CLEMSON — Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney wasn’t aware of Lou Holtz‘s death until seconds before he took the podium after the Tigers’ fifth spring practice.
Swinney reflected on the life of Holtz, a former South Carolina football coach and national champion at Notre Dame who died March 4 at 89. He had been in hospice care since Jan. 29.
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“Obviously, one of the greatest coaches, certainly, to ever coach this game, and I would think a lot of people who play for him and know him would probably say one of the greatest people, one of the greatest influences in a lot of people’s lives,” Swinney said at a news conference.
Swinney competed against Holtz in 2003 and 2004 when he was the wide receivers coach at Clemson. Holtz was South Carolina‘s coach from 1999-2004. Clemson won both games.
Swinney said he became friends with Holtz’s son, Skip Holtz, over the years, too. They got closer when Skip Holtz got a place in Keowee Key, which is near Clemson. Swinney said Skip Holtz also welcomed him to a Birmingham Stallions game in the UFL when he coached the team from 2022-25.
Lou Holtz experienced immense success at Notre Dame from 1990-96. He won 100 games and lost only 30, highlighted by the 1988 national championship where Notre Dame finished with a 12-0 record and victory over West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl.
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Holtz retired for two years in 1997 to work at CBS Sports then returned to take over the Gamecocks program in 1999. He went 0-11 before turning the program around to go 8-4 the following season when he was SEC coach of the year.
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“I know he lived a great life. What a life. What a life well-lived,” Swinney said. “The impact that he had on people’s lives will live on forever and ever and ever and ever.
“No matter how long we live, it’s a blink of an eye in the timeline of eternity. Whether you get 99 years or nine years, life is a blur.”
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Holtz went 33-37 across his six seasons in Columbia, including 9-3 in 2001, and went 2-0 in bowl games.
Holtz’s six-season tenure ended after South Carolina and Clemson were involved in a 10-minute brawl in November 2004, which led both schools to forgo bowl bids.
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at DCarter@usatodayco.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dabo Swinney reacts to Lou Holtz death. What Clemson coach said
