Dame Coach Lou

Navy coach George Chaump wiped a fake tear from his eye and tried to hide a smirk.He had listened to Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz recall the close friendship they enjoyed as assistant coaches under Woody Hayes at Ohio State in 1968, sharing car rides and sandwiches at McDonald's and ending their day in their favorite Columbus piano bar.Then he heard Holtz praise Navy's controlled passing game and aggressive defense that had proved so troublesome to the unbeaten...

Let there be a footnote in the record book explaining that in the college football season of 1993 the best team was Florida State but the national champion was truly Notre Dame.There's admittedly a certain amount of ambiguity to such a deduction but since the voting is entirely subjective any scenario can be presented -- and be found either plausible or flawed, depending on your point of view.Florida State was adjudged to be the superior team in the final polls, but then what does that make Notre Dame?

DALLAS -- Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz will turn 56 on Jan. 6.Jerome Bettis, his star fullback, might turn pro the same day. Happy birthday, Lou.College underclassmen must declare their intentions by Jan. 6 to be available for the NFL draft.Bettis, who turns 21 on Feb. 16, is wrestling with this decision as the Irish finish preparations for Friday's Cotton Bowl game against Texas A&M.Bettis, a 247-pound junior, said the question is out of his mind until after the game. Well, almost."I've got friends here, and we're just ripping and running," Bettis said yesterday.

Gilman's Alex Mueller remembers everything happened in a blur.One day the 6-foot-6, 260-pound offensive tackle from Ellicott City was almost certain he was headed to Northwestern next fall.Then came the unexpected call that changed his life. He remembers it was a Tuesday (Jan. 17), and Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz was on the other end of the line asking him to come to Notre Dame. Holtz told him he didn't even have to make a visit. His scholarship was guaranteed.What does a 17-year-old say to the coach of the most famous football program in America?

IRVING, Texas -- Yesterday's 40-15 NFC wild-card loss to the Dallas Cowboys left Minnesota Vikings coach Dennis Green with an 0-4 playoff record.There was much speculation during the season that Green, beset with much-publicized personal problems, was going to be replaced by former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz.But team president Roger Headrick has remained a Green supporter, especially after the team made the playoffs."He's not done as far as I'm concerned," Headrick said after yesterday's loss.

Why does the media, both print and broadcast, continue to make Joe Paterno the scapegoat of the Penn State scandal? Coach Paterno didn't even have a connection to the funnel of Jerry Sandusky's alleged indiscretions, his charity for at-risk youths known as The Second Mile. Does anyone question the charity's board of directors about what they knew? Many of these directors quickly asked to be removed from the board. Pro football coaches Andy Reid and Dick Vermeil, former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz, TV sportscaster Matt Millen and Baltimore's own Cal Ripken Jr. I don't hear their names being brought up or them having their reputations being bashed.

William Pollard has the right size, the right football background and the versatility that helps players fill roster spots in the Canadian Football League. During the next three weeks, Pollard will find out if he has the right stuff to make the Baltimore Football Club.With 37 veterans reporting today to two-a-day workouts at Towson State, Pollard is anxious to prove he belongs. Based on the early critiques of coach Don Matthews, Pollard is one rookie who is making camp interesting.Pollard, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound player out of Notre Dame, comes to Baltimore by way of Saskatchewan, where he was released last summer as a slotback, since that position was designated as all-Canadian by the club.

IRVING, Texas -- Coach Jimmy Johnson will be offered a position in the broadcast booth with the Fox Network if he leaves the Dallas Cowboys, network executive sports producer Ed Goren said yesterday."

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- As Jeff Burris stepped to a microphone in the crowded press tent outside Notre Dame Stadium early last night, the full-time safety and sometime tailback tapped it gently."

CHICAGO -- Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz is fond of saying that things are neither as good nor as bad as they seem, and reality lies somewhere in between.That seemed an appropriate theme for his Irish yesterday, who were fresh off a decisive road victory at Brigham Young with all eyes turning toward their showdown with No. 1 Florida State Nov. 13.Their 45-20 win, coupled with Alabama struggling for a tie with Tennessee, elevated the Irish to No. 2 in the polls. Then they received the bad news.