Lou Holtz is still making headlines 50 years after being discovered.
When William & Mary came into Kenan Stadium during the 1971 football season, as the Tar Heels were on their way to the ACC championship, the Tribe looked like it barely had 30 players.
Three hours later, Carolina was lucky to escape with a 36-35 win. In the stands watching was N.C. State athletic director Willis Casey, who was scouting William & Mary’s Holtz as his possible next coach.
Holtz got the job and immediately turned around the Wolfpack, which hadn’t been to a bowl game in five years. In 1972, Holtz brought State to Chapel Hill, and this time Bill Dooley’s Tar Heels escaped again, 34-33. Holtz was officially a star coach.
In addition to having a wide-open veer offense, Holtz was the football version of Jim Valvano, with stories, one-liners and even entertaining people with magic tricks. Once asked after a bad loss what he thought about his team’s execution, Holtz quipped, “I am all in favor of it.”
After coaching at Arkansas and Notre Dame, Holtz was a national name and went on to ESPN as a controversial broadcaster. He said what was on his mind, and he’s still doing it in his early 80s.
Holtz is a big fan of President Trump and was asked to speak at the Republican Convention, introduced as the former national championship coach from Notre Dame. He is a big pro-life advocate but got in trouble when he called Democratic rival Joe Biden “a Catholic in name only” and questioning his faith and his stance on abortion.
Notre Dame, the most famous Catholic institution in the country, reacted immediately to the religious slur, disassociating itself with Holtz by saying the former Fighting Irish coach was not speaking for his old school.
Holtz had already been in trouble over the coronavirus-centric college football controversy, advocating that the games should go on despite the possible risk to players and comparing it to war. “When they stormed Normandy, they knew there were going to be casualties,” Holtz said, incredulously.
Not exactly the same, coach. Time to make yourself disappear for good.
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