Lou Holtz’s reputation as a football coaching legend has been taking some hits recently due to his biased nature.
However, the latest drama has plunged it even more as Lou Holtz and Ryan Day got involved in more or less a trash-talking competition.
Lou Holtz was the talk of the town when he harshly criticized Ohio State’s team and their coach. However, Ohio snatched a victory against Holtz’s favored team, Notre Dame, serving up the perfect opportunity for Day to roast the 86-year-old commentator.
Who Is Lou Holtz?
Lou Holtz is a renowned American college football coach who is 86 years old. He served as the head football coach at the College of William & Mary, North Carolina State University, the New York Jets, the University of Arkansas, Miseota, Notre Dame, and South Carolina. He is the only college football coach to guide six different programs to bowl games and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 20 rankings.
After retiring, Holtz worked for CBS Sports as a college football analyst and later took up the same post for ESPN.
While he has been a living legend of college coaching for years, his image became stained once he became an ESPN commentator. Sports commentators are expected to be objective, and while it is common for some to be a bit biased towards some teams, Holtz takes it to an unprecedented level.
What Did Lou Holtz Say About Ohio State Football?
On September 23, Holtz commented via The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN that Ohio State lost big games under coach Ryan Day. He referred to Notre Dame as a better football team than Ohio State. It was part of a comedy skit where he was being interviewed by Ty Schmidt, who was cosplaying as Holtz.
According to Holtz,
“You look at coach Day and I coached at Ohio State under Woody Hayes. We won the national championship when I was there. I’m proud of that. However, he has lost to Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, and Michigan twice, and everybody beats him because they’re more physical than Ohio State.”
He felt that Ohio State was losing its touch and are not as tough as they used to be.
He even stated that Notre Dame was superior in areas like the offensive line and quarterback efficiency.
Ryan Day’s Retort
The Ohio State Buckeyes won against Notre Dame 17-14 on September 24, 2023. After the team secured its win, Ryan Day addressed the comments made by Holtz.
“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now. What he said about our team, I cannot believe.”
“This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio. It’s always been Ohio against the world. And it will continue to be Ohio against the world. I love those kids, and we’ve got a tough team.”
Of course, the coach did not stop after saying this much. He made sure that Holtz knew just what Day thought of his biased analysis.
“I don’t know where [Holtz] gets off saying those types of things. I have some other things I’d like to say, too, but I’m not going to say [them] because I’m more respectful than he is.”
This college football drama played out, much to the delight of Ohio fans, who got a win out of it. At the end of the day, Holtz’s negative remarks boosted Ohio State against Notre Dame and brought them a long-due victory.
Comment down below if you think any of the coaches crossed the line.
