Lou Holtz
Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 12-8-2
William & Mary’70LNC State’72W’73W’74T’75LArkansas’77W’78T’79L’80W’81L’82WNotre Dame’87L’88W’89W’90L’91W’92W’93W’94L’95LSouth Carolina’00W’01W
Show all 22 games
1970Tangerine BowlL 12-40NC State
1972Peach BowlW 49-13
1973Liberty BowlW 31-18
1974Astro-Bluebonnet BowlT 31-311975Peach BowlL 10-13Arkansas
1977Orange BowlW 31-6
1978Fiesta BowlT 10-10
1979Sugar BowlL 9-24
1980Hall of Fame ClassicW 34-15
1981Gator BowlL 27-31
1982Astro-Bluebonnet BowlW 28-24Notre Dame
1987Cotton Bowl ClassicL 10-35
1988Fiesta BowlW 34-21
1989Orange BowlW 21-6
1990Orange BowlL 9-10
1991Sugar BowlW 39-281992Cotton Bowl ClassicW 28-31993Cotton Bowl ClassicW 24-211994Fiesta BowlL 24-41
1995Orange BowlL 26-31
South Carolina
2000Outback BowlW 24-7
2001Outback BowlW 31-28Stats
Big games
Pick a job to see its years on their own.
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.
Nobody he faced three or more times there has a winning record against him.
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.
6-2 against his rivals at NC State. Just 1-2 against Jerry Claiborne.
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.
Just 2-5 against Fred Akers.
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.
3-1 against his rivals at Minnesota.
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.
19-6 against his rivals at Notre Dame. Just 1-2 against Bill McCartney.
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.
3-9 against his rivals at South Carolina. Just 1-5 against Tommy Bowden.
Signature games
Tags describe each game; they aren’t scores. The weighting that picks these games is still being tested.
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.
Signature games
Tags describe each game; they aren’t scores. The weighting that picks these games is still being tested.
How he plays
Run/pass mix, by field position
Called about what the situation called for.
564 run and pass snaps at South Carolina, 2004–2004, his own games, one row per offensive coordinator. Each cell is how much more often he passed than the rest of FBS did in the same situation (field zone, down, distance, score, quarter, same season), in percentage points. Play-by-play starts in 2004, so his earlier seasons there aren’t in it.
Pass rate, stint by stint
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next, against the FBS-wide average of 41% pass. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Building the roster
Four numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Followed him here
William & Mary→
NC State1972
Arkansas→
Minnesota1984Minnesota→
Notre Dame1986Players who transferred from his old program to his new one through the portal in the same year he made the move. Name-matching across data sources misses some, so every count is a floor, not an exact number.
Roster ownership
Roster ownership
of his 2004 roster arrived on his watch — 33 of 33 players. Nobody is left from before he was hired.
This coach's entire tenure (1999-2004) predates 2021, when transfer-portal tracking begins in this database. Portal usage cannot be measured for this tenure at all -- this is not the same as '0% portal'.
“His own” means the player arrived while he was head coach; “inherited” means a predecessor brought him in.
Where he recruits
is his biggest recruiting state: 9 of 31 signees (29%) across his 2001–2004 classes on record (his tenure ran 1999–2004), drawn from 11 states in all. Next: GA (7).
58% of his signees come from SC and its 2 border states (GA 7, NC 2).
The map counts signed recruits across his tenure; the distance figures cover his current roster, transfers and walk-ons included. Two different groups, kept separate on purpose.
The NFL pipeline
The NFL pipeline
players drafted into the NFL off his teams here. None can be traced to who brought them in — there’s no roster record for these players here. 3 went in the first round.
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | R1.07 | Troy Williamson | Wide Receiver |  Minnesota Vikings | Estimated |
| 2005 | R7.06 | Rodriques Wilson | Linebacker |  Chicago Bears | Estimated |
| 2005 | R7.27 | Darrell Shropshire | Defensive Tackle |  Atlanta Falcons | Estimated |
| 2004 | R1.10 | Dunta Robinson | Defensive Back |  Houston Texans | Estimated |
| 2004 | R3.31 | Travelle Wharton | Offensive Tackle |  Carolina Panthers | Estimated |
| 2004 | R6.19 | Deandre' Eiland | Defensive Back | Minnesota Vikings | Estimated |
| 2003 | R6.01 | Langston Moore | Defensive Tackle |  Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 2003 | R6.08 | Corey Jenkins | Defensive Back |  Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | R7.15 | Andrew Pinnock | Running Back |  San Diego Chargers | Estimated |
| 2002 | R2.03 | Kalimba Edwards | Defensive End |  Detroit Lions | Estimated |
| 2002 | R2.27 | Sheldon Brown | Defensive Back |  Philadelphia Eagles | Estimated |
| 2002 | R3.03 | Andre Goodman | Defensive Back | Detroit Lions | Estimated |
| 2002 | R3.05 | Willie Offord | Defensive Back | Minnesota Vikings | Estimated |
| 2002 | R6.21 | John Stamper | Defensive End |  Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Estimated |
| 2000 | R1.13 | John Abraham | Linebacker |  New York Jets | Estimated |
| 2000 | R5.23 | Arturo Freeman | Defensive Back |  Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
A pick counts toward his tenure when the player’s final college season was one he coached, a checkable rule rather than a claim about who developed the player. A blank note means the player is on a verified roster and arrived on his watch. “Estimated” means no roster record, so the final season is assumed to be the year before the draft.
Career
Coaching career
The arc of his career is on Now.
Transformer raised the program into the sport's top tier, or higher within it · Builder meaningfully raised a program that wasn't one · Inheritor inherited a power and neither built it higher nor let it collapse · Steady no large move in either direction on our stature ladder
10th-best South Carolina tenure of 19 by the numbers.
Followed Brad Scott (1994–1998) · succeeded by Steve Spurrier (2005–2015).
| Season | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||
| Record | 0-11 | 8-4 | 9-3 | 5-7 | 5-7 | 6-5 | |
| Postseason | — | W bowl | W bowl | — | — | — | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | 39 | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | 79 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script | |||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | 26.7 | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | 20.7 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | 33.3 | |
2nd-best Notre Dame tenure of 15 by the numbers.
Followed Gerry Faust (1981–1985) · succeeded by Bob Davie (1997–2001).
| Season | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||||||
| Record | 5-6 | 8-4 | 12-0 | 12-1 | 9-3 | 10-3 | 10-1-1 | 11-1 | 6-5-1 | 9-3 | 8-3 | |
| Postseason | — | L bowl | W bowl | W bowl | L bowl | W bowl | W bowl | W bowl | L bowl | L bowl | — | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script | ||||||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
56 NFL Draft picks: Wally Kleine (1987), Steve Beuerlein (1987), Robert Banks (1987), Andy Heck (1989), Frank Stams (1989), Mark Green (1989), Wes Pritchett (1989), Anthony Johnson (1990) + 48 more
Followed Joe Salem (1979–1983) · succeeded by John Gutekunst (1986–1991).
2nd-best Arkansas tenure of 22 by the numbers.
Followed Frank Broyles (1958–1976) · succeeded by Ken Hatfield (1984–1989).
| Season | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||
| Record | 11-1 | 9-2-1 | 10-2 | 7-5 | 8-4 | 9-2-1 | 6-5 | |
| Postseason | W bowl | L bowl | L bowl | W bowl | L bowl | W bowl | — | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script | ||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
15 NFL Draft picks: Steve Little (1978), Leotis Harris (1978), Dan Hampton (1979), Jerry Eckwood (1979), Vaughn Lusby (1979), Ben Cowins (1979), Tom Ginn (1980), Steve Cox (1981) + 7 more
5th-best NC State tenure of 15 by the numbers.
Followed Al Michaels (1971) · succeeded by Bo Rein (1976–1979).
| Season | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||
| Record | 8-3-1 | 9-3 | 9-2-1 | 7-4-1 | |
| Postseason | W bowl | W bowl | L bowl | L bowl | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script | |||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | |
5 NFL Draft picks: Charley Young (1974), Willie Burden (1974), Rick Druschel (1974), Allen Sitterle (1974), Stan Fritts (1975)
3rd-best William & Mary tenure of 4 by the numbers.
Followed Marv Levy (1964–1968).
| Season | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||
| Record | 3-7 | 5-7 | 5-6 | |
| Postseason | — | L bowl | — | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||
| Offense | — | — | — | |
| Defense | — | — | — | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script | ||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | |
All-time wins
Wins at programs this site tracks, 1936–present — one consistent count for every coach, not each program’s own historically reported total.
8th all-time in FBS wins
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+14.9 pts at NC State · #122 of 1290 · top quarter