Hearing Lou Holtz Entering Hospice Brings Memories of Great Times Past

During tenure with Razorbacks, Arkansas was elite in all three major sports which hasn't happened often for Hogs

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Lou Holtz (right) with the media after practice Dec. 30, 1979, in New Orleans, La., before the Sugar Bowl game against the Alabama Crimson Tide. That is Andy Hodges (left) at the press conference. | Andy Hodges-allHOGS Images

Lou Holtz's tenure as Arkansas's football coach started when the entire program was at a level fans haven't really seen since.

It was a little shocking Thursday when the news started filtering out Holtz had entered hospice care. The legendary coach who performed magic on and off the field with the Razorbacks for seven seasons had an impact like all coaches on players, fans and even the media covering them.

Considering when I last saw Holtz this past September, it really shouldn't have been as surprising. It was clear Holtz, 89, wasn't in the best of shape physically.

He still had the wit, though, when someone asked him if Arkansas or Notre Dame was his favorite school.

"One school fired me and the other put up a statue," Holtz shot back quickly. "Which one do you think?"

Former Arkansas Razorbacks coach Lou Holtz visiting with the media before a game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in September 2025 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Images

Covering him for years, the media was fairly used to it. There aren't many of us left now who covered him at Arkansas. It's a small group, but we all have stories and memories.

Some of those are funny, a few rather boring, but the overwhelming memory for most was the education we got. It still pays dividends nearly 50 years later.

In those days we could cover an entire football practice. As it got near the end (which we always knew because there was always a team gathering around Holtz in the middle of the field), we would congregate around the big doors to the North End Zone facility.

Holtz would walk all the way down, spinning a whistle on a cord he had around his neck. As we gathered, he would just start talking and he wasn't handing out an awful lot of praise.

"We were kind of like the young man in front of me today that forgot to zip his fly," Holtz said. "We couldn't remember the simple things."

Notre Dame coaching legend Lou Holtz enters hospice care at 89 https://t.co/k2s7LxF0ps pic.twitter.com/KVeAzSQIoL

— New York Post (@nypost) January 30, 2026

In case you're wondering, that wasn't me he was referring to. I remember vividly who it was and he will remain nameless because that wasn't the point.

Holtz constantly talked about taking care of the simple details every day so much it became a mantra that was impossible to forget.

He taught, much like Eddie Sutton did with basketball and Norm DeBriyn was doing with baseball. His staff explained things without asking us what we saw.

Those Hall of Famers considered it their responsibility explain it patently to us, not expecting the media to always know what they are talking about.

It's hard to find a time when the Razorbacks in football, basketball and baseball were all among the best in the country. Holtz was the man keeping fans excited, and his boss, athletics director Frank Broyles, completely intrigued with his offensive game plans.

Every sport had moments, but for a time in the 70's and 80's, the Razorbacks were winning at a big-time levels across all three. Holtz came to the Hogs in the beginning of that run.

His first team in 1977 still remains the best overall in Hogs' football history. They beat Oklahoma in a stunning upset in the Orange Bowl.

Arkansas' 11-1 record was the same as several other teams, but Notre Dame won the title, Alabama was second and the Hogs third despite the idea Oklahoma would have been named national champion with a win as a result of a Texas loss earlier in the day.

Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Ron Calcagni, running back Ben Cowins and coach Lou Holtz on the cover of Sports Illustrated on Sept. 11, 1978, in the college football preview edition. | Sports Illustrated Cover

It was 1980 before the Razorbacks finished lower than eighth in the country. Basketball was one of the Top 10 programs nationally and Norm DeBriyn had baseball in the NCAA field virtually all the time, including playing for a title in 1979.

For whatever reason, things had cooled with Holtz by 1983. My personal opinion was coaching the Razorbacks wasn't his ultimate goal and he got comfortable with success. That came at Notre Dame where he eventually won a national championship.

When you have to come up with a list of the best coaches in Razorbacks football history, he has to be in the conversation in a serious manner. He won 73.5% of his games, which puts him second on the list in all-time winning percentage. Ken Hatfield replaced him and he won 76% and Holtz never claimed credit for any of it.

Considering he wasn't the choice of the defensive players he inherited, the way he won them over before they left explains a lot of it. Those players wanted Broyles' defensive coordinator Jimmy Johnson to be elevated to the top job.

"Jimmy was our choice," defensive lineman Dan Hampton told me recently for a story I was doing on his election into the College Football Hall of Fame. He's referring to the defensive players. "I mean, he's a Hall of Fame coach, but Lou is, too. But we knew Jimmy. It really didn't matter because they both were, and Lou was great, but at the time we didn't want to change."

Johnson has said in many interviews that in December 1976 he wasn't really ready to be a head coach. Yet, he got ticked off when he felt Broyles jerked him around after Holtz left in late 1983.

Oh at some point I think we all knew we’d be lucky to hold on to Lou and legends like him much longer. So many we’ve looked up to and many I had the honor and privilege of not only covering, but working alongside eventually head to their next life of eternal glory. ✝️🙏🙏My… https://t.co/bLdvwvtw4I pic.twitter.com/2Mfpl8a8aa

— Tim Brando (@TimBrando) January 30, 2026

Holtz's teams at Notre Dame are considered his best primarily because the Irish won a national title in 1988. He won 75.7% of his games there, just a couple of notches above his time with the Razorbacks.

Holtz finished coaching with a six-year run at South Carolina that always appeared to be as much about just getting back into the business as anything else.

That was followed by being a must-see on Saturday nights during the college football season. His comments were as entertaining at times as any other show on the network.

Arkansas fans, though, will mostly read about what he accomplished in Fayetteville. He certainly took the program to heights that haven't been seen consistently for a long time.