Legendary college football coach Lou Holtz, best known for coaching Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish to a national championship during his three-decade coaching career, has entered hospice care.
In an X post published Thursday, sports writer Kyle Sutherland confirmed reports that Holtz had entered hospice care. Sutherland did not elaborate on what illness the 89-year-old Holtz is suffering from.
Holtz, who led Notre Dame’s football team from 1986 to 1996 and became the only coach to lead six different teams to bowl games, was also recognized for his deep Catholic faith when President Donald Trump presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2020.
“He grew up in poverty in a two-room cellar, but as Lou says, ‘I knew God and my family loved me, and their love was all the wealth I needed. That’s everything I needed. That’s all I wanted,’” Trump said at the 2020 ceremony.
As he accepted the award, Holtz praised Trump as “the greatest president during my lifetime.”
Earlier in 2020, Holtz referred to the Democratic presidential ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that ultimately won that year’s presidential election as “the most radically pro-abortion campaign in history.” Holtz described Biden, a pro-abortion Catholic, as one of several “Catholics in name only” who “abandon innocent lives” while praising Trump’s pro-life record as he insisted that “nobody has been a stronger advocate for the unborn than President Trump.”
In a statement reacting to Holtz’s reception of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Notre Dame Vice President for Public Affairs and Communications Paul J. Browne praised Holtz as “among America’s greatest college football coaches, leading Notre Dame to a national championship in 1988.” Browne also provided additional information about Holtz’s efforts off the field.
“His contributions off the field have been equally inspiring, bringing attention and support to his hometown, alma mater, Catholic Charities, the Women’s Care Foundation, the Center for the Homeless in South Bend, and other worthy organizations through his charitable foundation. At Notre Dame, he and his late wife, Beth, served as research ambassadors, and the players he molded have added to his legacy through their own contributions through the Lou’s Lads Foundation.”
Seeking to ensure that “underprivileged students and legacies have access to the support they need to succeed,” the Lou’s Lads Foundation provides scholarships to “deserving students.” Trump said the football coach has also “provided insulin pumps to diabetic children.”
Holtz’s additional charitable endeavors include the Holtz’s Heroes Foundation, which partners with “the Bread of Life Drive, Meals with Muffet McGraw, and the Notre Dame Alumni Association” to establish “a global footprint in the fight against hunger,” and the Bobby Satterfield Fund, which seeks to assist athletes and their families experiencing “financial strain, mental health hurdles, or physical ailments” such as “addiction” and “unforeseen job loss or illness.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
