Word: holtz
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...disciple of Ohio State's legendary tough guy Woody Hayes, Holtz often joins huddles during scrimmages and scrutinizes backfielders like a Customs inspector. The idea, he says, is "to make practice worse than the game." The 5-ft. 10-in., 152-lb. coach once barreled onto the field and sacked quarterback Rice for goofing off during a passing drill. During competition, Holtz calls every offensive play from the sidelines...
...been unbeaten in 36 regular-season games. As a sellout crowd of 59,075 roared in the South Bend stands, Irish quarterback Tony Rice threw touchdown passes to freshman wide receiver Raghib ("Rocket") Ismail and junior fullback Braxston Banks, and scored one himself on a keeper option play, a Holtz favorite. Says Holtz with a grin: "We've proved that there is life after Tim Brown...
Much of the Irish success stems from perfectionist Holtz's famous practice sessions and attention to detail. When he arrived at Notre Dame in the winter of 1986, Holtz, who had been head coach at William and Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas and Minnesota, concentrated on molding the Irish into a clockwork mechanism. Says senior linebacker Wes Pritchett: "He gave out shirts with TEAM on them in big letters and ME in tiny letters. It sounds corny, but the message got through: everyone can't be a star, but if you tackle your assigned role with 100% effort...
Recruiting is another Holtz specialty. He signed up twelve of the top 100 high school All-Americas for this year. "The last couple of years, I've recruited for speed," says Holtz. "We've sometimes been a step or two slow. But now we have people like Ismail, who can do 40 ((yds.)) in 4.28 seconds." The Wilkes-Barre, Pa., freshman is possibly the fastest receiver in the country...
...weakened but still formidable Penn State and, in their final game, with No. 2-ranked U.S.C. If successful, the Irish will probably play currently unbeaten West Virginia in either the Fiesta Bowl or the Gator Bowl, a contest that could decide the national championship. But overconfidence is not in Holtz's playbook. Says he: "Right now -- I don't care what the polls say -- we're not the best in the country. But maybe we can be by the end of the season...