his four children, Luanne, Lou ‘Skip’ Junior, Kevin and Elizabeth, with the latter three all graduating from the University of Notre Dame.