Coach Lou Holtz was asked to make a touchdown for the Scholarship Foundation of Indian River County at its second annual Speaker Fundraiser – “Winning Every Day: An Evening with Lou Holtz” – last Friday evening at the Waxlax Center for the Performing Arts at St. Edward’s School.
One of the most accomplished coaches in American college sports history, Holtz’s real heroics are manifested more through the students he has inspired than his many awards, ESPN airtime or New York Times-best-selling books.
Before the main presentation, Holtz charmed guests at a private VIP donor reception with his quick wit and easy smile, especially as he greeted his former student and football player Bruce Wachter, beloved upper-school headmaster at St. Edward’s.
“I was recruited to play football at William and Mary the same year it was his first head coaching job,” said Wachter, thrilled to see Holtz once again. “He was a fabulous coach and an outstanding motivator; a total inspiration.”
As a reminder of Holtz’s inspiration as an educator, Wachter wore the Tangerine Bowl ring he earned when they won the Southern Conference, and stated that he learned to be a man under Holtz’s leadership.
To inspire the next generation, 150 students from after-school programs including the Boys and Girls Club, Gifford Youth Achievement Center and local high schools were invited to be among the 500 guests who attended.
“Coach Holtz came from a very humble background, so I think he can identify with having to claw your way up from not having any money and to work hard to achieve your goals. He has a great way of inspiring young kids because he was able to do the same and he has a witty method of teaching,” said scholarship committee chair Joan Cook.
In addition to his renown for turning Notre Dame from a once dismal team to a 12-0 Fiesta Bowl winner in 1988, the College Football Hall of Famer is the only coach to have led six college teams to bowl games. He has been a New York Jets coach, ESPN college analyst and author, and is now acclaimed and admired as a motivational speaker.
“I never felt that I coached football,” said Holtz. “I coached life. The same thing that would enable them to be successful as an individual player and a successful student would be the same things to be a good father, good husband and a good businessman or, in Bruce’s case, a good educational leader. It all takes the same thing.”
Having heard dozens of Holtz stories from Wachter, Robb Greenfield needed no prodding to attend when his friend Elizabeth Sorensen told him Holtz would be speaking.
“When the students listen to someone like Coach Holtz giving advice about life, someone who has those kinds of major experiences, it is instant credibility. You have to believe he knows what he is talking about,” said Greenfield.
Proceeds from the event will help change the lives of local students through Scholarship Foundation scholarships.
