Holtz is joined in the 13-member class by
fellow coach John Cooper, best known for his tenure at Ohio
State, and 13 former student-athletes including UCLA's Troy
Aikman, Oklahoma State's Thurman Thomas, 1959 Heisman Trophy
winner Billy Cannon of LSU and 1987 Heisman runner-up Don
McPherson of Syracuse who played for the then-Orangemen while
current UConn head coach Randy Edsall worked there as an
assistant coach.
Holtz was a member of perhaps UConn's
most-decorated coaching staff, one which produced three future
NFL head coaches. Then Husky head coach Rick Forzano later
guided the Detroit Lions and another assistant on that staff,
Sam Rutigliano, went on to be head coach of the Cleveland
Browns. Holtz was head coach of the New York Jets in 1976.
Holtz's tenure at UConn was highlighted by
the season-opening 13-6 win over Yale on Sept. 25, 1965 at the
Yale Bowl, the Huskies' first-ever win over their in-state
rivals after 16 straight losses to open the series. One member
of this staff remains in Storrs as the freshman team at the time
was coached by Andy Baylock, UConn's long-time head baseball
coach and currently the football program's Director of Alumni
and Community Affairs.
After UConn, Holtz became the only coach in
NCAA history to take six different teams to a bowl game as a
head coach. He compiled a 249-132-7 record as a head coach at
William & Mary, NC State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame and
South Carolina. He guided the Fighting Irish to the 1988
National Championship and took four different schools into the
national Top 20 behind the strength of 26 first-team
All-Americans. He presently resides in Orlando and works both as
a motivational speaker and as an analyst for Bristol-based ESPN.
STORRS,
Conn. (May 1, 2008) -- Former University of Connecticut
assistant football coach Lou Holtz (1964-65) was named the College
Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision Class of 2008 today.
The group will be honored during the NFF's annual awards dinner on
Dec. 9 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and enshrined in the
summer of 2009 at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend,
Ind. 
