Urban Meyer Pays Tribute To Lou Holtz: How a Legend Shaped the Game | Don’t @ Me w/ Dan Dakich

Ex-college football coach Urban Meyer stopped by "Don’t @ Me" on Monday and, when the conversation turned to the late Lou Holtz, Meyer gave a touching tribute to the legend.

Meyer remembered Holtz as a mentor he leaned on, even long after they stopped working together.

"I love Coach Holtz," Meyer said. "Coach Holtz was a walking encyclopedia, and he had two virtues: love and loyalty.

"I only worked for him for a year," Meyer added, "but our relationship actually got stronger as time went on."

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Meyer made it clear Holtz wasn’t just someone he admired from afar. He was someone Meyer called, constantly.

"And I used that guy," Meyer said. "I wore him out. He was on speed dial."

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 01:  ESPN analyst Lou Holtz (R) congratulates Head coach Urban Meyer (L) of the Ohio State Buckeyes after defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide in the All State Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 1, 2015 in New Orleans, Louisiana.  The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 42 to 35.  (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

On the show, Meyer pointed to one of the strangest stretches a coach can face: the long gap between winning a conference title and playing for the national championship. 

"I always go back to our first chance we had to play for a national championship," Meyer said. "We win the game, and I remember getting back to the hotel after winning the SEC Championship thinking, I don’t have any idea what to do here. No idea. We’ve got 40 days until we’re going to play, and I’m sitting there while everybody’s celebrating."

Coach Meyer said he was typically obsessive about preparation, always keeping notes for the next opponent. That night, he looked down and had nothing.

"I look at my notes," Meyer said, "because I always had notes for the next game, and I had nothing. Zero. How do you handle a team for 35, 38, 40 days, whatever it was?"

So he called Holtz. "Of course, the first call I made was to Lou Holtz."

Meyer said the advice stuck with him, and he still passes it along to younger coaches.

"His advice," Meyer said, "I go back and share that with many of the young coaches now when they’re in that kind of situation, was spot on. And we won." He stressed it wasn’t a one-time phone call, either. "But I used him hundreds of times," Meyer noted.

Meyer also touched on what he saw as Holtz’s identity beyond football, praising his gratitude and patriotism.

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 01:  ESPN analyst Lou Holtz (R) congratulates Head coach Urban Meyer (L) of the Ohio State Buckeyes after defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide in the All State Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 1, 2015 in New Orleans, Louisiana.  The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 42 to 35.  (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

"I love the man," Meyer commented. "He loved our country, boy, and he would talk about that. He was so appreciative of what this country did for him."

Then Meyer got to the trait he kept circling back to: Holtz’s connection with his players.

"And I’ll say this," Meyer continued. "Boy, did he love players."

Meyer placed Holtz in the old-school era with some of the biggest names in the sport, acknowledging how demanding it could be.

"I mean, it was hard," Meyer said. "I was back in that era where you had Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes, Lou Holtz, Joe Paterno, Tom Osborne. It was no-nonsense."

But Meyer said the common thread wasn’t just toughness. It was what those coaches wanted for their guys after the game.

"But the one thing those guys all shared," Meyer said, "the guys I just mentioned, they really loved players. They wanted them to have success post football or post sports, which I still think is the fundamental obligation of a coach."

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