Lou Holtz’s Love for Notre Dame Is Unmatched

Holtz brought Notre Dame football back from a dark era, leading the Irish to a national championship in 1988

Nov 18, 1989; State College, PA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Lou Holtz walking off the following the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium. | RVR Photos-Imagn Images

There is no fun way to type the above headline as one of the best coaches the great sport of college football has ever seen nears the end.

Lou Holtz, who led Notre Dame to the 1988 national championship, has entered hospice care as of Thursday.

The initial report came from Kyle Sutherland of On3/Rivals, who broke the news Thursday night.

It elicits many thoughts, but for me, I can only think about a man who has truly loved Notre Dame for nearly his entire 89 years on earth.

Lou Holtz's Love for Notre Dame

Lou Holtz didn't accept the Notre Dame head coaching job until after the 1985 season but his care for the university began long before.

Holtz would share stories about marching out of his elementary school to the "Notre Dame Victory March" when he'd join his classmates for recess. He long had the dream of becoming the head coach at Notre Dame but it may not have been until after he left following the 1996 season that we really began to understand just how much the University meant to Holtz.

After wrapping up his coaching career at South Carolina, Holtz joined ESPN as a college football analyst. There, his admiration for Notre Dame was on full display every Saturday, as he'd pick the Irish in even the most lopsided of matchups that didn't favor them.

But it wasn't just the football team he spoke about loving while being the Fighting Irish head coach or after. It was the students, it was the fans, and it was the spirit around Notre Dame that he spoke up every chance he had.

After beating Miami in the 1988 thriller, he credited the spirit of Notre Dame during his live TV interview.

That was common during his head coaching tenure, but something he would bring up regularly afterwards.

Lou Holtz Brought Fearless Mentality Back to Notre Dame

Outside of his love for Notre Dame, the other thing I associate with him is true fearlessness.

Before the battle with No. 1 Miami in 1988, he was the one essentially telling the team that he'd fight Hurricanes head coach Jimmy Johnson with his famous pregame quote.

Holtz would show respect for opponents, but also make clear that his teams belonged on the same field and would say things along the lines of "You know we don't have in our TV contract that we have to keep the game close" leading up to showdowns.

I don't look at that as cockiness as much as I do confidence. Some Notre Dame coaches have had that over the years while others have tried to use it as a disguise for their cockiness, when they didn't share that same fearlessness.

He'd shoot his shot on a regular basis and much more often than not, deliver on it.

Thanks for the memories, Lou, and Godspeed.