Legendary College Football Coach Lou Holtz Passes Away

By Daniel Feuerstein | March 4th, 2026 | Orlando, FL

A legend in College Football has passed away

This Wednesday Afternoon Legendary College Football Head coach Lou Holtz passed away at his home in Orlando, Florida, at the age of 89. He was known for his time at Notre Dame on the sidelines as their Head Coach, and also coached multiple schools either as an assistant or a head coach. But for one season, Holtz was the head coach in the NFL for the New York Jets in the 1976 season, and left the team with one game left in December of that season, with a 3-10 record. Holtz was also on television as an analyst on CBS Sports and on ESPN’s College Football Pregame show.

Holtz began his College Football coaching career in 1960 as an assistant at Iowa, then moved to other schools as an assistant coach for William & Mary, UConn, South Carolina, and Ohio State. He started his Head Coaching tenure back at William & Mary from 1969 to 1971, then took over NC State from 1972 to 1975. After his one season in the NFL, Holtz took over at Arkansas from 1977 to 1983. He had a short stint with the University of Minnesota from 1984 to 1985, then spent an entire decade at Notre Dame. He retired from coaching after leading the Fighting Irish on the field, but was coaxed out of retirement when the University of South Carolina came calling in 1999 till 2004, and retired again.

College Football as a whole has lost one of its legends on the sidelines and on the microphone, talking about the teams, players, and coaches. He will be missed.

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