This Follansbee native grew up during the Great Depression in a poor but hardworking family. His father served in World War II, and the family later moved to East Liverpool, Ohio.

Holtz graduated from East Liverpool High School in 1956 and attended Kent State University, where he played football and earned a degree in history. He later got a master’s degree while coaching at the University of Iowa.

Holtz’s long coaching career began in college football. He coached at several schools, including William & Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, and Minnesota. In 1986, he took over at Notre Dame and won the 1988 national championship by beating WVU in the Fiesta Bowl. When he stepped down from Notre Dame in 1996, he had a 100-30-2, making him one of the school’s winningest coaches.

Holtz later coached at South Carolina and became a well-known ESPN football analyst and motivational speaker. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2020.