Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 APRIL/MAY 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA I t's been nearly 40 years, and it's still true — Lou Holtz is the last Notre Dame football head coach to win a na- tional championship for the Fighting Irish. He won't see the day the Irish win their next one. Holtz has passed away, his family an- nounced March 4. He was 89. He's sur- vived by four children, nine grandchil- dren and two great-grandchildren and was with family in Orlando, Fla., at the time of his passing. "Holtz is remembered for his enduring values of faith, family, service and an unwavering be- lief in the potential of others," his family's statement said. "His influence extended far beyond the football field through the Holtz Charitable Foundation and the many players, colleagues and com- munities shaped by his leadership." Shortly after the announcement of Holtz's death, current Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman shared words of con- dolence in a statement released by the university. "He welcomed me to the Notre Dame family immediately, offering me great support throughout our time together," Freeman wrote. "Our relationship meant a lot to me as I admired the values he used to build the foundation of his coaching career: love, trust and com- mitment." Holtz coached Notre Dame from 1986-96. It only took the Follansbee, W.Va., native three seasons in South Bend to ascend to college football's mountaintop. He led the Irish through a magically perfect 12-0 joyride in 1988. It was the program's 11th national title. They've been searching for No. 12 ever since. Holtz came close to capturing the 12th Notre Dame national championship a couple times. The Irish went 12-1 and finished No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 in 1989, and they once again finished No. 2 in 1993 with an 11-1 re- cord. Overall, Holtz accumulated a mark of 100-32-2 in his 11 seasons at Notre Dame. His statue outside Notre Dame Stadium displays that achievement. The Notre Dame job was Holtz's pen- ultimate as a collegiate head coach. His split from the school was a little sour at the end of the 1996 season. He took two years off before being named South Carolina's head coach in 1999. He remained with the Gamecocks for six seasons, never winning more than nine games. South Carolina went 0-11 in his first season but turned that around with an 8-4 showing in 2000 and a 9-3 mark in 2001. Holtz led his team to Outback Bowl victories in both of those years. Holtz was the head coach of six schools over the course of his 33-year head coaching career. His overall record at the end of it all, including stints at William & Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas and Minnesota in addition to Notre Dame and South Carolina, was 249-132-7. Holtz mixed one year as the New York Jets' head coach into his list of accolades, posting a 3-10 record before resigning with the following comment before the end of the sea- son: "God did not put Lou Holtz on this earth to coach in the pros." In the end, Holtz was synonymous with college football. He began play- ing it at Kent State in the mid-1950s and embarked on his career coaching it as a graduate assistant at Iowa in 1960. He also held assistant jobs at William & Mary, UConn, South Carolina and Ohio State before his first head coaching gig at William & Mary arrived in 1969. When all was said and done, though, the 2008 College Football Hall of Fame inductee went down as a Notre Dame man. When the Irish do win their next national championship, he'll be looking down on it with pride. And, always one for a wisecrack, he might be thinking something like, "Fi- nally." ✦ Lou Holtz: 1937-2026 Holtz accumulated a mark of 100-32-2 in his 11 seasons at Notre Dame, leading the Fighting Irish to the 1988 national championship. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS