Lou Holtz, iconic Notre Dame football coach, dies at age 89

Lou Holtz, the College Football Hall of Fame coach who led Notre Dame to its last national title in 1988, died on Wednesday. He was 89.

Lou Holtz, the College Football Hall of Fame coach who led Notre Dame to its last national title in 1988, died on Wednesday, March 4. He was 89.

Holtz spent parts of five decades as a college football head coach, leading four programs to Top 25 finishes and six schools to bowl games, an NCAA record. While he didn’t last a full season in his lone stint in the NFL with the New York Jets in 1976 and he was dogged by controversy at times, Holtz’s 11-year run at Notre Dame cemented his status as one of the game’s great coaches.

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“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 news release.