Lou Holtz Lisped Like A Champion

When old guys who played for Lou Holtz talk about him, from my experience, they don’t bring up schemes or Xs and O’s. They bring up speeches from the crusty but legendary coach, TV pundit, and rah-rah guy who died Wednesday at 89 years old. No, not loathsome political speeches. Football speeches. “That guy could talk,” says Bruce Hanson. He played for Holtz at William & Mary from 1969 through 1971, his first three seasons as a college head college coach. Hanson remembers that Holtz, even as a 32-year-old rookie who’d previously held only assistant jobs at W&M, Iowa, Connecticut, South Carolina and Ohio State, was already as great a motivator as the game had ever seen. “When he was done with his pregame speech you woulda wanted to go beat the Chicago Bears,” Hanson said.