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FILE – Lou Holtz looks on during Jacksonville Jaguars Training Camp at TIAA Bank Field on July 29, 2021 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n
College football coaching legend Lou Holtz has entered hospice care, according to multiple\u00a0reports.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Holtz, a Notre Dame icon and the only coach in NCAA history<\/a> to lead six different teams to bowl games, is 89.<\/p>\n Holtz\u2019s career <\/p>\n The backstory:<\/p>\n Holtz spent 34 years coaching both\u00a0college and professional football teams<\/a>, including the College of William & Mary, North Carolina State University, the University of Arkansas, the University of Minnesota, Notre Dame and the University of South Carolina.<\/p>\n He is perhaps best known for an 11-season stint as Notre Dame\u2019s head coach. In 1988, he led the Irish to a perfect 12-0 season and a national championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n Holtz ended his career in South Carolina, where he was head coach for six seasons from 1999-2004. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.<\/p>\n “Wherever Lou went, football glory followed,” President Donald Trump said in 2020 when he gave Holtz the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation\u2019s highest civilian honor.\u00a0<\/p>\n Legendary coach Lou Holtz joins The Great American Story to share life lessons from Notre Dame, his three rules for success, and his candid take on the future of college football. Don\u2019t miss this inspiring talk on faith, family, and leadership.<\/p>\n In a December interview with FOX 10 Phoenix, Holtz shared deeply personal stories about his upbringing, the profound influence of his parents, and the coaches who steered him toward a path of greatness when he was just a “terrible student” with no intention of attending college.<\/p>\n Holtz\u2019s life, politics <\/p>\n A West Virginia native, Holtz played his first football game at 9 years old, then went on to play in high school and college at Kent State before a knee injury ended his career. After graduating college, Holtz served as an officer in the U.S. Army, and then pursued what would become a legendary coaching career.<\/p>\n Holtz was among speakers at the 2020 Republican National Convention and received a Medal of Freedom from Trump the same year. In his remarks at the convention, Holtz called then-presidential candidate Joe Biden a Catholic “in name only,” prompting a rebuke from Notre Dame for using the university\u2019s name in his remarks.<\/p>\n What they’re saying:<\/p>\n “He\u2019s one of the greatest titans in American football history,” Trump said during the Medal of Freedom ceremony. “And his towering reputation will endure forever in the chronicles of athletics, but more importantly, in the chronicles of life \u2014 because he\u2019s really a life teacher. That\u2019s what he is; he\u2019s a life teacher. He teaches people how to live and how to live properly, and how to live with dignity.”<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/gettyimages-632693188-scaled.jpg\")
The legendary Lou Holtz | Great American Story<\/a> <\/p>\n