Remember When Lou Holtz Almost Became the Gators' Head Coach?

The Florida Gators have had its fair share of drama in coaching searches across its 120-year history.

Florida hiring Jon Sumrall after backing out of the Lane Kiffin sweepstakes last season is the most recent, while the Gators hiring Ron Zook in 2002 after failing to hire Mike Shanahan and Bob Stoops, as well as Florida poaching Tennessee head coach Doug Dickey ahead of the 1970 season after the Gators beat the Volunteers in the 1969 Gator Bowl, may be remembered by older fans.

After legendary college football coach Lou Holtz's death at 89 on Wednesday, another dramatic coaching search involving the Gators resurfaced.

Holtz, then the head coach at Arkansas, was once a candidate to coach at Florida after the Gators fired Dickey in 1978. What ensued was a back-and-forth pursuit that ultimately ended with the Gators hiring Charley Pell instead.

Florida Gators writer Scott Carter on Thursday posted a news clip of when Holtz officially backed out of the search in a story written by the Gainesville Sun's Jack Hairston.

"At 8:30 a.m. Thursday Lou Holtz of the University of Arkansas directed via phone from Fayetteville, Ark., that his name be withdrawn from consideration for the University of Florida football coaching job.

"... At noon Holtz told a UF official, who had phoned him for confirmation of his withdrawal, to put his name back into the hat for the job.

"... Also Thursday morning, a member of the UF search committee contacted Charlie Pell of Clemson about the job.

"... About 3:15 Holtz called a UF official and withdrew again, presumably for the last time."

December 1978, January 1979 eventful for Lou Holtz. He was in running for #Gators job, and to replace Woody Hayes at Ohio State. In end, Holtz stayed at Arkansas. Holtz would have dominated social media those months ... "icon" is way overused, but in coaching circles, Holtz fits pic.twitter.com/3U5xIRXi8y
— Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) March 5, 2026

After Holtz removed himself from pool of candidates, Florida centered its search on Pell, who was 18-4-1 in two years as Clemson's head coach, as well as SMU head coach Ron Meyer and Washington head coach Don James. The Gators ultimately landed on Pell, who went 33-26-3 before being fired three games into sixth season due to NCAA violations.

Pell led Florida from an abysmal 0-10-1 record in 1979 to a 9-2-1 record in 1983. The Gators were 1-1-1 in 1984 at the time of his firing — due to NCAA violations surrounding impermissible gifts to players and recruits, spying on other team's practices and allowing walk-ons to stay in the athletic dorms — before finishing the season 9-1-1 under Galen Hall's leadership.

Florida won the 1984 SEC title, the program's first, but vacated the title due to the violations committed under Pell.

Meanwhile, Holtz went 10-2 at Arkansas in 1979, winning a share of the SEC title, before leaving the program after the 1983 season. In seven seasons with the Razorbacks, he went 60-21-2 and remains No. 3 in program history for most wins by a head coach.

After two seasons at Minnesota (1984-85), Holtz spent 11 seasons (1986-96) at Notre Dame, winning one national title (1988) with five 10-win seasons and five bowl wins. He then finished his coaching career at South Carolina (1999-2004), where he was eventually replaced by former UF head coach Steve Spurrier (2005-15).

Spurrier, of course, replaced Hall at Florida and became arguably the Gators' greatest head coach of all time, going 122-27-1 in 11 seasons with six SEC titles and one national championship.

Holtz went on to become one of the best-known college football analysts on ESPN after his retirement from South Carolina. While his direct tie to Florida is minimal, it is one of the most underrated "what ifs" in college football history.