Three Rules of Living a Good Life

Lou Holtz has established himself as one of the most successful college football coaches of all time. 

 

Born Louis Leo Holtz on January 6, 1937, Holtz grew up in East Liverpool, Ohio, just up the Ohio River from his Follansbee, West Virginia birthplace.  He graduated from East Liverpool High School, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in history from Kent State in 1959 and a Master’s degree from Iowa in arts and education in 1961.  He played linebacker at Kent State for two seasons before an injury ended his career.  He has received numerous honorary doctorate degrees.

 

Holtz is the only coach in the history of college football to: 1) Take 6 different teams to a bowl game.  2) Win 5 bowl games with different teams.  3) To have 4 different college teams ranked in the final Top 20 poll.

 

Despite never inheriting a winning team, he compiled a 243-127-7 career record that ranked him third in victories among active coaches and eighth in winning percentage.  His 12 career postseason bowl victories ranked him fifth on the all-time list.  Holtz was selected for the College Football Hall of Fame, class of 2008, which places him in an elite group of just over 800 individuals in the history of football who have earned this distinction.  Approximate 1 in 5,000 people who played college football or coached it make it into the Hall of Fame. 

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Married to Beth Barcus of East Liverpool on July 22, 1961, Holtz and his wife are the parents of four children, grandparents to nine, and currently reside in Orlando, Florida.