Lou Holtz’s 3 Rules for Life: Success & Inspiration

Lessons from Lou. The Irish faithful worldwide are mourning the death of coach Lou Holtz. And with good reason. He lived a life of fortitude, inspiration, and resilience. At middle age, Lou Holtz felt dissatisfied with himself. He believed that he had allowed himself to become mediocre. He had not thought much about, much less achieved any life goals. So, he sat down and wrote them out. Then, he made a plan. It was a plan that he followed day after day until he became the head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and then he won a national championship. But his legacy is about so much more. Lou Holtz was a great football coach, but he was an even better human being. Famously, he performed a magic trick in front of his team where he tore a newspaper apart and put it back together. He noted that you can’t let outsiders tear you down. And he dedicated his life to using his words to build up his team and to build up his family. One of his greatest achievements was building a culture of respect in the locker room and in his home. Do you remember the great economist who taught us that money will make us miserable and to define success by the obstacles that we’ve overcome? It wasn’t an economist. That was Coach Lou. Do you remember the great marriage and family therapist who noted that the best way to love your daughter is to show her how much you love her mother every day? It wasn’t a therapist. That was Coach Lou. Do you remember the football coach who told a locker room full of terrified young men that their success in the second half of a football game would define the rest of their lives? That was Coach Lou. And it did. It was right here in the toughest town in America, Stubenville, Ohio. at his graduation address at the Franciscan University of Stubenville that Coach Lou laid out his three rules for life. Do right. Act with integrity so others can trust you. Do your best. Perform all tasks to the best of your ability with the time you have. Show you care. Actively help others and demonstrate that you care about them. If you live this way, you might just win a national championship, but more importantly, you will be a saint. Everyone needs something to do, someone to love, someone to believe in, and something to hope for. Let’s hope for the lives of resilience that we can live that end in heaven. That’s where the Irish Victory March plays for eternity. Coach Lou famously said that his wife was the type of person that when she died, you would stop praying for her and start praying to her. I think the same can be said of him, Coach Lou Holtz, and Mary Notre Dame, our mother. Pray for us. Amen.