Notre Dame icon Lou Holtz dies aged 89

Lou Holtz, the Hall of Fame coach who guided Notre Dame to its last national championship in 1988, has died aged 89.

Holtz spent parts of five decades as a college football head coach and became one of the sport’s most recognisable figures. Over his career he led six different schools to bowl games, an NCAA record, and guided four programmes to Top 25 finishes.

Although his brief stint with the New York Jets in 1976 ended before he completed a full season and his career occasionally drew controversy, Holtz’s 11-year run at Notre Dame cemented his reputation as one of the game’s defining coaches.

“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 statement.

Holtz was hired ahead of the 1986 season and quickly rebuilt the Fighting Irish into a national contender.

The breakthrough came in 1988 when Notre Dame completed a perfect 12-0 season. Led by quarterback Tony Rice, running backs Mark Green and Ricky Watters, and receiver and kick returner Raghib Ismail, the team defeated four ranked opponents during the campaign.

Notre Dame sealed the national title with a 34-21 victory over the third-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers in the Fiesta Bowl, finishing top of both the Associated Press and coaches’ polls.

Holtz later recalled the doubts he faced when he arrived in South Bend.

“Everyone told me why we couldn’t win,” he wrote, citing the university’s academic standards and demanding schedule as reasons critics believed the programme would struggle to return to prominence.

Under Holtz, Notre Dame also posted one-loss seasons in 1989 and 1993, finishing second in the national polls both years. He stepped down in 1996 after compiling a 100-30-2 record at the school.

After two years with CBS Sports, Holtz returned to coaching at South Carolina. He was named SEC Coach of the Year in 2000 and led the Gamecocks to consecutive bowl appearances for the first time in programme history.

His six-year tenure ended after a heated on-field brawl between South Carolina and Clemson in November 2004 that led both teams to decline bowl invitations.

Holtz later returned to television as a college football analyst with ESPN, where he spent roughly a decade.

A staunch Republican, he was also known for outspoken political views that drew criticism at times during and after his coaching career. He briefly considered a run for Congress in Florida in 2009 but ultimately chose not to enter the race.