Holtz, Louis L.
Football
b. Jan. 6, 1937, Follansbee, WV
The under-sized Holtz was a 5-foot-10, 150-pound backup linebacker at Kent State University in Ohio, graduating in 1959. He was an assistant coach at several colleges before becoming head coach at William and Mary in 1969.
Holtz had a 13-19-0 mark there, but guided the team to the Southern Conference championship in 1970. He took over at North Carolina State in 1972 and 31-11-2 record in four seasons. His team played in four bowl games, winning two, losing one, and tying one.
The NFL's New York Jets hired Holtz in 1976, but he quit after the Jets won only 3 of their first 13 games. Holtz returned to college coaching at the University of Arkansas in 1977. He spent seven years there, compiling a 60-21-2 record and taking the Razorbacks to six bowl games.
Holtz's next stop was the University of Minnesota in 1984. The school had won only 4 games in the previous 2 seasons, but in his second year Holtz took his team to the Independence Bowl, where Minnesota beat Clemson 20-13.
When Holtz took the job at Minnesota, he said he would spend the rest of his career there unless he had a chance to become head coach at Notre Dame. That happened in 1986. Again, Holtz quickly rebuilt a program that had been struggling. Notre Dame was ranked first in the nation in 1988, winning all 11 regular season games and beating third-ranked West Virginia 34-21 in the Fiesta Bowl.
Holtz retired after the 1995 season and became a television commentator. But he came out of retirement in 1999 and again revived a troubled program, this time at the University of South Carolina. Taking over a team that had gone 1-10, he suffered through a 0-11 season. But South Carolina went 8-4 and 9-3 in the next two seasons and had two victories in the Outback Bowl.
Through the 2003 season, Holtz had a record of 243 wins, 127 losses, and 7 ties. In 2002, he passed both Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes to become the eightth winningest college coach in history. However, South Carolina had only a 5-7 record that season and in 2003.
The slender, bespectacled Holtz is known for a quick wit and an ability to inspire players, but he's also a stern disciplinarian. At Arkansas, he suspended three starting players for breaking rules shortly before the 1977 Orange Bowl. Nevertheless, Arkansas beat heavily favored Oklahoma 31-6.