Led Notre Dame to title in 1988

Former coach who restored greatness for Irish won 249 games across 33 seasons.

- BY ERIC OLSON AND TOM COYNE

Former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz walks out for the coin toss before a game against the Michigan Wolverines on Sept. 13, 2008. Joining Holtz were David Grimes, Left, David Bruton and Maurice Crum.

(GREGORY SHAMUS Getty Images)

Lou Holtz never met an opponent that couldn't beat him. Somehow, he squeaked out nearly 250 wins and a national title while cementing himself both as one of the most lovable and unlikable characters in college football - a one-of-a-kind iconoclast in a profession brimming with originals.

The pint-sized motivator who restored greatness at Notre Dame and demanded it everywhere else he went died in Orlando, Fla., Notre Dame announced Wednesday. He was 89.

Spokesperson Katy Lonergan said the family did not provide a cause of death.

"Notre Dame mourns the loss of Lou Holtz, a legendary football coach, a beloved member of the Notre Dame family and devoted husband, father and grandfather," Notre Dame president Rev. Robert A. Dowd said in a statement.

His son, Skip, who followed Holtz into coaching, said in a post on X that his father had died and was "resting peacefully at home."

"He was successful, but more important he was Significant," Skip Holtz wrote.

Holtz went 249-132-7 over a career that spanned 33 seasons and included stops at Minnesota, Arkansas, South Carolina and, most notably, Notre Dame.

It was there that he won his lone national championship, in 1988, capped with a win over West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl but highlighted by a 31-30 victory earlier in the season over Miami — one of the notable meetings in the so-called “Catholics vs. Convicts” rivalry of the ‘80s.

For all the big personalities coursing through college football during the day, none stood bigger than Holtz.