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Holtz has no intentions of leaving Gamecocks
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. -- Lou Holtz is 63 and not showing any signs of
slowing down.
The architect of the biggest regular-season turnaround in
Southeastern Conference history has a vision of what South Carolina
can become and is determined to make it a reality.
The Gamecocks went 7-4 this year after going winless in their
first season under Holtz to extend the nation's longest losing
streak to 21 games.
Monday's Outback Bowl will be another significant step for
Holtz's latest rebuilding projects, but the coach whose
motivational skills rank among the best promises the best is yet to
come.
"You ask what keeps you in coaching. As long as you have dreams
... you have energy to get up and go do this," said Holtz, whose
team will face Ohio State (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 19 AP) in South Carolina's first postseason appearance since 1994.
"I still believe we can build a Top 10 program. We can build a
program as good as any in the country. I think we're on a firm
foundation. That's our goal and that's our objective."
Holtz, who has also led resurgences at William & Mary, North
Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota and Notre Dame, left a job in
television to take over at South Carolina, which lost its last 10
games under previous coach Brad Scott.
Skeptics questioned whether Holtz would have the ability to
revive a program that had fallen on hard times in the rugged SEC
and pointed to the Gamecocks' 0-11 record in 1999 as evidence just
hard the job would be.
But Holtz kept preaching hope and his message was eventually
heard.
"God gave me the ability to project. He didn't give me the
ability to dance. He didn't give me the ability to have a demanding
appearance," the coach said.
"I mean, I walk into a room, I'm 5-foot-10, 152 pounds, wear
glasses and have a lisp. Girls under 12 and over 70 have always
loved me. In between those ages there's very little infatuation
with me ... But I do have the ability to project my feelings. I
wear over a long period of time, and I'm consistent in what I do
and what I believe."
Ohio State coach John Cooper has watched Holtz's career from
afar since the late 1970s when Cooper was at Tulsa and Holtz was
enjoying a successful stint at Arkansas.
"We'd always lose to them and Lou, of course, would tell us
what a great game we had played and what a great coaching job we
were doing," Cooper said.
"I'm not surprised at the success he's had this year. I
honestly thought they'd win more games than they did last year.
That's the kind of football coach he is."
South Carolina point to an emotional offseason meeting in which
Holtz required each player to stand and relate his life story in
hopes as the biggest single motivational ploy that brought the team
together.
Holtz hoped that knowing one another's backgrounds that players
would learn to trust one another.
"I think the only time somebody is not motivated is: One, they
don't have a goal. And two, they don't think they can achieve it,"
Holtz said.
"We talked about winning the conference championship. I
believed that we could. I think our players reflect back now and
say that wasn't impossible, that wasn't so crazy."
A late-season loss to Florida ruined South Carolina's bid to
finish atop the SEC East. Instead the Gamecocks finished in a
three-way for second with Georgia and Tennessee.
Holtz insists there are no secrets to turning a program around.
He's succeeding in his latest job by stressing the same things he
has at each stop of his career -- fundamentals, hard work and
discipline.
"He's pretty much as advertised. He's very tough on us, and he
coaches us very hard," quarterback Phil Petty said. "He wants us
to be as close to perfection as possible. And that's what we try to
do day in and day out."
Holtz is at an age when some coaches have problems understanding
and communicating with today's athletes. But he had no qualms about
returning to the game after two years in broadcasting.
"They have to adjust to me. I've been 18, they've never been
63. When they get to be 63 I'll listen to them," he said, adding
that he doesn't see himself retiring any time soon.
"I don't want to live in a town where the average age is
deceased, where you just play golf ... If I go to a banquet, I want
to be the speaker. If I go to a wedding, I wish I was the groom. If
I go to a funeral, I wish I was the corpse. I like to be where the
action is."
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