Former Arkansas football, Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz dies at 89

Former Arkansas football coach Lou Holtz has died. The Holtz family released a statement on his death through Notre Dame University on Wednesday, March 4. The Hall of Famer was 89 years old.

Born in Follansbee, West Virginia in 1937, Holtz produced one of the finest coaching careers in the history of college football. He is best known for an eight-year stint at Notre Dame, where he won the national title in 1988 and went 100-30-2 with five 10-win seasons.

A two-year stint at Minnesota preceded his time with the Irish. But before he joined the Golden Gophers, Holtz spent seven seasons leading the Razorbacks. He accumulated a record of 60-21-2 during his time in Fayetteville.

The Razorbacks were co-champions of the Southwest Conference in 1978 with a 7-1 mark in the league, which included a win over No. 2 Texas. It was Holtz’s first win over the Longhorns as Arkansas’ head coach.

Over the span of his seven years at Arkansas, Holtz led the Razorbacks to four season-ending, top-10 Associated Press or UPI rankings.

Holtz is one of just three head coaches to lead Arkansas to six consecutive bowl appearances. He orchestrated one of the biggest upsets in school history when Arkansas beat No. 2 Oklahoma 31-6 in the 1978 Orange Bowl.

The Razorbacks were 3-2-1 in bowl games under Holtz. As the successor to Frank Broyles as the Arkansas head coach, Holtz led the team to one of the two 11-win seasons in program history during his first season in 1977. Arkansas fired Holtz after going 6-5 in 1983.

Holtz became the 16th Razorback representative to be selected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.

Holtz returned to Fayetteville during the 2025 football season and served as an honorary captain when Arkansas hosted Notre Dame on Sept. 28. Holtz’s sharp wit remained when he was asked if he would have conflicting emotions watching his two former schools.

“Well, let me put it like this, if they fired you at one school and they built you a statue at the other, who do you think you would really cheer for?” Holtz said.

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Holtz is the only inductee in the UA Sports Hall of Honor among 22 head or assistant coaches at Arkansas who was honored after being fired.

Holtz compiled a 249-132-7 college record (.651 win percentage) during 33 years as a coach. He finished his career with a 12-8-2 bowl record. In addition to Arkansas and Notre Dame, he also coached at William & Mary (1969-71), North Carolina State (1972-75), Minnesota (1984-85) and South Carolina (1999-2004).

Holtz would go on to serve as a college football analyst for ESPN from 2004 to 2015.

Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@usatodayco.com or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Former Arkansas football coach Lou Holtz dies at 89