Former W&M Football mentor
Lou Holtz has earned his call to the William & Mary Athletics Hall of Fame. The National Championship-winning coach was one of 10 Tribe legends to be elected to the Hall of Fame in 2020.
Complete bios for each inductee can be found by clicking the links below.
Derek Cox, Football, Class of 2008
Scott Estes, Jr., Men's Tennis, Class of 1993
Alison Evans Kwolek, Women's Lacrosse, Class of 2003
Ian Fitzgerald, Men's Cross Country & Track & Field, Class of 2009
Peel Hawthorne, Field Hockey & Women's Lacrosse, Class of 1980
Lou Holtz, Football Coach
Sean McDermott, Football, Class of 1998
Mindy Wolff, Women's Swimming & Diving, Class of 1975
Sebronzik Wright, Men's Gymnastics, Class of 1995
Claire Zimmeck, Women's Soccer, Class of 2009
To millions of casual football fans, mention the name "Dr. Lou," and they'll think about his time as a television personality, or maybe as head coach at South Carolina, or most probably as the coach of the 1988 national champions at Notre Dame. Coach Lou Holtz's story, however, starts even before all that, here at William & Mary. Holtz was an assistant coach for the Tribe from 1961-63, his first full-time coaching gig, and after subsequent stops at Connecticut, South Carolina, and a national title on the staff at Ohio State, he returned to Williamsburg in 1969 as head coach for the first time.
His three teams played in the rough-and-tumble Southern Conference, and gave better than they got with a 9-4 mark in conference play. In his second season, 1970, the Tribe won the Southern Conference championship and went to the Tangerine Bowl, W&M's last bowl game and the last post-season appearance until 1986. That year W&M also set a then-record 2,655 rushing yards, breaking the mark that had stood since 1947, and which still stands as the No. 6 mark in school history.
His next team, in 1971, was even better in the conference, 4-1, but finished second overall. The squad threw for 2,056 passing yards to break the record previously held by the 1949 team (1,730 yards), and wasn't surpassed on a per-game basis until 1981. Both the 1970 and 1971 teams set school records for total offence, and the 1971 team also set the record for most yards per punt, 42.78. That wasn't passed until 1998, and still ranks No. 2 all-time.
After the 1971 season, Holtz moved on to North Carolina State, winning the ACC title in 1973, and after coaching the New York Jets in 1976, returned to college coaching at Arkansas in 1977. The Razorbacks won the Southwest Conference in 1979. Holtz then coached for two years, 1984 and 1985, at Minnesota, before taking the reins at Notre Dame in 1986. His third team in 1988 went 12-0 and won the national title, and he also had national top-5 finishes in 1989, 1992, and 1993. After a two-year hiatus in 1997 and 1998, Holtz took his final coaching job in 1999 at South Carolina, spending six years in Columbia and winning the Outback Bowl in back-to-back seasons in 2000 and 2001. Holtz spent a total of 33 years as a head coach in Division I, amassing a career record of 249-132-7. One of his most famous pupils was Jimmye Laycock '71, who would retire at the end of 2018 with the same number of wins as his old coach, 249.
After retiring from coaching, Holtz remained in the national spotlight as an analyst for CBS and ESPN. He also is a noted author, writing or contributing to 10 books. Among the many branches on the Holtz coaching tree are Barry Alvarez, Pete Carroll, Monte Kiffin, Urban Meyer, Joker Phillips, and Charlie Strong.
