Larry Brown Sports

Alabama blew out Notre Dame to make the National Championship Game pretty boring, but the rout was almost worthwhile solely because of how much it crushed Lou Holtz.

The former Fighting Irish coach was in disbelief after the game. He was defeated. He tried to find the words to explain Notre Dame’s crushing 42-14 defeat, but he couldn’t manage an explanation.

“Alabama was really far superior. How did it happen? I really don’t know,” a lost Holtz said.

“Notre Dame never even tried to run the football consistently. If you’re going to win a championship, you gotta be able to stop the run — which Notre Dame could not — and you have to be able to run the ball, which they did not try.

“Notre Dame did not play their best football game, and that’s probably the most discouraging thing to that university and to the team and the coaches as well.”

Keep searching for the right words, Lou. We’ll get back to you in September, and maybe by then you’ll realize that your Fighting Irish didn’t deserve to be playing in the game.

This is exactly why you want to treat people well no matter who they are. Check out this video of Lou Holtz being a jerk to an intern nine years ago when he was the coach at South Carolina:

The Wiz of Odds, who shared the video with us, also includes a video of Christin Wilson (the intern from the video) being interviewed now, talking about the Holtz experience. You should check that out to hear the full story behind the video. Sure the TV station may have been having problems, but that’s no reason to act like a jerk the way he did. It also reminds me of something a former Holtz assistant once said about him, “I want to be there when he dies to make sure they bury him six feet under.” Ouch. He may be “Doctor Lou” on ESPN, but he’s a jerk to many people who have interacted with him personally.

When USC was penalized by the NCAA, the initial reaction from most people was that the Trojans were hit harder than any school since Southern Methodist. Some people felt the punishment was warranted while others found it to be excessive. USC is trying to appeal some of the penalties and is saying that the punishment does not fit the crime. While Pete Carroll has been singing this tune the loudest, a surprising voice has joined the chorus.

Former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz joined The Wiz of Odds podcast to discuss many of the prevalent issues in college football. One of the questions host Jay Christensen asked was if the sanctions against USC were fair. Here was Holtz’s response:

Based on what I read, I would say ‘no.’ But then again, I didn’t read all the other things. Here’s why I say ‘no.’ Because the only one that they really came out on football was with Reggie Bush and it all had to do with an agent. It did not have to do with a coach paying him money, alumni paying money. I did not read of any other player involved along that line.

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Notre Dame’s been so bad recently that Domers can’t even boast about how good or talented their team is. Instead, they’ve resorted to telling us how their schedule is favorable and how playing easier competition will lead to victories. Take Lou Holtz as our case in point. My boy Jason Goch on Sporting News Radio was taken aghast by Lou Holtz’s prediction regarding who would play in the BCS title game at the end of the year. Now I know why:

Well, the bright side to that ridiculous prediction is that at least he wasn’t saying Notre Dame’s the second best team in the country. The problem is that he’s blinded by his homerism in thinking that ND is better than every team they’re going to play this season, with the possible exception of USC. We’ll see how much of a cake walk that schedule is at the end of the year. My guess is the Irish will still have at least a few losses.

video courtesy of The Wiz of Odds

Former college football coach and current analyst Lou Holtz was a guest on Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Tuesday. Erik Kuselias, who was filling in for Greeny, was ranting about all the college football coaches that resigned were fired the past few weeks. As Kuselias said, and I agree, some of the coaches probably didn’t deserve to be replaced because they did a pretty good job. When Holtz was asked specifically about Arkansas getting rid of Houston Nutt, he answered with a broad generalization:

Kuselias: What do you think about the expectations at a place like Arkansas versus what they’re getting from a coach like Houston Nutt?

Holtz: Well the coaching profession has changed in this respect. It’s no longer just the sportswriters you deal with — you get the internet. The thing about the internet, they can put any rumors there, don’t have to sign the correct name, don’t have to hold an element of truth, not held accountable for. Consequently, there’s just a bunch of things that goes against you.

You know, as hard as it is to be a college football coach, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to be a blogger. You got analysts and prominent media members out there bashing you left and right, creating a constant struggle. They can make blanket statements, don’t have to suffer backlash, don’t have to cite any specific examples, and not get held accountable for them. Until now.

I understand the point Lou was trying to make, but he said it with such contempt that the message got lost amidst the general attack on the internet. Had he said that the internet has allowed passionate fans to prominently voice their opinions, contributing to the overall feeling of impatience towards coaches, I would’ve probably agreed. But the way he said it makes him out to be a crotchety old man who’s too good to use a “damn computer.” Maybe avoiding generalizations of that nature is advised in the future. And it’s comments like these that help explain why Holtz is out of the coaching profession.