Notre Dame Football: Lou Holtz Weighs in on Playoffs, Investigation

Stop me if you've heard this one: Lou Holtz likes Notre Dame.

But after years of serving as a punching bag on ESPN for his pro-Irish delusions, the former Notre Dame coach and current TV pseudo-psychologist, Dr. Lou has every reason to be bullish about the Irish after watching them play the first three games of the season. 

"After the first week, I had them as one of my top six teams for the playoff," Holtz told me this week. "I now have them as one of my top four."

Holtz made that proclamation after seeing the Irish up close and watching some of Notre Dame's future opponents begin to wilt. Yet it's more than just the early-season struggles of teams like Florida State, USC and Stanford, Holtz formed his opinion after getting a rare in-season look behind the scenes in South Bend when he visited with Brian Kelly and the team, taking in Friday's practice before the Michigan game. 

"This football team, there’s something special about it," Holtz told me. "Watching them practice, watching them play, it’s a special team. I don’t look at the stars, I look at the third-teamers at practice. Everybody’s focused on what they’re doing. There’s no individual there, there’s no selfishness there, and there’s great talent."

That last part is particularly important, according to Notre Dame's second-most winningest coach. It's also a big reason why Holtz could rattle off the Irish's upcoming schedule from the top of his 77-year-old head. 

"I think that they will beat Florida State in Tallahassee. I think they’ll get by Stanford at home," Holtz said, walking me through the potential pitfalls. "The only other game, with [Taylor] Kelly being injured, the quarterback at Arizona State, does volumes for us. And I just don’t think that Southern Cal is as talented as some thought after the Stanford game."

While Holtz's optimism does feel like vintage Holtz, he made it clear that the biggest reason he felt that way was the blossoming relationship between Brian Kelly and quarterback Everett Golson. 

"I love Everett Golson. He is just a winner," Holtz said. "He’s got great peripheral vision, and he made a couple of throws against Michigan that I want to tell you, you don’t see except on Sunday. And not every game on Sunday. He’s got a rifle of an arm, he’s got a quick decision, excellent vision. There’s just something about him."

JOE RAYMOND/Associated Press

Of course, with Notre Dame still shy three key starters and five total players as their academic investigation drags on, we still don't know how good this team can be until the dust settles. But after talking to a coach who spent a decade dealing with the university's administration, I took the opportunity to ask him about his experiences dealing with off-field issues.

"When I went there, they said you’ll have nothing to do with the academics, and you’ll have nothing to do with the discipline of an individual on campus," Holtz said.

Then he walked through his experience in 1989, reminding me that things aren't all that different today under the Golden Dome than in Holtz's era. 

"1989. We’re defending national champs," Holtz recalled. "I found out the morning our team reported, right before the team picture, that Tony Brooks, our leading ground-gainer from the previous year, had driven his car onto campus the day before in order to empty his clothes.

"He was suspended for the season. He wasn’t allowed to drive his car on campus because he had too many parking tickets, and, consequently, Tony wouldn’t be able to play that entire year.

"In that same conversation, they informed me that Michael Stonebreaker was involved in a car accident in the offseason. He had alcohol on his breath, but was not arrested for drunken driving, and he was not given a citation. But because of that, our All-American linebacker, Michael Stonebreaker, would not be able to play the entire year. I found that out the morning we reported in 1989."

But just as some have wondered why Kelly hasn't complained more about the separation between the football program and the handling of his players, Holtz said it comes with the territory. 

"You know what you do? That’s Notre Dame. They make the decision. You close ranks, you pick up the rifle and you march on."

On a day where Holtz spent his morning promoting the AFCA Allstate Good Works Team, a passion of his that he hopes will remind football fans of the good things happening right now, Holtz's love for the game was more than apparent. 

So was his love for Notre Dame, a feeling Holtz will take to his grave (literally, he's got two plots in the campus cemetery for himself and his wife). That's why you could hardly blame the former coach for finding the teaching moment—and recruiting pitch—that he believes makes Notre Dame different than just about every other college football program in America. 

"Discipline isn't what you do to somebody, it's what you do for somebody," Holtz said. "What Notre Dame does, they're not looking at this week or next week, they're looking at 40 years down the road. It's not a four-year decision, it's a 40-year decision."