Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz is carried off the field on Jan. 2, 1989, in Tempe Ariz., after the Fighting Irish defeated West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl to win the national national championship. (Rob Schumacher/AP file)
Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz carries away the national championship trophy after a news conference on Jan. 3, 1989, in Tempe, Ariz. (Rob Schmacher/AP file)
In this Nov. 13, 1993, file photo, Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz runs onto the field with his team before a game against Florida State in South Bend, Ind. (Joe Raymond/AP)
South Carolina coach Lou Holtz fields questions about his career as he announced his retirement during a news conference Nov 22, 2004, at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. (Mary Ann Chastain/AP file)
Former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, pictured in November 1996. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)
Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz holds the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year award on Dec. 14, 1988, in Houston. (Pam MacDonald/AP)
Notre Dame students show their support for coach Lou Holtz during the game against Rutgers on Nov. 23, 1996, in South Bend, Ind. It was Holtz's last home game as Irish coach. (Beth A. Keiser/AP)
Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz shares a lighter moment with quarterback Ron Powlus during a game against Rutgers on Nov. 23, 1996, in South Bend, Ind. It was Holtz's last home game as coach. (Beth A. Keiser/AP)
Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, right, talks with defensive coordinator Bob Davie during a game against Rutgers on Nov. 23, 1996, in South Bend, Ind. It was the last home game with Holtz as coach, and Davie took over the program. (Beth A. Keiser/AP)
Lou Holtz was the Minnesota coach from 1983-85. (University of Minnesota Athletics)
Lou Holtz, the famed college football coach, is presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020, in Washington. Holtz, who coached six major colleges to bowl games and revived a floundering Notre Dame program, taking the Irish to an unbeaten national championship season in 1988, has died in Orlando, Fla., Notre Dame announced on March 4, 2026. He was 89. (Doug Mills/New York Times)
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Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz is carried off the field on Jan. 2, 1989, in Tempe Ariz., after the Fighting Irish defeated West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl to win the national national championship. (Rob Schumacher/AP file)
ExpandLou Holtz, the college football legend who coached Notre Dame to its last national title, dies at 89
Lou Holtz won 249 games as both one of the most lovable and unlikable characters in college football — a one-of-a-kind iconoclast in a profession brimming with originals.
