According to ESPN radio earlier today, WGN radio in Chicago is reporting that Notre Dame officials contacted Lou Holtz on Saturday about returning to South Bend and that "there is interest on both sides"....Say it isn't so, Lou!!....while Holtz has expectedly responded by saying "the only thing I'm thinking about right now is preparing my team to face a good Ohio State team (in the Outback Bowl)"....Holtz apparently still follows the results of the Fighting Irish very closely based upon reports that following the South Carolina-Georgia game on Sept. 8th, he had an aide call the Associated Press office in Columbia to get the Notre Dame-Nebraska score....while these talks are preliminary at best I would still be surprised if Lou returned to ND, even though that he was his "dream job" for 11 years and he won the National Championship there in 1988....the only other rationalization that comes to mind is that Lou is not intending to retire anytime soon and wants to immediately turn the Gamecocks over to his son, Offensive Coordinator Skip Holtz....however, after turning South Carolina around from 0-11 two years ago to back-to-back 8-9 win seasons in the always tough SEC, I'm sure the South Carolina administration will do everything possible to keep Lou in Columbia.

~Joe

[ December 17, 2001: Message edited by: gamecock ]

Please, Lord, let this be true. Every ND alum would dance a jig.

Bite your tongue, Ted....are you a ND alum?....I'm sure Lou hasn't forgotten how the "good fathers" in South Bend forced him out four years ago and, for that reason, I would be surprised if he went back....then again, as a Gamecock alum, there's probably some wishful thinking factored in there somewhere too.

Hi, Gamecock - Yes, I am ND '83. I suffered through the early Dark Days of Gerry Faust, so I'm a big Lou Holtz fan. I'd love to have him back. His departure is, to this day, a bit of a mystery to many in the ND community - I'm curious what you're referring to when you refer to the "good fathers" forcing Holtz out. 'splain, Lucy!

Ted, the "good fathers" I'm referring to (somewhat sarcastically) are Fathers Malloy, Hesburgh, et. al. who "run" Notre Dame and, regardless of who has the title of Athletic Director, their football team as well -- considering the enormous revenue that their professional (er, amateur student-athletes) generate for the university, this is hardly an area where they have been known to "delegate" all the responsibility and decision making to an A.D.

Regarding Lou's previous 11 year tenure in South Bend, while it has never been proven, there has been wide speculation as to the cause of his "departure"....although Lou may have been somewhat burned out and wanting to spend more time attending to his seriously ill wife I for one (along with a number of columnists who follow the Fighting Irish program much closer than I) still have major doubts that Holtz voluntarily resigned by his own free will....some of the related allegations to the ND administration's "disappointment" with Lou's performance (i.e., treatment of players) was raised in the court case a few years ago involving the female booster who gave several ND players additional "benefits" including trips, cash, etc (including Bob Davie's less than complimentary testimony about Holtz' coaching "techniques")....Notre Dame was (and is?) his "dream job" as demonstrated by the fact that Holtz had the "out clause" in his contracts at Minnesota and Arkansas permitting him to terminate the contract if he received an offer from only ONE other school (and you can guess which one that was).

Don't get me wrong....I'm not complaining about Holtz being "pushed" out of South Bend (which I firmly believe took place) considering what he has accomplished during his short stay in Columbia, which I am not the least bit surprised about based upon Lou's impeccable track record at William & Mary, NC State, Arkansas, Minnesota, and Notre Dame (excluding his brief less than one year stint coaching the Jets)....while Notre Dame can offer him a "king's ransom" in an effort to persuade Holtz to return and "wake up the echoes" I am still optimistic that Lou will remain at USC....as I previously stated, the only reason I can think of for Lou leaving would be to immediately promote his son Skip (present Offensive Coordinator and well-known successor to Lou) to Head Coach of the Gamecocks (soon to be Outback Bowl champs after they defeat Ohio State on New Years Day).

~Joe

Hi, Gamecock - Thanks for the background. I don't really think too many people think Lou was forced out by Fr. Malloy (Fr. Hesburgh retired in '87 at age 70). To this day most folks just seem confounded by what did or didn't transpire, although Davie's post-hiring hatchet job of Lou didn't help (Note to Bob: if you're ever hired somewhere else please remember to take the knife out of your boss's back once you've taken his job). In any case, I think everyone at ND would welcome Holtz back with open arms.

Open arms, huh ???

Holtz publicly announced today that he is NOT interested in returning to South Bend and, in the process, he publicly endorsed his son Skip Holtz (present Offensive Coordinator of the Gamecocks and former Head Coach at UConn) as the "best available candidate" for the job at Notre Dame....I don't think there's any chance that Skip will be hired by ND since Kevin White is looking to bring in a "big name" coach who can win immediately and restore the program to national prominence after the George O'Leary fiasco.

~Joe