Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544292
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL/MAY 2026 17 "I'm 5-10, 152 pounds. I wear glasses, speak with a lisp and have a physique that makes me look like I've been inflicted with beri- beri and scurvy for most of my life. I was 234th out of a class of 278 coming out of high school. I couldn't get into Notre Dame. I couldn't even get into St. Vincent's of Latrobe [Pa.]. I went to a state institution [Kent State], because they had to take me. "And here I am, the head coach at Notre Dame." — Lou Holtz at his Notre Dame introductory press conference on Nov. 27, 1985 BY ERIC HANSEN F rom the time Gene Corrigan walked in the door in 1981 to begin his seven-year run as Notre Dame's athletics di- rector, the proverbial list that athletic directors allegedly keep in a top drawer of their desk was actually real. By the time Gerry Faust — the head football coach whom Cor- rigan had inherited — hit the middle of Year 5 of his five-year deal, which those higher up in the Notre Dame administration were stubborn enough to honor, Corrigan had updated and mas- saged the list to include five names. Becoming the successor to Faust was being called career sui- cide by several national publications. The prevailing thinking was that the academic bar was too high at Notre Dame, the schedule too ambitious and the values of the school too out of step with a changing college football landscape. Many thought that the rich Notre Dame tradition would never again be reborn, but instead stuffed into a time capsule and left to fade gently into history. And maybe if Ohio State hadn't fumbled away its chance to hire Lou Holtz after his mentor, Woody Hayes, was fired seven years prior, all those premature postscripts about Notre Dame A LIFE OF A LIFE OF IMPACT IMPACT A pay cut, a dream and how A pay cut, a dream and how Lou Holtz changed Notre Dame Lou Holtz changed Notre Dame football history forever football history forever Holtz led the Fighting Irish to four wins against top-10 teams during their run to the 1988 national title. His Irish squads were a collective 32-20-2 against ranked teams dur- ing his 11 seasons in South Bend. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS