Death of Lou Holtz has an unfortunate footnote because of President Trump
In the latter years of Lou Holtz’s life, a lot of his former football players from Notre Dame, Arkansas to South Carolina, struggled with the development that he unabashedly supported President Donald Trump.
There was appreciation and gratitude for the opportunity, as well as the wisdom and words, that Holtz provided to them during their lives, but it was muddied by his support of a political figure so many passionately opposed, and/or despised.
In December 2020, when Holtz was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a distinction now saturated by a growing list of the president’s ambitions to be validated by entertainers and jocks, it was not well received by a lot of his former players.
Holtz died on Wednesday at the age of 89. He had been in hospice care since January.
According to a couple of his former players at South Carolina and Notre Dame, both of whom asked to remain anonymous because they did not want to publicly “talk bad about a guy who just died,” there was disappointment when a man they respected and appreciated so much associated with a political figure they stridently opposed.
His passing is one of those times when one must work to separate the politics from the person ... which these days can be like eating a big bucket of uncooked chicken.
Lou Holtz the coach
Holtz coached the New York Jets in 1976, and returned to the college level where he made his name, and became one of those celebrity coaches after he led Notre Dame to the national title in 1988 with a perfect record. He also coached Arkansas, Minnesota, William & Mary, N.C. State and South Carolina. He retired in 2004, and later served as a college football analyst for CBS and ESPN.
He was the last coach to win a national title at Notre Dame. In his time there, the state of Indiana had two of the most famous coaches in America — Indiana University men’s basketball coach Bob Knight in Bloomington, and Holtz in South Bend.
Like Knight, Holtz would make the rounds on the late night talk shows, including Johnny Carson. Holtz was quick with inspirational sayings, humor, and self-depreciation that was an act, but oh so charming. Holtz’s place-kicker frame belied a personality that was middle linebacker.
Coincidentally, in their later years both Knight and Holtz were outspoken supporters of Trump. Knight’s support was mostly dismissed because of his failing health, and inability to speak coherently at public events; he died in 2023.
Holtz, however, was still pretty sharp, until the final year, or so, of his life. When he spoke about Trump, people listened.
“I can’t think of a better person to emulate their life after than how you’ve handled this crisis. And I agree with one thing: Your family is unbelievable,” Holtz said on “The Lou Holtz Show,” posted online one week after Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
“... You care about other people, and I believe you do a fantastic job at leaving this country out of the problems we have. Nobody can do it better than you, and just remember this: There are millions of them, just like me, they stand here ready to help you [in] any way we possibly can. But knowing you, I’m not sure you need any help. You have a way of solving things, but it’ll be nice to get back out of the golf course again with you. God bless you. Congratulations. You deserve it.
“And the real winners are the people of this country.”
Juggling Lou Holtz’s political stances
A lot of people agree with Holtz.
A lot of people do not agree with Holtz.
For those people, especially the hundreds who played for the man, these sentiments were borderline betrayal. Because they had no idea. Why would they? They were 19 or 20 years old when they played for Holtz, and the priorities were football, school and women. Not necessarily in that order.
This was a man who gave them a chance to play college football, and under his direction and leadership improved the trajectory of their lives. It’s also the same man who stumped for a divisive political figure whose stances on a variety of issues they find offensive, and hurtful.
Now, he’s gone.
What to do with those emotions and feelings? Google, ChatGPT, Alexa and every other AI toy are all equally worthless here. Same for analytics, and the other solutions to our latest problem.
This is the type of scenario where a person just has to navigate it on their own, and make the best of a potential unfortunate development they didn’t see coming.
In his life Lou Holtz influenced a lot of young men in positive ways, and served as a mentor and coach to help them achieve goals, and to build an impactful life.
His support of a political figure doesn’t change that, but it does alter the way they see him.
