The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Lou Holtz

Followed Brad Scott. Lou Holtz moved South Carolina from National Program III to National Program II in 6 seasons.

Peak, then fade
249–132
1969–2004 · 6 stints
William & MaryNC StateArkansasMinnesotaNotre DameSouth Carolina
← all coaches

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerWILLIAM & MA…NC STATEARKANSASMINNESOTANOTRE DAMESOUTH CAROLINADynastythe sport's summitBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelWilliam & Mary, 1969: 3-7, Regional Program IV1969William & Mary, 1970: 5-7, Regional Program IVWilliam & Mary, 1971: 5-6, Regional Program IV1971-1.0NC State, 1972: 8-3, National Program III1972NC State, 1973: 9-3, National Program IINC State, 1974: 9-2, National Program INC State, 1975: 7-4, National Program I1975+14.9Arkansas, 1977: 11-1, Power Program I1977Arkansas, 1978: 9-2, Power Program IArkansas, 1979: 10-2, Power Program IArkansas, 1980: 7-5, Power Program IArkansas, 1981: 8-4, Power Program IArkansas, 1982: 9-2, Power Program IArkansas, 1983: 6-5, Power Program I1983+4.1Minnesota, 1984: 4-7, Regional Program III1984Minnesota, 1985: 6-5, Regional Program III1985-1.9Notre Dame, 1986: 5-6, Blue Blood1986Notre Dame, 1987: 8-4, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1988: 12-0, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1989: 12-1, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1990: 9-3, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1991: 10-3, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1992: 10-1, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1993: 11-1, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1994: 6-5, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1995: 9-3, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1996: 8-3, Blue Blood1996+12.4South Carolina, 1999: 0-11, National Program III1999South Carolina, 2000: 8-4, National Program IIISouth Carolina, 2001: 9-3, National Program IISouth Carolina, 2002: 5-7, National Program IISouth Carolina, 2003: 5-7, National Program IISouth Carolina, 2004: 6-5, National Program II2004+4.4One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Blue Blood in his 17th career season — faster than 6% of the 100 FBS coaches who have ever reached Blue Blood (rank #92 of 100 by seasons-to-arrival).

William & Mary, 3 seasons
−1.0
Regional Program IV → Regional Program IV.
NC State, 4 seasons
+14.9
National Program III → National Program I.
Arkansas, 7 seasons
+4.1
Power Program I → Power Program I.
Minnesota, 2 seasons
−1.9
Regional Program III → Regional Program III.
Notre Dame, 11 seasons
+12.4
Blue Blood → Blue Blood.
South Carolina, 6 seasons
+4.4
National Program III → National Program II.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

31–18 against his rivals. Just 1–5 against Tommy Bowden.

Rivalry record
31–18–2
60.8% · 9 rivals
One-score games
68–61–7
50.0% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–2
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
USC9–1–182%
Michigan5–3–156%
Stanford5–271%
Georgia2–433%
Clemson1–517%
North Carolina2–250%
East Carolina4–0100%
Wisconsin2–0100%
The toughest matchupNemesis
vs. Tommy Bowden1–5
6 meetings, 1999–2004
’99 L’00 L’01 W’02 L’03 L’04 L
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
0–2 0.0%
Blue Blood
9–27 25.0%
Power Program
61–39 61.0%
National Program
63–43 59.4%
Regional Program
103–16 86.6%

Coaching career

1999–2004
South Carolinacaretaker
National Program III → National Program II
Lou Holtz moved South Carolina from National Program III to National Program II in 6 seasons.

10th-best South Carolina tenure of 19 by the numbers.

Followed Brad Scott (1994–1998) · succeeded by Steve Spurrier (2005–2015).

16 NFL Draft picks: John Abraham (2000), Arturo Freeman (2000), Kalimba Edwards (2002), Sheldon Brown (2002), Andre Goodman (2002), Willie Offord (2002), John Stamper (2002), Langston Moore (2003) + 8 more

33–37
1986–1996
Notre Dametransformerborderline
Blue Blood → Blue Blood
Lou Holtz took Notre Dame from Blue Blood to Blue Blood.

2nd-best Notre Dame tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Followed Gerry Faust (1981–1985) · succeeded by Bob Davie (1997–2001).

58 NFL Draft picks: Eric Dorsey (1986), Allen Pinkett (1986), Wally Kleine (1987), Steve Beuerlein (1987), Robert Banks (1987), Andy Heck (1989), Frank Stams (1989), Mark Green (1989) + 50 more

100–30
1984–1985
Minnesotacaretaker
Regional Program II → Regional Program III
Lou Holtz slid Minnesota from Regional Program II to Regional Program III in 2 seasons.

15th-best Minnesota tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Followed Joe Salem (1979–1983) · succeeded by John Gutekunst (1986–1991).

1 NFL Draft pick: Jay Carroll (1984)

10–12
1977–1983
Arkansasinheritor
Power Program I → Power Program I
Lou Holtz inherited a Power Program I Arkansas and won with it.

2nd-best Arkansas tenure of 22 by the numbers.

Followed Frank Broyles (1958–1976) · succeeded by Ken Hatfield (1984–1989).

19 NFL Draft picks: R.C. Thielemann (1977), Greg Koch (1977), Gerald Skinner (1977), Dennis Winston (1977), Steve Little (1978), Leotis Harris (1978), Dan Hampton (1979), Jerry Eckwood (1979) + 11 more

60–21
1972–1975
NC Statebuilder
Regional Program I → National Program I
Lou Holtz raised NC State from Regional Program I to National Program I.

5th-best NC State tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Followed Al Michaels (1971–1971) · succeeded by Bo Rein (1976–1979).

6 NFL Draft picks: Dan Medlin (1972), Charley Young (1974), Willie Burden (1974), Rick Druschel (1974), Allen Sitterle (1974), Stan Fritts (1975)

33–12
1969–1971
William & Marycaretaker
Regional Program IV → Regional Program IV
Lou Holtz held William & Mary at Regional Program IV for 3 seasons.

3rd-best William & Mary tenure of 4 by the numbers.

Followed Marv Levy (1964–1968).

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