The Christian Broadcasting Network

Football on CBN.com

Bobby Bowden: A Legacy of Coaching Champions for Christ

James Brown: What It Means to Have Success

Shaun Alexander: Running Back for Jesus

James Thrash: Serving God on Any Given Sunday

Jeff Hazuga: Blessed from the Bench

NFL's Simmons Speaks of Former Gay Lifestyle and New Faith in Christ

Bryant Young: The 49er and the Great Comeback

 
SPORTS

Lou Holtz: Many Wins, One Success

By Shawn Brown
The 700 Club

CBN.com Coach Lou Holtz has spent years coaching and teaching about success in life through football. His career began in 1969, and according to his book, it’s been a long journey of wins, losses, and lessons.   

“Few people in the history of college sports have a greater impact than Lou Holtz. He’s the only coach ever to lead six different schools to Bowl games, all within his first two years as head coach. You may wonder how he did it. What are the secrets to his success? Well according to Coach, there’s really only one,” says Reporter, Shawn Brown.

“I think everybody has to have four things in their life to be complete. Everybody needs something to do, something you have a passion for. Everybody needs someone to love. Third thing everybody needs is something to hope for, something that you’re really striving to accomplish. But the fourth thing is ... everybody needs someone to believe in. In my case, it’s been Jesus Christ.”

Faith in Jesus has been a part of Coach Holtz for most of his life. He came from a poor family in Follansbee, West Virginia. 

“All I wanted was a car, a girl, a job in the mall, and five dollars. I’d never had any of them. Who couldn’t want more out of life than that?"

In fact, Lou didn’t even want to go to college.

“In my junior year, my high school coach came up and told my parents I should go to college and become a coach. I didn’t want to go to college. My mom and dad decided that would be a good idea," he says.

The younger Lou Holtz told his parents, " 'I’m not going.' They [parents] said, 'You are!' "

He continues, " So we compromised, and I went. That was the typical compromise in our family in those days.”

That decision changed the course of Lou’s life. He played football and majored in history. A few years later, a newly married Holtz landed an assistant coaching job at The College of William & Mary under Woody Hayes.  

“I coach for Woody Hayes at William & Mary, and Woody Hayes was the best fundamental coach I’ve ever seen,” says Lou.

Shortly after, Woody passed the torch to Holtz.

“Woody never put out a head coach. I was an assistant for him but went on to become a head coach but was not successful because I altered the basic fundamentals. Fundamentals are anything you have to do on a daily basis in order to accomplish your objective.”

Once Holtz mastered coaching the fundamentals, he led William & Mary to their first Bowl game, which was the first of 22 in his career. He would go on to coach at North Carolina, Arkansas, and Minnesota.

“I really didn’t want to go to Minnesota. It was cold, and yet when I talked to them, I was willing to go there. But I just had this feeling there just wasn’t something right. So my family sat down, my two children and my wife and I, and we started talking about it, and everybody had a different of opinions. We weren’t getting anywhere and I said, 'Tell you what, everybody's going into a separate room, and we’re going to pray for a half hour. We’re going to come back out, but I want you to go in there and want you to really pray for guidance.' It was unbelievable. We came out of that room and it was a different family. Everybody expressed themselves, and I also came out. I wanted to go to Minnesota if they would put a Notre Dame clause in there."

That meant he would coach for Minnesota until Notre Dame offered him a job as head coach.

“Once we prayed, it was just the right thing to do. Now when you pray, the answers aren’t always clear. I think you just have to pray for a peace and tranquility and try to make the right decision of what you think God’s plan is for you,” says Lou.

And two years later, Holtz got the call to coach the team of his dreams. He spent the next 11 years at Notre Dame. And in that time, he led the team to the 1988 National Title and nine Bowl game appearances in a row. 

“And we took a program on the bottom, and Miami had beaten us 58 to 7, the year before I got there. And we took it to the very top at Notre Dame for nine straight years. We went to a January 1 bowl ... Sugar, Cotton, Orange, and Fiesta. Nobody’s done it before, nobody’s done it since. And we got on top, and we said, 'Lets keep it here, lets maintain it.' And we did. And that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. There’s a rule in life that said, 'You’re either growing or you’re dying.' "

So Coach Holtz decided to take on a new challenge. He headed to South Carolina where he led them to two Bowl games. After six seasons, he retired from coaching. Over the years, he’s coached lots of talented athletes, like Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, and even head coach, Bill Cower. But these days, you’ll find Holtz as college football analyst on ESPN. He lives in Orlando with his wife, and he continues to inspire all those around him.

“You know deep down inside, we all have a faith that there’s something that should be there. And everybody believes in something, even if you’re agnostic. Even if you’re an atheist, you believe in something. But when you go find the Lord, and you don’t have that feeling all the time. But when you sit down and you say, 'I truly want to follow Jesus Christ. I want to change my life. I want to give my life to Him.' There’s a peace and a tranquility that comes through you. I find it at churches at certain times. But you’ve got to be really humble and go to Him. You say, 'Take my life. Lead where ever you want to go.' There’s just calmness and a peacefulness you can’t duplicate any other way.' ”       



CBN IS HERE FOR YOU!
Are you seeking answers in life? Are you hurting?
Are you facing a difficult situation?

A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.