About the Author

No one has seen as much as Coach Lou Holtz, and no one is in as much demand. He has shared his strategies for success with Fortune 500 companies, groups and organizations. He was voted the top motivationsal speaker two years running by a survey of speakers’ bureaus. Many companies have taken on his bestseller Winning Every Day (HarperBusiness) as their company Bible. (International Paper, a $35 billion a year company with 110,000 employees uses it religiously.) He coached Notre Dame to a national title in 1988; was twice voted Coach of the Year (1977 and 1988). In almost thirty years on the field, he coached at six different schools: William

Reviews

With a strong overtone of moral teaching, college football coaching legend Holtz offers a prosaic but endearing memoir. It's clear from the beginning that Holtz sees coaching as nurturing more than mere athletic achievement; it's an opportunity to mold promising student-athletes into superlative young men: "Coaching gives one a chance to be successful as well as significant." Holtz grew up in a hardscrabble West Virginia mining town in the 1940s and '50s, keeping a determinedly working-class and strictly religious attitude no matter how high he climbed as a coach. His stories of assistant and then head coaching at institutions from Ohio State to North Carolina State-as well as run-ins with big names like Bill Cowher and Bill Clinton-are full of funny anecdotes and neat little lessons, but they tend to blur in the mind. A standout is Holtz's long-term position at Notre Dame, of special importance not just because of his devout Catholicism but also his refreshing devotion to strict academic standards for the players. In fact, what stands out is his modesty and adamant belief that football is ultimately less important than education. (Aug.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.