Driving to South Bend
10 leadership lessons from my time as a young coach inside the Notre Dame football program.
Last week the college football world lost a legend. Few coaches have matched the impact of Coach Lou Holtz. Following the the stories told over the past week by former players, coaches and colleagues has been a testament to the legacy he left.
I was fortunate as a young coach to have the opportunity to work for Coach Holtz at the University of Notre Dame 36 years ago. Early in my career I had the chance to be around him every day, observe how he operated, and learn from one of the greatest coaches college football has ever produced.
It was January of 1991, on a Thursday night. I was in my campus apartment at Syracuse University where I had been a graduate assistant the previous year. Our head coach, Dick MacPherson, a legend in his own right, had taken the job with the New England Patriots, which left my future uncertain.
I tossed and turned and could not sleep.
Before I went to bed I packed my Ford Bronco. I planned to get up early the next morning and start the drive to South Bend, Indiana, where I had accepted a position to work for Lou Holtz and assist Joe Moore with the offensive line.
I was too excited to sleep. Around 3:00 in the morning I finally gave up on trying. I got up, grabbed my keys, and started driving west.
I had mixed emotions. I was excited and I was scared to death that I might let them down.
All I wanted to do was get there, get my feet on the ground, and get started.
Up to that point I didn’t have a strong connection to Notre Dame football. I had a friend who played there and I knew a former graduate assistant, but that was it. However, I had my eyes on Notre Dame from afar. When I was in high school there was a Sports Illustrated article about Coach Joe Moore and his offensive line at University of Pittsburgh. I remember reading that article and underlining sections of it in red pen. I held onto to that through my playing days. In college, I read the book The Fighting Spirit: A Championship Season at Notre Dame by Lou Holtz. When the opportunity came to work for Lou Holtz and Joe Moore it felt like a dream come true.
I arrived in South Bend later that day and reported to the football offices. The other Offensive Graduate Assistant was Todd Monken, we shared an office. It did not take long to realize we had both entered a Masterclass in coaching.
Everything had a purpose. Everything had a standard. There was a level of organization and attention to detail that I had never seen before.
Coach Holtz had a plan for everything.
Meetings were structured. Practice was structured. Recruiting was structured. Even the way the staff communicated with the players was intentional.
Nothing was left to chance.
I quickly learned that working for Coach Holtz meant you had to be prepared, you had to be accountable, and you had to bring energy every single day.
Coach Holtz had an incredible ability to simplify things. He could take complex ideas about leadership, preparation, and winning and break them down into clear principles that everyone could understand.
As a young coach, I spent a lot of time listening, observing, and taking notes. I realized very quickly that if you paid attention, you could learn something valuable from him every single day.
Looking back now, more than three decades later, many of those lessons still guide the way I think about coaching, leadership, and developing people.
Here are ten things I learned from being around Coach Lou Holtz.
Ten Things I Learned from Lou Holtz
1. Three Rules and Three Questions
Coach Holtz kicked off the offseason that January by outlining his framework for motivation.
He started with three rules that should guide daily behavior.
Do what is right.
Do your best.
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
Then he talked about three questions everyone asks about you.
Can I trust you?
Are you committed to excellence?
Do you care about me?
If people can answer yes to those questions, they will follow you and work with you.
2. Details Matter
One of the greatest learning experiences I had early in my coaching career was “padding” games.
Instead of relying on computers to break down film, Coach Holtz required us to draw every play.
If a game had seventy five plays, we had seventy five sheets of paper.
Every sheet had a football field. Every player had to be drawn exactly where he lined up.
It could take four hours to break down a single game.
It forced you to slow down and truly learn football.
3. Fundamentals
Coach Holtz constantly talked about being in a football position.
People joked about it and imitated his voice, saying, “You are either in a football position or running to get into one.”
But he was right.
Base. Hips down. Eyes up.
He also simplified the game by saying defensive football is about crossing face, and offensive football is about not getting your face crossed.
Simple ideas. Winning football.
4. Think Outside the Box
When preparing for the University of Michigan, Coach Holtz did not want to study their most recent games.
He believed Michigan played Notre Dame differently than everyone else.
Our assignment was to break down five years of Notre Dame versus Michigan games.
He did not follow the crowd. He did what he believed gave us the best chance to win.
5. Meet the Parents
Coach Holtz believed recruiting started with understanding the family.
He wanted to meet the parents and observe how the player treated them.
Was he respectful?
Was he polite?
Those small moments revealed a lot about the character of the young man.
6. Chain of Command
During the 1991 spring game draft, the staff debated which position to pick next.
I spoke up and argued with defensive backs coach Ron Cooper about the selection.
Coach Holtz quickly corrected me.
Coop was a position coach. I was a graduate assistant.
There is a chain of command.
I learned a valuable lesson that day.
7. A Championship Standard
One practice we were halfway through special teams, typically six 5:00 minute periods, when Coach Holtz stopped practice.
He told the managers to reset the clock to period one.
We started over.
The message was clear.
If the standard was not met, we would reset and do it again until it was right.
8. Be Your Own Blocker
While preparing for the Sugar Bowl against University of Florida, Coach Holtz demonstrated a mindset.
Coach Holtz loved the T Formation, two TE’s and 3 RB’s. His favorite play out of the T formation was 36 Base North. A physical off-tackle play, flatback and downhill.
During practice he removed the lead blocker.
We ran the play with ten players.
The message was simple.
The ball carrier had to be his own blocker and find a way to get in the end zone.
Sometimes in life you have to be your own blocker.
9. The 90-10 Rule
Coach Holtz often said life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond.
Adversity will show up.
The response is what matters.
He also joked that ninety percent of people do not care about your problems and the other ten percent are glad you have them.
There was truth behind the humor.
10. The Phone Call
In January of 1992 I received an opportunity from our offensive coordinator, Peter Vaas, who had taken the head coaching job at College of the Holy Cross.
He offered me the offensive line coaching position.
Before making a decision, I called Coach Holtz.
I wrote out exactly what I planned to say on a legal pad.
Coach Holtz did not hesitate.
“You have to take the job.”
He told me I needed to get out of my comfort zone and find out what kind of coach I was going to be.
He was thinking about my development, not about keeping me on staff.
Coach Holtz was not building followers.
He was building leaders. Coach Holtz’s coaching tree is extensive and rivals the all-time best.
Looking Back
More than three decades later, I realize how fortunate I was to spend that time around Coach Lou Holtz at Notre Dame.
As a young coach, I did not fully understand how valuable those lessons would become. Over the years I found myself returning to many of the same principles he emphasized every day. Do what is right. Prepare. Pay attention to the details. Hold people to a high standard.
Coach Holtz had a remarkable ability to simplify what it takes to win and what it takes to lead people.
I was fortunate to learn from one of the best.