Urban Meyer Issues Strong Statement on Lou Holtz After Passing of College Football Legend

Urban Meyer had this to say about legendary college football figure Lou Holtz following his passing on Wednesday.

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer (right), Lou Holtz, (left), and Nike founder Phil Knight prior to the annual spring game at Ohio Stadium. | Joe Maiorana-Imagn Images

Legendary college football coach and media personality Lou Holtz passed away at the age of 89 on Wednesday. From his playing days at Kent State up until his final days at ESPN, Holtz was involved in the game of football for nearly 60 years.

Holtz worked for nine different college football programs in the span of 45 years, serving as a head coach at six of the nine. In 36 seasons as a head coach, Holtz posted a 249-132-7 overall record and a national championship at Notre Dame in 1988.

Following his retirement from Notre Dame, Holtz worked as an analyst for CBS Sports in 1997 and 1998, as he returned to coaching in 1999. ESPN brought in Holtz as an analyst after his retirement from South Carolina in the 2005 offseason and featured him on much of its college football programming for the next 11 seasons.

In the wake of Holtz's passing, many around the college football world have shared their stories on his impact in coaching and on the sport as a whole. Three-time national champion head coach Urban Meyer discussed Holtz's ability to see the potential in others on College Sports on SiriusXM with Chris Childers and Rick Neuheisel on Thursday.

"He believed there was greatness in everyone, Lou Holtz did. He would say that. There was greatness in that kid. You find it as a coach. I get chills right now thinking about it," Meyer said

"You’re right, we’re going to find it. Now, we’ve got to push every button – and that can be love, fear, hate, whatever it is. You’d better get that player to maximize who he is. Lou Holtz believed … there was greatness in everyone. And it was his job as a coach to find it,"

Holtz and Meyer briefly coached together at Notre Dame

Meyer worked his way up the college football coaching ladder as a position coach for 16 seasons prior to taking his first head coaching job at Bowling Green in 2001. Holtz was the last head coach to hire Meyer as a position coach, bringing him in as Notre Dame's wide receiver coach in 1996. Holtz retired from his post after the 1996 season, but Meyer remained on Bob Davie's staff.

Both Meyer and Holtz spent portions of their coaching careers at Ohio State. In addition to his seven-year tenure as the Buckeyes' head coach, Meyer served as a graduate assistant at Ohio State from 1986 to 1987 for his first college coaching position. Holtz's last stop before he became a head coach was at Ohio State as an assistant in 1968.