Lou Holtz, the College Football Hall of Fame coach who led Notre Dame to the 1988 national title, has entered hospice care, according to ABC57 and other reports.
The South Bend, Indiana, TV station said a ‘source close to the family confirmed’ the news.
Holtz, 89, was at the helm for the Fighting Irish from 1986 to 1996, leading the team to a perfect 12-0 season and the national championship in 1988.
Holtz compiled a 249-132-7 college record (.651 win percentage) during 33 years as a coach. He finished his career with a 12-8-2 bowl record. He also coached at William & Mary (1969-71), North Carolina State (1972-75), Arkansas (1977-83) and Minnesota (1984-85). He also served as the New York Jets coach in 1976.
He took two years off after coaching at Notre Dame before taking his final coaching job at South Carolina (1999-2004).
Holtz would go on to serve as a college football analyst for ESPN from 2004 to 2015.
The coaching icon was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump in 2020.