Athletes - Lou Holtz

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	Athletes - Lou Holtz

Lou Holtz (born Louis Leo Holtz on January 6, 1937 in Follansbee, West Virginia) is one of the premier NCAA college football head coaches of his era. Holtz grew up in nearby East Liverpool, Ohio, and graduated from East Liverpool High School. Lou was an assistant to the legendary Coach Woody Hayes at The Ohio State University in Columbus. Holtz led six teams that he helmed as a head football coach to a bowl game within two years of joining each program. Lou Holtz entered the 2004 season as the third winningest active NCAA football coach and ranks eighth all-time with 243 victories, while his 12 bowl game victories rank fifth on the all-time list. To date, Holtz is also the only coach to ever guide four different programs to final top 20 rankings.

Career

Holtz's first job as head coach was at William & Mary, then playing in the Southern Conference, starting in 1969. (Before becoming head coach at William & Mary, Holtz served as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa (1960), William & Mary (1961-63), Connecticut (1964-65), South Carolina (1966-67), and Ohio State (1968).)

In 1970, the Holtz-led Tribe won the Southern Conference title, and played in the Tangerine Bowl—as of 2005 the only bowl game a William & Mary team has ever played in (since Holtz's tenure there, William & Mary has dropped to Division I-AA). In 1972, Holtz moved to North Carolina State University and had a 31-11-2 record in four seasons. His team played in four bowl games, winning two, losing one, and tying one.

After a brief, unsuccessful 13 game attempt as an NFL head coach with the New York Jets, Holtz went to the University of Arkansas in 1977. He spent seven years there, compiling a 60-21-2 record and taking the Razorbacks to six bowl games, gaining national prominence.

Holtz's next challenge came at the University of Minnesota. He took the helm before the 1984 season. The Golden Gophers had won only four games in the previous two seasons. Despite the paucity of talent on his club, Holtz guided Minnesota to a winning record in 1985. Holtz took his team to the Independence Bowl, where Minnesota beat Clemson 20 to 13.

In 1986, Holtz seized an opportunity to take over the then-struggling Notre Dame program. In his second season, Holtz led the Fighting Irish to an appearance in the Cotton Bowl. Wide receiver Tim Brown garnered the 1987 Heisman Trophy. Holtz led the highly regarded Fighting Irish team into the 1988 season with expectations of even greater success. Anchored by stars like Tony Rice, Raghib "Rocket" Ismail, Andy Heck, Chris Zorich, Todd Lyght, and Rodney Culver, the Fighting Irish ran over traditional powers Michigan, Michigan State, Miami, USC, and Penn State. Holtz led the team to the national championship, winning all 11 regular season games and beating third-ranked West Virginia 34 to 21 in the Fiesta Bowl.

First retirement

Holtz retired after the 1996 season to become a television commentator, but he came out of retirement in 1999 and returned to South Carolina, where he had been an assistant in the 1960s. Taking over a team that had gone 1-10, his Gamecocks went 0-11 during his first year, but then rebounded to go 8-4 and 9-3 in his second and third seasons and had two victories in the Outback Bowl.

Second retirement

On November 18, 2004, Holtz announced, citing health reasons, that he would retire a second time, at the end of the current season. His retirement was marred by a brawl between South Carolina and Clemson players during a game on November 21, 2004, resulting in the two universities announcing they would decline any post-season bowl game invitations.

Tribute

The Lou Holtz/Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame in East Liverpool, Ohio (near Pittsburgh) is where much of Lou Holtz's memorabilia is displayed, it also serves as a means for raising scholarship funds for Upper Ohio Valley area residents to attend trade school.

Currently

In 2005, Holtz joined ESPN as a college football analyst.

Controversy

While Holtz has clearly been a successful coach, his career has been followed with controversy. Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina were placed on probation shortly after he left.

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