Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz, who coached the Fighting Irish for 11 seasons and led them to the 1988 national title, made an endorsement speech for President Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention last night. Holtz is a longtime Republican ally and has endorsed President Donald Trump in his bid for re-election.
When former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz called Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden a “Catholic in name only” during a speech Wednesday night, he was speaking for himself, not the school, the university president Father John Jenkins said in a statement Thursday.
“While Coach Lou Holtz is a former coach at Notre Dame, his use of the University’s name at the Republican National Convention must not be taken to imply that the University endorses his views, any candidate or any political party,” Jenkins said.
And Holtz’s attack on former Vice President Biden’s faith drew a rebuke from Jenkins. “Moreover, we Catholics should remind ourselves that while we may judge the objective moral quality of another’s actions, we must never question the sincerity of another’s faith, which is due to the mysterious working of grace in that person’s heart,” Jenkins said. “In this fractious time, let us remember that our highest calling is to love,” Jenkins added.
Holtz has been around football his entire life, first as a player and later as a head coach with 6 different college teams. He had an overall record in college of 246-132-7 with a record of 12-8-2 in bowl games. He also coached one year in the NFL with a 3-10 record. During his 36-year college head coaching career, he coached the Fighting Irish for 11 seasons, 1986-1996 where he had a 100-20-2 record, and led them to the 1988 national title. His bowl record at Notre Dame was 5-4.
“I used to ask our athletes at Notre Dame, ‘If you did not show up, who would miss you and why?'” Holtz, 83, said in his speech. “Can you imagine what would happen to us if President Trump had not shown up in 2016 to run for president? I’m so glad he showed up.”
