Doeren Shares Thoughts on Lou Holtz

RALEIGH — Entering his 14th season leading NC State football, Dave Doeren has created more than enough of a legacy with the Wolfpack to earn a place next to coaches of the past. When Lou Holtz passed away on Wednesday, it put things into perspective for NC State's current coach, as Holtz was one of the forefathers of the program he runs now.

Doeren, a historian of the sport and the school he coaches, never worked for Holtz, but always held the career coach in high regard as a midwesterner, knowing what Holtz did for the region during his time leading the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

What Doeren said about Holtz

Former Ohio State assistant coach, in 1968, Lou Holtz speaks to students during Student Appreciation Day at Woody Hayes Athletic Center in Columbus, Ohio on April 2, 2016. (Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch) | Kyle Robertson / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The current Wolfpack coach spent part of his day watching news segments about Holtz's life on Wednesday after news broke of his death. It reminded Doeren of watching Holtz in his prime, both as a coach and during his lengthy television career that included stints with both CBS and ESPN over the years.

"It was to the point where they were talking about him when he was announcing games and in the studio and how funny he was," Doeren recalled. "I never got to work for him. Being at a school that he worked at, you hear some of the stories."

Nov 1, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; NC State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren during the first quarter at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

While they never worked with one another, just as Doeren never worked with Lou Holtz, Doeren became friends with Skip Holtz, one of Lou's children. Skip worked all over the college football world throughout the years and most recently coached in the United Football League with the Birmingham Stallions.

"I became really good friends with Skip and Skip would tell me stories about his dad," Doeren said. "(Holtz) left a legacy and I think that's, as a coach, the number of people that he influenced, not just people that became coaches, but the players that played for him and fulfilled their dreams and goals."

Legacy is something Holtz left everywhere he went, for better or worse. At Notre Dame, he still looms large as the last coach to win a national championship with the Fighting Irish. Even in a few short years with the Wolfpack, he remains amongst the most successful coaches in program history, right alongside Doeren.

"The impact he had at the multiple places he went and the type of family that he had," Doeren said. "You can't say enough. That's what you hope for. You hope when you're no longer on this planet that everything you did is something that was respected and people have good to say about your time and that you left an impression. He definitely did that."

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