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Legendary college football coach Lou Holtz tests positive for coronavirus

“I don’t have a lot of energy right now,” the 83-year-old Hall of Famer says.
 
Hall of Fame college football coach Lou Holtz speaks at a campaign rally featuring President Donald Trump at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., on Nov. 5, 2018.
Hall of Fame college football coach Lou Holtz speaks at a campaign rally featuring President Donald Trump at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., on Nov. 5, 2018. [ MICHAEL CONROY | AP ]
Published Nov. 20, 2020

COLUMBIA. S.C. — Lou Holtz has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The 83-year-old former college football coach confirmed the test Thursday to Columbia TV station WOLO.

“I don’t have a lot of energy right now,” Holtz told the ABC station.

Holtz led Notre Dame to the 1988 national title in a Hall of Fame career. He has worked for ESPN and campaigned for President Donald Trump. Holtz is set to receiver the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump.

Holtz retired from coaching in 2004. He was 249-132-7 in 33 seasons at William & Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina. He was 3-10 with the New York Jets in the NFL in 1976. When Holtz retired after the 2004 season following six years at South Carolina, he was replaced by former Florida Gators coach Steve Spurrier.

In August, Holtz said college football teams should move forward and play games as scheduled amid the pandemic. He compared playing the season to the World War II storming of Normandy.

“When they stormed Normandy, they knew that there were going to be casualties, there was gonna be risk,” Holtz told anchor Bill Hemmer during an appearance on Fox News. “Two percent of the people that go to the emergency room go for COVID-19. But young people, Bill, they think it’s like cancer. They think they’re gonna die.”

Holtz is not alone among legendary college football coaches to contract the virus. Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, 91, was hospitalized with the virus last month. He recovered and was discharged.

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