When His Time Came, Holtz Made Fast Exit Coach Puts Notre Dame Experience Behind Him

The “We Love Lou” sign that hung for years over the doorway at Bridget McGuire’s Filling Station, a bar popular with Notre Dame students, is gone.

So is Lou Holtz. And after 11 years as Notre Dame’s coach, the end came surprisingly quick. There was no farewell tour, no building named in his honor, no weepy campus rally to say goodbye. His players couldn’t even manage to win their last game and send Holtz to his 10th straight bowl.

Instead, less than two weeks after his Nov. 19 announcement that he was resigning, the clock ran out on Holtz at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. The Irish had a eight-point lead and an all-but-guaranteed spot in the Fiesta Bowl with 4 minutes to go, but ended up losing to Southern California in overtime.

As Trojans players stormed the field to celebrate their first victory over Notre Dame in 14 years, Holtz crouched down on his knees, his head in his hands and tears in his eyes.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been as devastated in my entire life,” he said. “I was devastated because so many things came to an end, things that I had cherished.

“I realized it was the last time I’d be the football coach at the University of Notre Dame. I can’t think of a more cruel way for my life at Notre Dame to finish than that.”

Just like that, it was over. There was no bowl game to prepare for, no players to recruit, no coaches to hire. For the first time in nearly 30 years, Holtz didn’t have a team to coach.

He cleared out his office and left town quickly, his emotions too raw to stay near the university that gave him so many memories and will always have a special hold over him. He returned briefly for the Dec. 6 football banquet before he and his wife Beth left for good.

As he walked into the banquet hall, Holtz said he’d tried not to think about addressing his team for the last time.

“It’s impossible to describe,” he said of his feelings. “I just want to try and make this as fine an affair for our players as possible.”

When Holtz left, he still hadn’t answered the question everyone has been asking since he resigned: Why?

All he’s said, and he’s said it repeatedly, is that he stepped down because, “It’s the right thing to do.” Few believed him, especially when he talked of his deep love for Notre Dame and how he hated to leave.

Fans read between Holtz’s lines and came up with their own conclusion: athletic director Mike Wadsworth, who replaced Holtz’s good friend Dick Rosenthal when he retired in 1995, was somehow to blame.

Wadsworth was even booed when he was introduced at the banquet - an unheard of occurrence at the lovefest for anyone connected with the football team.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt I don’t have a closer friend in this world than Dick Rosenthal,” Holtz said. “But Mike Wadsworth is outstanding talent and he’ll do a tremendous job. So let’s all make sure we don’t read something into my leaving the University of Notre Dame.

“I’m going to leave here with great feelings,” he said. “This is a special place. Pull together and keep it together. The future’s bright here.”

For Holtz, the future is a little less certain. Despite the speculation that he’ll be coaching in the NFL next season, Holtz said he hasn’t talked to anyone about a job.

Wherever he is, though, Holtz said a piece of him will always be at Notre Dame.

“I’ll think about you coming out of the tunnel. I’ll think about you touching the ‘Play Like a Champion Today’ sign,” he said. “I’ll relive it each and every week, and I’ll have the fondest memories.”