Lou Holtz passed away on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. Lou Holtz is most well known for leading his 1988 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team to a national championship. He was also known for being an incredibly eccentric and sometimes divisive person.

Loyal Monday Motivation readers know that I quoted Lou in last week’s issue, and that I am a lifelong University of Notre Dame fan, so it should come as no surprise that I am also a Lou Holtz fan. Lou’s quirkiness and wit are unmistakable and have always stuck with me.

Towards the end of his life, Lou Holtz made headlines for his divisive political opinions, which he was never shy about sharing. Those headlines have muddied the waters around how good of a person and leader Coach Holtz truly was. I think that is a real shame, so I am going to use this week’s issue of Monday Motivationto share some universally applicable, non political wisdom from Coach Holtz .

Lou had a way of boiling complicated ideas about success and character down to simple principles. A great example would be his three rules for living a good life:

Lou breaks down each of these rules a bit in the video below:

“When all is said and done, more is said than done.”

Coach Holtz wasn’t a fan of anyone who was all talk. Really, I don’t think anyone is. I encourage everyone to try and be someone who does more “doing” than “saying.”

“You'll never get ahead of anyone as long as you try to get even with him.”

Effort put toward trying to get back at someone who has done you wrong in the past is effort completely wasted. I think Coach Holtz would agree that a better way forward would be to dust yourself off and keep moving forward.

The Stoics would agree:

“How much better to heal than seek revenge from injury. Vengeance wastes a lot of time and exposes you to many more injuries than the first that sparked it.” - Seneca, On Anger

“You're never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you're never as bad as they say when you lose.”

A college football coach would know this better than anyone. Truthfully, though, the best person to judge your situation is you. Take a step back this week and assess your progress honestly without letting praise inflate you or criticism deflate you.

Hopefully you all were able to take something away from the words of Lou. He will truly be missed, and he will be remembered for his his wit, his wisdom, and the way he inspired people to show up, give their best, and care about those around them.

See you all next week,
Nate