Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz dies at age 89

Lou Holtz, the College Football Hall of Fame coach who led Notre Dame to its last national title in 1988, died Wednesday. He was 89.

Holtz spent parts of five decades as a college football head coach, leading four programs to Top 25 finishes and six schools to bowl games, an NCAA record. While he didn’t last a full season in his lone stint in the NFL with the New York Jets in 1976 and he was dogged by controversy at times, Holtz’s 11-year run at Notre Dame cemented his status as one of the game’s great coaches.

“Notre Dame mourns the loss of Lou Holtz, a legendary football coach, a beloved member of the Notre Dame family and devoted husband, father and grandfather,” Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd said in a news release.

“Among his many accomplishments, we will remember him above all as a teacher, leader and mentor who brought out the very best in his players, on and off the field, earning their respect and admiration for a lifetime. ... Whenever Notre Dame called to ask for his help, Lou answered with his characteristic generosity, and he will be sorely missed."

Coming off years of mediocrity, Notre Dame hired Holtz before the 1986 season and by 1988 he had built the Fighting Irish back into a title-contending team. Led by quarterback Tony Rice, running backs Mark Green and Ricky Watters along with receiver/kick returner Raghib Ismail, the Fighting Irish beat four ranked teams and finished 12-0.

“Everyone told me why we couldn't win,” Holtz wrote. “The academic standards, the tough schedule, the no-redshirting policy, the lack of an athletic dormitory — all those were reasons people gave me why Notre Dame would never be great again.”

The biggest test that season came on Oct. 15, 1988, when Notre Dame faced Miami, which was ranked No. 1 and coached by Jimmy Johnson at the time. Billed as “Catholics vs. Convicts,” Notre Dame won 31-30 to end the Hurricanes' 36-game regular-season win.

Notre Dame finished atop the AP and coaches poll after a 34-21 victory against the third-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers at the Fiesta Bowl. Holtz coached Notre Dome to one-loss seasons in 1989 and 1993, finishing second in the polls each season.

He stepped down in 1996 after compiling a 100-30-2 record at the school.

After two years working for CBS Sports, Holtz returned to the sideline with South Carolina. He was selected as the 2000 SEC Coach of the Year and led the Gamecocks to consecutive postseason bowls for the first time in school history. But his six-season tenure ended after his team and Clemson were involved a 10-minute brawl in November 2004, which led both schools to forgo bowl bids.

His final career record was 249-132-7.

South Carolina was put on probation after Holtz’s departure, the third such Holtz-led program to be sanctioned by the NCAA.

Holtz returned to television, this time for ESPN where he spent a decade as a college football analyst.

A staunch Republican, Holtz drew heavy criticism a few times in his 31 years as a head college football coach and afterward. He backed Republican Jesse Helms, a longtime opponent to civil rights legislation, in a reelection bid while Holtz was a coach at Arkansas in the early 1980s.

Holtz endorsed Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign and his comments on immigration cost him speaking engagements. He called the immigrants coming to the U.S. an “invasion” and criticized immigrants for not assimilating.

“I don’t want to become you,” Holtz said at a Republican pro-life luncheon in July 2016. “I don’t want to speak your language. I don’t want to celebrate your holidays. I sure as hell don’t want to cheer for your soccer team.”

Holtz flirted with the idea of running for Congress in 2009, although he decided not to enter the race for a Florida seat.

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