Holtz Humor, Temper Win for Notre Dame

Lou Holtz might offer glimpses of his determination, self-deprecating humor and even charm.

But he won’t volunteer much genuine insight into the mind of the coach who’s brought Notre Dame to contention for a national championship.

“I don’t think I can describe myself, because I’m a very complex individual,” Holtz said recently. “People don’t really know me.”

Holtz’s coaching combines a volatile temper, the humor of a corny amateur magician and a perfectionist’s zeal. He has used the mix to scare, cajole and drive his players into delivering victory after victory this season.

After an 11-0 fall, he’s poised to send his team against West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl in quest of Notre Dame’s eighth national championship.

Holtz’s outbursts on the practice field have become legendary, at least among the victims of his temper. Standing about 5 feet 6, weighing barely 150 pounds and shouting with a lisp, he nevertheless intimidates players twice his size.

He once tackled quarterback Tony Rice after a failed pattern and grabbed the face mask of Tim Grunhard, a 6-3, 280-pound guard, after he missed a block.

When he chooses to be easygoing, Holtz can be disarming and affable.

Cornerback Todd Lyght remembers Holtz performing a magic trick during a recruiting visit--cutting a newspaper to shreds, then putting it back together. “He’s just presenting himself as a good guy,” Lyght says.

But Holtz doesn’t care to be remembered as a good guy. “I’d like to be remembered as the luckiest coach at Notre Dame ever to win a couple of national championships,” he says.