Long time College and NFL coach and football broadcaster Lou Holtz has entered hospice care according to sources close to the family.

Holtz is 89.

USA TODAY Sports

College football icon Lou Holtz enters hospice care, per reports

Story by James H. Williams, USA TODAY

Jan 29 • 1 min read • Updated 1h ago

Lou Holtz, the College Football Hall of Fame coach who led Notre Dame to the 1988 national title, has entered hospice care, according to ABC57 and other reports.

The South Bend, Indiana, TV station said a "source close to the family confirmed" the news.

• 
• Kyle Sutherland @k_sutherlandAR

I have confirmed College Football Hall of Famer Lou Holtz is in hospice care.

Holtz was the head coach at #Arkansas from 1977-83 where he compiled a 60-21-2 record and won 3 bowl games, including the famed upset over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. #WPS

• 7:38 PM · Jan 29, 2026

was the first to report the news on Thursday.

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Holtz, 89, was at the helm for the Fighting Irish from 1986 to 1996, leading the team to a perfect 12-0 season and the national championship in 1988.

Holtz compiled a 249-132-7 college record (.651 win percentage) during 33 years as a coach. He finished his career with a 12-8-2 bowl record. He also coached at William & Mary (1969-71), North Carolina State (1972-75), Arkansas (1977-83) and Minnesota (1984-85). He also served as the New York Jets coach in 1976.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Lou Holtz on the field prior to a 1993 game against the Stanford Cardinal.© RVR Photos, USA TODAY Sports

He took two years off after coaching at Notre Dame before taking his final coaching job at South Carolina (1999-2004).

Holtz would go on to serve as a college football analyst for ESPN from 2004 to 2015.

The coaching icon was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump in 2020.

He can go annoy God now.

Schthufferin shucotaschsthf

30 minutes ago, ztejas said:

He can go annoy God now.

Three careers: coach, broadcaster, motivational speaker; better than most people's only one.

"Served as coach of the Jets"

Even in '76, it was more of a sentence.

*Hothpith. (I’m going to hell.)

I always liked and enjoyed Holtz. I'm sorry to hear this.

Cheated everywhere he went & always got out of Dodge in time to let the next guy be stuck holding a bag of shit. Yet somehow was propped up as some kind of moral compass for college athletics & a touchstone to winning "the right way."

May his journey to his next destination be peaceful and quick.

He is a good person in general.

3 minutes ago, Parliament said:

He is a good person in general.

You need to spend some time actually reading something besides footbal message boards.

When he was actively coaching, I hated his guts. He did cheat everywhere he coached. But his teams also played hard. I remember when they played us in Austin in 1996, it was surreal seeing a legendary figure who I otherwise watched on TV every week.

As he transitioned to TV, I saw him as an affable character. He was funny and engaging, sort of a Lee Corso Grandpa figure for regular game coverage. It was hard not to like him. Pretty obviously a decent man who loved the game.

I hope he passes peacefully.

38 minutes ago, Parliament said:

He is a good person in general.

Nah /notgoingtoCRthis

His grandson was the holder here.

His son did not write The Cable Guy, but I thought he did when I was a kid.

Ryan Day wins again. Enjoyed Lou Holtz on College Gameday Final for the unintentional comedy.

Godspeed Lou.... you were a great character for college football

When he dies that Hospice care place will be put on ncaa probation.

Bon Voyage

Did a lot of good for a lot of people, helped mold a lot of boys into men.

I will say, having recently watched the convicts/catholics 30/30, that I liked the story an Irish player said about Lou telling him he was the best WR he ever coached until they threw him the ball.

When I was pretty young, he was the coach at Arkansas and I have family there.

The coach of the Razorbacks is pretty much a statewide celebrity and back then he did a sort of comedy lecture that made it on TV and the radio.

He was pretty entertaining, I must admit. So, as a youngster I had a very favorable impression of him.

Most information I have gathered on him since then has been unfavorable. But those childhood impressions are hard to overcome.

I was at the game in South Bend when that motherfucking neckbrace wearing motherfucker came down from the press box/coach’s box to field to rally the Irish against the Horns. We’d have found a way to lose without his entrance, but it still doesn’t sit well with me.

That being said ([emoji41]), peace to the man.

4 hours ago, Steel Shank said:

I was at the game in South Bend when that motherfucking neckbrace wearing motherfucker came down from the press box/coach’s box to field to rally the Irish against the Horns. We’d have found a way to lose without his entrance, but it still doesn’t sit well with me.

That being said ([emoji41]), peace to the man.

Lou had neck surgery the previous week and Boob Davies was interim head coach. The big win over Vanderbilt convinced ND that he could be the next big thing. For the Texas game Lou called plays from the press box.

8 hours ago, MAUFRAIS said:

His grandson was the holder here.

His son did not write The Cable Guy, but I thought he did when I was a kid.

You can thank/blame Lou for Charlie Strong as he was hired in 1995 and followed Lou to South Carolina.

@Shut up Lou Holtz

Your mission is almost complete

Oof. I really don't remember too much about him other than his stint at USCe. Seems like a pretty likeable dude.

Vaya con dios, sweet prince.

Or Diablo. I don't know who you knelt to at night. Remember to bring a coin for Charon. May your journey through the River Styx see you pass by and give the finger to Joe Pa.

Those early 90's ND uniforms have always been some of my favorites.

That pale gold with the navy and white was super clean in comparison to the garbage they're wearing these days.

Sad to hear about Coach Holtz. Kind of knew him as a youngster going back to his Arkansas days. He actually recruited the D/FW area himself in the early ‘70s and my Dad got aquatinted with him back then.

In the late ‘80s only ~ 5 schools wore black cleats/shoes, as white had become the thing and ND was one of them. I begged my Dad (my HC) for the Fall of my Senior year to order us black shoes for Friday nights that upcoming season (‘87). I won and he did, but he’d only let us wear them when we were on the road/visitors.

Hook’em!!!

Guy has a 12-0 season and an 0-11 season in major college football on his resume. Not sure how many coaches can claim that.

2 hours ago, notre dame joe said:

Lou had neck surgery the previous week and Boob Davies was interim head coach. The big win over Vanderbilt convinced ND that he could be the next big thing. For the Texas game Lou called plays from the press box.

I'm no spring chicken, but I remember him coming down to the sideline at some game. Maybe it was some other game and my shit is all fucked up. Maybe I saw it on TV. Do you recall some kind of dramatic walking down to the sideline in his brace? Maybe I'm taking too much crazy pills.

Lou had neck surgery the previous week and Boob Davies was interim head coach. The big win over Vanderbilt convinced ND that he could be the next big thing. For the Texas game Lou called plays from the press box.

You can thank/blame Lou for Charlie Strong as he was hired in 1995 and followed Lou to South Carolina.

Saw him in Tuscaloosa in 2000. He simultaneously seemed larger than life and also much smaller than I thought he would be. He couldn’t have weighed more than 165 lbs

Now’s your chance Ryan Day. You could take him now.

Well... thshith.

🎵Dr Lou, Dr Lou🎵

I enjoyed game day final with him and mark may, but I’m weird. Thought the man was a character and net positive for the popularity of CFB.

As for cheating, if the rules can’t be enforced there are no rules. Modern CFB, shit modern times should make that clear.

Respected him as a coach, but I did not care for his political views.

1 hour ago, Woodrow Call said:

Respected him as a coach, but I did not care for his political views.

I hope his time in hospice is brief as that shit sucks for both the person and their family. That said, fuck him and his orange stained lips.

Why do any of you know Lou Holtz's political views?

18 minutes ago, WBT said:

Why do any of you know Lou Holtz's political views?

He's been pretty outspoken. https://thecomeback.com/ncaa/lou-holtz-trump-comments-rally.html

Prayers 🙏🙏🙏

Rest in piss, Coach!

4 hours ago, WBT said:

Why do any of you know Lou Holtz's political views?

Because they have nothing more meaningful to do with their lives.

9 hours ago, Woodrow Call said:

Respected him as a coach, but I did not care for his political views.

As a child I thought he was really cool. Read the book about their championship and in general loved watching Notre Dame play as a kid. In that respect his contribution to college football during his years in South Bend was a net positive for the sport overall as well as Notre Dame.

Learning about his views as an adult outside of coaching made me realize that, yeah, not so much a guy to be emulated or feted with praise. Just some real reprehensible views that are embarrassing.

I loved Lou Holtz. Even the great ones have to go

Sat at a table with him and Dan Quayle 18 years ago for about 45 minutes having wine. The stories about past teams and players were epic.

4 minutes ago, markstanco said:

Sat at a table with him and Dan Quayle 18 years ago for about 45 minutes having wine. The stories about past teams and players were epic.

Danny, Danny, theresh no "e" in "potato"--even in Arkenshaw.

RIP

I imagine his last words were,

10 hours ago, ztejas said:

Because they have nothing more meaningful to do with their lives.

Says the guy with 75,000 posts on a message board.

1 hour ago, TejasPedro said:

RIP

I imagine his last words were,

Where are you seeing that he has died?

14 minutes ago, royiv said:

Says the guy with 75,000 posts on a message board.

A SPORTS message board, primarily.

14 minutes ago, Red Five said:

Where are you seeing that he has died?

You may be right, it appears that news of his demise have been exaggerated. https://youtu.be/ljIQo1OHkTI