Congressman Holtz?
Lou Holtz. National Champion. Hall of Fame Coach. United States Congressman? Sound far fetched? Well, as Lee Corso would say, not so fast my friend. The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that the former Notre Dame head coach is considering running for Congress in the Sunshine State.
After earning nearly 250 wins on the college gridiron, former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz is eyeing another competition — as a candidate for Congress in Central Florida.
The famed skipper and ESPN analyst met with top Republicans here last week and said he was interested in challenging first-term U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D- New Smyrna Beach, according to four GOP officials who did not speak on-the-record because they don’t know if Holtz actually will run.
The Orlando Sentinel also brought up some valid points about why such a run for Holtz might not be successful.
Last year, he called Adolf Hitler a “great leader” when comparing the Nazi Fuehrer to Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez. He later issued an on-air apology.
“He has a personality in sports, but I don’t know how that translates to politics,” said Roger Handberg, a political scientist at the University of Central Florida. He warned that Democrats almost certainly would comb past Holtz broadcasts to find other incendiary statements.
“Holtz has said enough things on TV … and because of this I’m sure he’s said enough stupid things,” said Handberg.
As a college football fan, I hope Holtz doesn’t ditch Bristol, Connecticut for Washington DC because he is one of the only enjoyable college football analysts employed by the “World Wide Leader.” As a Lou Holtz fan, I still hope his paychecks keep coming from ESPN instead of Uncle Sam.
I, like most Notre Dame fans, love watching Holtz give Mark May a hard time on ESPN and don’t want to see the coach I grew up idolizing as the guy who brought Notre Dame back after the Faust Era as a political figure. As tough as it is to see Holtz on the receiving end of May’s pot shots about Notre Dame, it would be much tougher seeing Holtz on the receiving end of political pot shots should he run for Congress.
The report stated that Holtz would be deciding soon if he intends to go through with idea so we should know soon if we’ll be watching Dr. Lou on ESPN or CSPAN in the future.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Thank you Lou, for not doing this. How terrible that would have been…
Plus, in referrence to above, MARK MAY IS EVIL. Amen, thank you, and have a good day.
Politicians are scum. Period. I personally know Michael Dukakis and he’s a really good guy. Used to go up to his office after my classes at Northeastern U. – where he tought poli.sci. so his daughter could get a free education. (she studied Communications, as did I after failing at ND) And he advsed me FOR FOUR YEARS to keep any political ambitions of mine local. ie. Poliutics isn’t a contact sport – it’s a game of stealth character-assasination. AND, and much as I hate to admit it, if Lou runs as a repub, he will cho0ose to be my enemy. That wwould be a mighty shame.
it would be hard to find another guy as much a ND homer as holtz to cancel out anything Mark May has to say lol
I’d rather not see him do it. What would be the purpose? I’d rather not see him dragged around in the dirt on the campaign trail.
As a ND football icon, I’d also hate to watch ND fans change their opinion of him due to differing political beliefs. He’s a uniting figure for Notre Dame fans, and I wouldn’t want that to change.
He is the type of person we need in congress. Personal responsibility and accountability.. I don’t think he will win, but its a nice gesture. Congress right now has neither of the abovementioned attributes.