Former Notre Dame head football coach Lou Holtz said he doesn’t “feel bad” about his comments that led to Ohio State head coach Ryan Day calling him out in a postgame interview following Ohio State’s 17-14 win over Notre Dame.
Holtz appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” live from campus Friday and questioned Ohio State’s physicality.
“You look at Coach Day, and I coached at Ohio State under Woody Hayes, we won the national championship when I was there and I’m proud of that. However, he has lost to Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan twice, and everybody that beats them does so because they’re more physical than Ohio State, and I think that Notre Dame will take that same approach," said Holtz.
“You tell [Ohio State] they better bring their lunch because it’s going to be a full damn day’s work,” he said.
In the on-field postgame interview, Day called out the 86-year-old coach and asserted his team’s toughness.
“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is now. What he said about our team, what he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio, and it’s always been Ohio against the world, and it’ll continue to be Ohio against the world,” Day said.
Holtz appeared on a podcast with Dan Dakich on Outkick on Tuesday and said he called head coach Marcus Freeman to apologize, not knowing how far his comments would spread.
“I wanted him to know that I felt bad. Any time you put a team at a disadvantage and you can’t control the outcome of the game, that’s wrong. I hadn’t done TV for a few years, I had no it would be that widely received … I had no idea Mr. McAfee’s show was so widely watched. But I made it and that’s it, and you can’t do anything about it,” Holtz said.
While Holtz apologized to Freeman, he said he stood by his comments.
“I don’t feel bad about saying it because I believe it. And Notre Dame was the better football team,” he said. “Three times Ohio State had 4th and 1, ran the ball and couldn’t make it. Other than the one long run they averaged less than two yards a carry.”
He went on to call Day a “great coach” but doubled down on his assessment of the Buckeyes.
“Ohio State’s a good football team but I don’t think they’re a great football team,” Holtz said. “He can go after me all he wants.”
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