Former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz dies at 89

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Lou Holtz, the legendary college football coach who led the University of Notre Dame to the 1988 National Championship, has passed away at the age of 89. 

One of the most affable coaches of his generation, Holtz won 249 games as a collegiate head coach with 100 of those victories earned at Notre Dame from 1986 through 1996. He led the Irish to the 1988 National Championship with a 12-0 record capped by a victory over West Virginia in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl. The ‘88 title season began a 64-9-1 (.871) run for Holtz at Notre Dame that included a 23-game win streak, back-to-back 12-win seasons for the first time in school history and a program record nine consecutive bowl game appearances. 

Holtz was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and instituted several traditions at Notre Dame that carry on to this day. The famous “Play Like A Champion” sign in the football locker room, which Fighting Irish players continue to honor on the way out to the playing field, was first displayed during the Holtz era. Holtz also removed names from the back of the football jerseys to emphasize the team dynamic, a tradition that is still followed today during all regular-season games. 
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Holtz returned to campus during the 2025 football season and presented the colors for the National Anthem before the kickoff of the Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M game. 

Among the legendary players coached by Holtz at Notre Dame are 1987 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown and College Football Hall of Famers Raghib ‘Rocket’ Ismail, Michael Stonebreaker, Aaron Taylor and Chris Zorich. 

Holtz’s lasting legacy at the University of Notre Dame goes beyond his accomplishments and traditions with the football program. Football student-athletes who played for him developed Holtz’s Heroes, a charitable foundation that supports former student-athletes facing financial, physical, or mental hardships, provides scholarship aid to deserving youth and serves communities in need through charitable works. 

In 2021 the University dedicated the Beth and Lou Holtz Family Grand Reading Room at the Hesburgh Library, made possible by a generous gift to the University by Holtz in memory of his wife Beth, who passed away on June 30, 2020. 

The Holtz family also supported the Rockne Heritage Fund, which underwrites financial aid to Fighting Irish student-athletes, and in 1991 they established the Lou and Beth Holtz Family Scholarship, which assists deserving undergraduate students with financial need. They also served as members of University President Father John I. Jenkins’ Cavanaugh Council, funded the renovation of the chapels in the Breen-Phillips, Morrissey and St. Edward’s residence halls and created the Liz Holtz Endowment for Excellence for Lyons Hall to provide an annual operating budget and for future needs and enhancements for residents of the hall.

At the 2011 Commencement ceremonies, Holtz received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Notre Dame.