Coach Holtz weighs in on coaching a new generation of players

 

There has been a shift in college athletes where doing things the way they’ve always been done doesn’t seem to work with today’s players. Legendary Coach Lou Holtz explains what he would do differently – or not – with this generation.

In his 35 years as head coach, Lou Holtz amassed 249 career wins, including the 1988 National Championship at Notre Dame.

The landscape of college football has changed over the last 17 years since he retired. Would he still be successful with today’s generation?

"I think I'd be a better coach today than I've ever been,” Holtz said. "Today, the younger people, Millennial are different. Everybody got a trophy. There are no losers. Everybody is valedictorian. Everybody is homecoming queen. But what you have to understand about Millennials today is they want you to lower the standards, so that they can feel success, and that's not what you do. What you say to a Millennial is important. But what you say to them is not nearly as important as your tone of voice. And your tone of voice is not nearly as important as your facial expression. So, the madder you get, the softer you speak, and the more you smile."

Coach Holtz said it’s important to study people and coach players as individuals.

"With Rick Mirer, he was such a wonderful, young man, but if you hollered at Rick Mirer, you didn't get the same result. On Tony Rice, if I didn't grab him by the throat twice a day, he didn't think I was paying attention. So, there's two great quarterbacks, two great young men, two beautiful people, but you had to handle them a little bit different because of their background, and the way they were raised,” Holtz said.