Coach Lou Holtz

Louis Leo “Lou” Holtz, a national championship-winning college football coach and member of the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame, died peacefully on March 4, 2026, at the age of 89, surrounded by his family in Orlando, Florida.

Born on January 6, 1937, in Follansbee, West Virginia, to Andrew and Anne Holtz, Lou grew up in a working-class family that instilled in him a strong work ethic and deep sense of gratitude. After earning his undergraduate degree in history from Kent State University, where he played football, he completed his master’s degree at the University of Iowa. He began his coaching career in 1960 and served as an assistant at several programs, including under Woody Hayes at Ohio State, where he was part of the 1968 national championship team.

As a head coach, Lou transformed programs at William & Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, and South Carolina, compiling a career record of 249-132-7 and winning twelve bowl games. He took every team he led to a bowl game by his second season and guided six different programs to postseason play—an unmatched achievement. His tenure at Notre Dame culminated in the 1988 national championship. A devoted husband, father, and faithful Catholic, he married his hometown sweetheart, Beth Barcus, on July 22, 1961. Their marriage lasted until her passing in 2020.

Lou is survived by his four children—Luanne Altenbaumer (Terry) of Houston, Texas; Louis Leo “Skip” Holtz (Jennifer) of Six Mile, South Carolina; Kevin Holtz (Kelly) of Port Orange, Florida; and Liz Messaglia (Mike) of Brownsburg, Indiana—along with nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Beth, his parents, and his sisters Vicki Haggerty and Shirley Youst. Throughout his life, Lou lived by the simple principles of doing what is right, doing it to the best of one’s ability, and showing people that you care, values that shaped not only the teams he coached but the character of the young men he mentored.