Presidential Guest Speaker
Coach Lou Holtz

The SOA is pleased to have the legendary Coach Lou Holtz as the 2021 Presidential Guest Speaker. Coach Lou Holtz has established himself as one of the most successful college football coaches of all time.

Born in 1937 in Follansbee, WV, he grew up just up the Ohio River in East Liverpool, OH. He earned a BS degree in history from Kent State in 1959 and a Masters’ from Iowa in arts and education in 1961. He played linebacker at Kent for two seasons before an injury prematurely ended his career.

Holtz is the only coach in the history of college football to take six different teams to a bowl game, win five bowl games with different teams, and have four different college teams ranked in the final top 20. He compiled a 243-127-7 career record, ranking him third in victories among active coaches. In 2008, Holtz was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Holtz’s head coaching career began in 1969 at William & Mary. In 1970, his second team advanced to the Tangerine Bowl in the school’s single postseason appearance.

Before ascending to head coach, Holtz served as assistant coach at Iowa, William & Mary, Connecticut, SC and Ohio State. The Buckeyes won the national championship in 1968 in his only season on their staff.

Holtz spent the 1976 season with the NFL as head coach of the New York Jets, producing a 3-10 record.