Tag: Lou Holtz

Ryan Day’s extremely weird beef with Lou Holtz, explained

Lou Holtz and Ryan Day are rekindling their beef ahead of the national championship

Lou Holtz has never been one to hold his tongue about anything. If he has something on his mind, he’s going to say it.

So it honestly isn’t that shocking he threw yet another jab in Ryan Day’s direction without actually being prompted to do so.

He responded to a tweet on social media questioning whether he would attend Notre Dame’s championship game against Ohio State. Instead of just saying yes or no, he decided that this was the perfect time to poke Ohio State’s head coach.

“If Notre Dame doesn’t win, it’s because we want to preserve Ryan Day’s job. I was originally going to be at the game in spirit, but now I’ll be dragging my body along as well,” he said.

So petty. But it’s Lou Holtz — this is what we should expect from him.

Holtz and Day have had it out for each other for a little more than a year now. The last time Ohio State and Notre Dame played each other in September 2023, Holtz called Day out and questioned his team’s toughness.

“He has lost to Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan twice — and everybody who beats them does so because they’re more physical than Ohio State. I think Notre Dame will take that same approach,” Holtz said.

Well, obviously, Day took offense to that. And after Ohio State won the game by running the ball in at the goal-line with just a second left on the clock, he fired back at Notre Dame’s former coach.

“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now,” Day said in his postgame interview. “What he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio. It’s always been Ohio against the world.”

That’s when it all started. Obviously, things haven’t turned down between these two since then.

Day was asked if he’d spoken to Holtz and patched things up. The answer was no. And Holtz clearly hasn’t let go of things on his end, either.

No matter the result here, don’t expect to see these two chatting it up any time soon.

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Lou Holtz takes shot at Ohio State head coach Ryan Day before National Championship

Trying to stay relevant #GoBucks

Former Notre Dame head coach, Lou Holtz, is at it again. The former Fighting Irish head coach loves to keep his name in the headlines any way he can, and now he’s using a beef with Ohio State’s Ryan Day to do just that.

Holtz has already picked the Golden Domers to beat the Buckeyes in Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game. He recently said, “Notre Dame has the heart, the culture, and the defense to win the game.” Nothing too egregious there. But it was comments made about Ryan Day that are raising some eyebrows.

Holtz, an Ohio native and former Ohio State coach under Woody Hayes, posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account that if the Irish were to lose Monday, it would just be to help Ryan Day keep his job.

Of course, last year before Ohio State and Notre Dame squared off in South Bend, Holtz made news calling the Buckeyes soft to which Ryan Day took offense calling Holtz out in the postgame interview.

Lou Holtz has always been a character, especially after retiring from the sidelines. He and Mark May would famously spar on ESPN when May would disparage the Bucks and Holtz would come to their defense.

He is the last head coach at Notre Dame to win a national championship all the way back in 1988 so it’s not surprising to see Holzt supporting his former team. The jabs directed at Day are more than likely part of his schtick and an effort for an old man to stay relevant. Holtz likes to ruffle feathers.

The Buckeyes and Irish will end the college football season on Monday night where one will be crowned a champion. The former Notre Dame coach may have just added a little more fuel to the Ohio State fire.

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Former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz tosses shade at Ohio State and Ryan Day

A legendary Notre Dame coach has fired shots at the Buckeyes head man.

We have beef going into the national championship between Notre Dame and Ohio State.

It all started in the 2023 season. Former Notre Dame head coach [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag] claimed that the Ohio State Buckeyes weren’t physical enough to beat the Fighting Irish.

The Buckeyes eeked out a 17-14 win in South Bend thanks to a last-second, 1-yard touchdown run and OSU head coach [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] brought up Holtz during his postgame interview.

“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now,” Day said. “What he said about our team — what he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio. It’s always been Ohio against the world.”

Well, now Holtz has fired shots back.

If Notre Dame doesn’t win, it’s because we want to preserve Ryan Day’s job,” Holtz tweeted in response to a discussion on the Pat McAfee show about whether the former coach would attend the game in person.

“I was originally going to be at the game in spirit, but now I’ll be dragging my body along as well,” Holtz finished.

Holtz may be long removed from coaching, but the fight remains within him.

Jan 2, 1989; Tempe, AZ, USA; FILE PHOTO; Notre Dame Irish head coach Lou Holtz on the sidelines against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the 1989 National Championship Fiesta Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium. Notre Dame defeated West Virginia 34-21. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY NETWORK

Lou Holtz makes pick on Ohio State vs. Notre Dame in CFP title game

Lou Holtz picks Ohio State to lose to Notre Dame #GoBucks

At this point every college football fan in the world is familiar with the odd rivalry between former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz and current Ohio State head man Ryan Day. The tension between the 88-year old and Day grew a bit thicker as the former Fighting Irish coach picked his old squad to defeat the Buckeyes come Monday in the College Football Playoff national championship game.

“When you look at it, Ohio State is the best team, Holtz said.” “They have an explosive offense and their defensive coordinator has done a tremendous job. They’re something like a nine-point favorite. However, in a one-game, winner-take-all, anything can happen. I like Notre Dame’s culture. They’re very physical, but they have to keep it close by forcing Ohio State’s offense off the field.”

It should be noted Holtz was an assistant at Ohio State during the 1968 championship season under Woody Hayes, so he has a little Scarlet and Gray in him as well.

As a funny aside, Day was asked during the playoff preview press conference if he and Holtz have talked since the win in South Bend and the raw, viral comments by the OSU coach immediately following the game.

Maybe a great fundraiser would be to stage a cage match and have the two go at it. The Buckeyes and Fighting Irish are set to play for the ultimate prize on Monday night.

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Marcus Freeman wins second Coach of the Year award, is finalist for another

Congrats again, Coach!

[autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] recently earned a contract extension as Notre Dame’s coach, and we’re continuing to see why. He’s really good at his job, and the honors keep coming in to reflect that.

Already named the Dodd Coach of the Year, Freeman has been named the recipient of the George Munger Award, which has been presented by the prestigious Maxwell Football Club since 1989. As surprising as this might be to some Irish fans, the only other coach in the program’s history to win this award was [autotag]Tyrone Willingham[/autotag] in 2002.

If that wasn’t enough, Freeman has been announced as a finalist for the Bear Bryant Award, another coach of the year award. The only Irish coach to win this award was [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag] in 1988. Holtz himself was on a video call with Freeman to tell him he won the Munger Award.

Freeman has no time to celebrate though. He has to carry out duties ahead of the Orange Bowl, including conducting this joint news conference with Penn State’s James Franklin:

Whatever happens, it’s been a successful season for Freeman. In fact, this is the season that will go down as the one where he truly arrived as a top coach.

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Former Notre Dame football coach Gerry Faust dies at age 89

Rest in peace, Coach.

Sad news for longtime Notre Dame football fans broke Monday. [autotag]Gerry Faust[/autotag], who coached the Irish from 1981 to 1985, has died at age 89.

Over his five seasons in South Bend, Faust accumulated a record of 30-26-1, good for a .535 winning percentage. Under his leadership, the Irish won the 1983 Liberty Bowl over Doug Flutie and Boston College. The following year, they lost the 1984 Aloha Bowl to SMU in its last game before it was handed the death penalty a few years later.

A disappointing 1985 season in which the Irish went 5-6 prompted Faust to announce that he would resign after the final game against a Miami team coached by Jimmy Johnson. The Irish lost that game, 58-7, and the university would go on to hire [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag] as Faust’s successor.

After his Irish tenure ended, Faust went to coach at Akron, where he did so for nine seasons and compiling a 43-53-3 record. But he never lost his love for the Irish no matter how much time passed:

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Faust family during this difficult time.

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Watch former Notre Dame great Aaron Taylor tells his favorite Lou Holtz story

If the story doesn’t get you, Taylor impersonation of Holtz will

There are so many stories to be shared about Notre Dame football that we don’t know about, and on Thursday former Irish All-American guard [autotag]Aaron Taylor[/autotag] told a doozy about his former coach [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag].

The College Football Hall of Famer described a practice where he got under his coaches skin. As Taylor recalls, late during his sophomore season he was lining up against a scout team defender and completely whiffed on his assignment, giving up a tackle-for-loss.

Holtz then kicked him out of the drill, and actually completely removed his guard position from the play. The national championship winning Holtz then went on to tell Taylor that there was no difference if he was in there or not after the play was once again blown up.

https://twitter.com/CBSSportsCFB/status/1834288499895189580

The “spectacle” as he called it worked, as Holtz actions taught his team that what we do matters, if they don’t do their job, someone else plays the price. While this type of coaching tactic is surely unique, it got the job done.

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ESPN highlight of Notre Dame 2008 win over Michigan

Were you at this game?

Notre Dame’s rivalry with Michigan needs to happen with regularity again. It can involve just as much intensity as the Irish’s annual clash with USC. When you beat a rival convincingly, it can be just as fulfilling as squeaking by in a thriller.

Take, for example, the Irish’s 35-17 win over the Wolverines in 2008. Everything went he Irish’s way on the day [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag]’s statue at Notre Dame Stadium was dedicated. They benefited from six Wolverines turnovers and jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Oh, and [autotag]Charlie Weis[/autotag] injured his knee on a play he was caught up in.

Here are the highlights as presented on ESPN later on:

You can see [autotag]Jimmy Clausen[/autotag]’s stats on the graphic at the end. You can’t see that [autotag]Golden Tate[/autotag] caught four passes for 127 yards and one touchdown. You also can’t see that [autotag]Robert Hughes[/autotag] ran for 79 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

Why do we have to wait until 2033 for these teams to play each other again?

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Lou Holtz’s Charity Roasts Jimmy Johnson on Coach’s 81st Birthday

Lou Holtz’s charity had a unique way of wishing old rival Jimmy Johnson a happy birthday recently

Legendary college and NFL head coach Jimmy Johnson recently celebrated his 81st birthday.

Johnson is known for his time with the Miami Hurricanes and Dallas Cowboys especially, as he took both programs to championships at their respective playing levels.

Johnson is remembered by Notre Dame fans for being Miami’s coach during the peak of the rivalry between the two schools.

When you think of Notre Dame-Miami, the first game that comes to mind for all is the 1988 “Catholics vs. Convicts” game that had the wild finish and helped send Notre Dame on their way to the national championship.

The social media account Holtz’s Heroes, which is the Lou Holtz charity, gave a unique birthday greeting to Jimmy Johnson recently.

Happy birthday indeed, coach.

Notre Dame swaps jerseys at halftime of 1985 blowout win over USC

Remember this game?

One of the most famous games in the Notre Dame-USC rivalry came in 1977. The Irish warmed up on the field in their regular blues, but they returned for the game wearing green, and they won that game.

Fast forward to the teams’ 1985 meeting. [autotag]Gerry Faust[/autotag] decided to do what predecessor [autotag]Dan Devine[/autotag] did, but he didn’t do it in the same way. Rather, the Irish played the first half in their blues before sporting green for the second half of a 37-3 blowout win. Faust explained his decision-making afterwards:

The victory came in the middle of a four-game winning streak, but all it ultimately did was make the Irish’s 5-6 season look better. Faust resigned at the end of the year and was replaced by [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag], who would lead the Irish to their most recent national championship in 1988. It was a reminder that even though a jersey swap might seem cool, people won’t care as much if you’re a so-so team.

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