Lou Holtz
Episode 138
20 SEP 2021
He coached 132 games in eleven seasons at Notre Dame, leading the Fighting Irish to the 1988 national championship. After Notre Dame he coached at South Carolina. Prior to Notre Dame he coached at Minnesota, Arkansas, North Carolina State, and William & Mary. Along the way he also spent one season as the head coach of the NFL’s New York Jets. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and has been seen for many years on television as an analyst on ESPN. This all followed his days playing football at Kent State.
Notable guest quotes:
“I was raised in a very strong Catholic household. Both grandparents were Catholic. My family was Catholic. We went to church every Sunday. And my grandmother, she went to church every single day of the year, and I mean that is not an exaggeration.”
“I was blessed because not what we had but because of what I was taught. And I was taught to have a strong faith in God and make good choices as you go along.”
“You’re always gonna have challenges and obstacles and that’s life. It’s how well you handle ’em.”
“What I loved about being at the University of Notre Dame: I could express my Catholic faith, I could express the faith I had in Jesus Christ and I didn’t have to worry about the Civil Liberties Union calling me and complaining.”
“During two-a-days (at Notre Dame) many times, one of the things I loved to do with our team was go over Proverbs with ’em. There were basically 30 Proverbs… about how to get along with your fellow man.”
“To go to the team Mass (at Notre Dame) was really special… The love and the feeling our team had during that team Mass was absolutely incredible. We would have our team Mass at Our Lady’s Chapel in the basilica, which was unbelievable.”
“When we recruited (for Notre Dame) we said, ‘I don’t expect you to become a Catholic, but I do expect you to show tremendous respect for the Catholic Mass that we have,’ and they did that.”
“The last thing we did before we went to the stadium was we went to the team Mass… It was just a feeling and togetherness that we represent the Catholic faith and we represent Notre Dame, and our football team should reflect the same values of the university.”
“The way you always make good choices is you follow three rules: Rule number one, you do what’s right… if you have any doubt about what’s right or wrong, get out the Bible… Rule number two you do everything the very best of your ability… And the last rule is care about people.”
“I’ve always had a strong faith in God, and I don’t know how anybody could get through without faith in God.”
Related link:
Lou’s book “Three Rules for Living a Good Life: A Game Plan for After Graduation”
