Back to the field
Lou Holtz accepts coaching job with South Carolina
Posted: Friday December 04, 1998 08:45 PM
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Winning ways: Lou Holtz has a career collegiate record of 216-95-7 Brian Masck/Allsport |
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- Lou Holtz, who won a national championship
at Notre Dame and has carried a winner's legacy through 27 coaching
seasons, took control Friday of South Carolina's struggling
Gamecocks to the cheers of adoring fans.
About 5,000 fans cheered as Holtz strode to the 50-yard line of
a freshly painted field at Williams Brice Stadium. In fact, they
cheered about everything he said -- there were 33 ovations in all.
The mascot, Cocky, roamed the stands and there was a sign that
said "Out w/the old, in w/the Lou."
Holtz, who has been a football analyst for CBS, said that at 10
a.m. he wondered if he would ever coach again. But 45 minutes later
he had completed the five-year, $600,000-a-year deal.
The school had hoped to make an announcement Thursday night, but
negotiations that went until 3:30 a.m., broke off, then resumed at
7:30 a.m., said an athletics department source who provided details
only on condition of anonymity.
"I thought if I didn't take this job, I was never going to look
at another one," he said.
He takes over a Southeast Conference program that went 1-10 this
year, its worst season in 106 years. Coach Brad Scott was fired on
November 23, but on Friday he was named an assistant at arch-rival
Clemson.
Holtz, who flew into Columbia from his Orlando, Florida, home, met
with the players before speaking to the crowd.
"You could hear him coming down the hall," quarterback Phil
Petty said. "We all sat up a little more our chairs when he walked
in."
Despite leaving Notre Dame after 11 seasons in 1996, Holtz never
lost the desire to coach. With wife, Beth, improving from her
battle with throat cancer, Holtz said he felt ready to stroll the
sidelines again.
It was his family who convinced him he should return to lead his
sixth team, he said.
"A lot of people said, 'You can't win at South Carolina and
you're making a big mistake if you go there,' and they're
absolutely right, I can't win here. But our team can and we plan on
doing it," Holtz said.
Holtz promised the fans that "I'm here because I want to be
here."
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"When I left the University of Notre Dame, I honestly felt I
would never coach again," Holtz said. "My heart is now here at
the University of South Carolina. My effort and dedication is to
you."
The crowd burst into cheers again when Holtz told them, "Our
goal is to win the national championship."
School Trustee Mike Mungo was a neighbor when Holtz was an
assistant at South Carolina in 1966-67, and he ran into Holtz again
this October in New York.
"I came back here and told people that he would be a wonderful
answer to our problems," Mungo said.
George Rogers, South Carolina's Heisman Trophy winning rusher,
couldn't contain his excitement. "This is exactly what this
university needs to get us going," he said. "This is even bigger
for us than my Heisman."
Holtz will be paid a $150,000 base salary, but broadcast
revenues, endorsements and other payments will boost that to about
$600,000 annually, the school said.
"From the very beginning of this search, Lou Holtz was the
coach we identified who would be able to lead the Carolina program
to the next level," athletic director Mike McGee said.
Holtz said any delays were the result of differences in
interpretations.
"It's not easy to put everything together," Holtz said.
"There wasn't any problem or indecision."
The (Columbia) State, citing unidentified sources, had said the
snag was at least in part over whether Skip Holtz, the coach at
Connecticut, would eventually succeed his father as head coach at
South Carolina. The source who spoke with The Associated Press said
Skip Holtz was given no guarantees, but would get "fair
Consideration" if his father leaves.
Lou Holtz said there was no contractual agreement covering his
son.
But Holtz, 61, isn't planning on leaving soon. He said that when
he looked at South Carolina's two U.S. senators, 95-year-old Strom
Thurmond and 76-year-old Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, he realized,
"I've got a long tenure ahead of me."
As fans and supporters waited all night for the final word on
Holtz, a plywood sign was quickly put up in Columbia's Five Points
shopping district near the campus. "Yes, South Carolina, there is
a Santa Claus. Welcome Coach and Mrs. Holtz," it said.
Holtz was 100-30-2 at Notre Dame. He also has coached William &
Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas and Minnesota, and he spent
one season with the NFL's New York Jets.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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