Lou Holtz thinks playing college football during a pandemic is worth the risk
On Thursday, legendary football coach Lou Holtz appeared on The Ingraham Angle to discuss the impact that the coronavirus is having on college athletics. His passion certainly shined through as he voiced a tangential argument on the matter. With colleges and universities across the country still shut down, and confirmed cases still rising, the upcoming football season is sure to be heavily impacted, if not cancelled altogether. And the thought of that is quite upsetting to Holtz. “The way it is right now, they just don't want to have sports and there's no way in this world you can do anything in this world without a risk,” said Holtz. “People stormed Normandy...they knew there was going to be casualties, they knew there was going to be risk, but it was a way of life.” Only a few hours prior to his appearance, the Big Ten announced they would not play football outside of their conference. Holtz thought the idea was ridiculous because the strength of schedule wouldn’t be strong enough. He also said it would negatively impact smaller schools, like the one where his son is a coach. “Let me tell you a devastating effect it is going to have in the non Power Five schools. My son’s the coach at Louisiana Tech and he should play Baylor, Vanderbilt, those are money games, those are very, very important to them but how are you going to have football when they don't even want to have school?” Holtz, who has campaigned for Donald Trump’s re-election, echoed the president’s recent comments for schools to reopen as scheduled. And he believes all this talk of no school and no sports will end one way or another on November 3rd. “What has happened to our way of life?” Holtz queried. “Look at it from both points of view, the risk is always there but you cannot just look at it from one side and that's exactly what's happening and I think it will end on election day.”
Video Transcript
LOU HOLTZ: The way it is right now, they just don't want to have sports. And there's no way in this world you can do anything in this world without a risk.
People stormed Normandy. I took some grandchildren over there. They knew there was going to be casualties. They knew there was going to be risk. But it was a way of life.
- Legendary football coach Lou Holtz appeared on The Ingraham Angle Thursday to discuss the impact that the coronavirus is having on college athletics. And he had a lot to say, especially since the Big Ten just announced they would not play football outside of that conference this season.
LOU HOLTZ: Now if you eliminate all non-conference games, first of all, you have some teams of the Big Ten that schedule four patsies. And they know they're going to win four games, win two conference games, and go to a bowl. That isn't going to happen.
- Holtz also pointed out that smaller college football programs rely on games against big schools to generate much needed revenue.
LOU HOLTZ: But let me tell you the devastating effect it's going to have, is in the non-power five schools. My son's the head coach at Louisiana Tech. He should played Baylor, Vanderbilt, etc. Those are money games. Those are very, very important to him. But how are you going to have football when they don't even want to have school?
- Holtz, who has campaigned for Donald Trump's re-election, echoed the president's recent comments for schools to reopen as scheduled. And he believes all this talk of no school and no sports will end one way or another on November 3rd.
LOU HOLTZ: The underprivileged, the people from the poor neighborhood, where are they going to get an education? What's happened to our way of life? Look at it from both points of view. The risk is always there. But you cannot just look at it from one side. And that's exactly what's happened. And I think it will end on Election Day.
