Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL/MAY 2026 15 BY JACK SOBLE M arcus Freeman remembers grow- ing up in Ohio and watching Lou Holtz's heyday with Notre Dame foot- ball. That made it all the more meaning- ful when Holtz, who passed away at the age of 89 on March 4, reached out and offered his support after Freeman was named head coach at Notre Dame, he explained on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football." And Holtz's mentor- ship didn't stop there. "He's got so much wisdom, but he would always reach out during tough times," Freeman said. "He was inten- tional about reaching out after every loss, and he never wanted anything but just to offer his support. He means so much to this football program and to me personally, and he'll be missed." Freeman went on GMFB March 4, where he dis- cussed the legendary for- mer Notre Dame head coa c h 's pa ss i n g . H i s appearance was booked before Holtz's death was announced, but he took the opportunity to remember what Holtz meant to him, to Notre Dame and to college football itself. "Listen, when you think of his career, you think of greatness," Freeman said. "You think of excellence. I still hear the year of 1988, the national championship year, every day around here. But I think you think about his teams as a whole, his tenure as a whole at Notre Dame. "The impact he made on this uni- versity. Like, everybody loved Coach Holtz." That includes his players, many of whom Freeman has spoken to at length. Five of them even have sons who play for the fifth-year head coach right now: Jerome Bettis (Jerome Jr.), Jim Fla- nigan (James), Bryant Young (Bryce), Corny Southall (Xavier) and Ron Powlus (Tommy). There are several parts of Holtz's coaching style that Freeman would like to emu- late, particularly his "unique ability to develop relation- ships" with the young men who followed him. "They all say the same thing: When Coach Holtz said something, you Marcus Freeman And The College Football World Remember Lou Holtz Holtz's legacy will live on through his former players. Said former Irish wide receiver Tim Brown (left) via X, "Losing Lou Holtz isn't just a loss — it's a transfer of responsibility. At some point, you stop being shaped … and start shaping others. What he gave me doesn't stop with me." PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS "He was successful. But more important he was significant." — Skip Holtz "He was my coach for one year. But my coach for life for 40 years. … Football was huge, obviously. And to learn the les- sons we learned about playing football at the highest level were invaluable. But it was the life lessons every day, the experience of learning from him. "How to carry yourself, how to live your life, how to prioritize things, how to treat your teammates and treat your family and treat people in general. How to focus on what was most important. How to keep God and your faith as the center of all of it — those are things that he preached to us every single day. "And I only got one year of it, but I promise you, it was a life-changing year. And I'm forever grate- ful."— Steve Beuerlein, Notre Dame quarterback from 1983-86 "Coach was a great coach, but he was a better man! Making me into a Heisman What They Are Saying About Lou Holtz Holtz joined ESPN in 2005 as a studio ana- lyst for college football, where he became a fixture of the network's Saturday coverage for a decade. PHOTO COURTESY ESPN