Pete Carroll was a graduate assistant under Lou Holtz in 1977

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Lou Holtz, the legendary Hall of Fame coach who guided Notre Dame to the 1988 national championship, died at the age of 89. Before coaching Notre Dame, Holtz coached at multiple other schools, including Arkansas. In the 1977 season, Holtz led the Razorbacks to a blowout upset win over No. 2 in the 1978 Orange Bowl. One very young football coach was on Holtz's Arkansas staff for that season and that Orange Bowl win: Pete Carroll.

The future USC football coach — the only man ever to win the Super Bowl, Rose Bowl, and college football national championship — was a graduate assistant under Lou Holtz. It was his second job in coaching after a previous GA stint at his alma mater, Pacific. Carroll began climbing the coaching ranks, notably coaching under Ohio State's Earle Bruce in the 1980 Rose Bowl game against USC. Over two decades later, Carroll joined the Trojans and made history with a dynastic run from 2002 through 2008 in which the Trojans won or shared the Pac-10 championship every year and played in a BCS bowl each season.

Lou Holtz's magnum opus was the 1988 national championship season at Notre Dame, but he won other big bowl games with the Fighting Irish and Arkansas in addition to lifting South Carolina from mediocrity after his Notre Dame tenure ended. Holtz is known to younger college football fans as Mark May's sparring partner on College Football Final earlier this century. Holtz was successful and entertaining as a coach and broadcaster, leaving behind a rich legacy from his decades of involvement in the sport.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Pete Carroll coaching career got an assist from Lou Holtz at Arkansas

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