Morning Journal/ Michael Burich Lou Holtz poses for a photo with Lou Holtz-Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame inductee Bob Duffy on Saturday during the bronze bust unveiling ceremony at Potter Fieldhouse.

EAST LIVERPOOL — Lou Holtz looked over the newly unveiled bronze sculpture of the moment he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Saturday and emphasized that the bust adorning the Potter Fieldhouse lobby was a symbolic message to the youth who will walk by it from now on.

“I think back to whenever I was in high school,” Holtz said. “My father had a third grade education, I was born during the Depression, no welfare, no food stamps. We always had plenty to eat because when my dad asked for seconds he said ‘you already had plenty to eat’. We were blessed. (In high school) I wasn’t a great athlete, I wasn’t a class officer, I never had a date, never went to the prom. If you go back and look at my high school record, you’d look at it and go ‘My goodness, he has absolutely no future whatsoever.’ How did I end up here? Because of good people.”

Holtz was in town on Saturday as part of the festivities surrounding the final Lou Holtz-Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

In a stirring 20-minute speech in the crowded lobby of the Potter Fieldhouse, Holtz offered many thanks to the people who molded him into a College Football Hall of Fame coach, esteemed citizen and proud father and husband.

The coach was introduced by East Liverpool mayor Greg Bricker, East Liverpool City Schools superintendent Jonathan Ludwig and of course dear friend and East Liverpool historian Frank Dawson.

Dawson came out of the gate with an anecdote about his first time meeting Lou when he was the trainer of the football team measuring heights and weights. Holtz was just a scrawny kid waiting in line hoping we didn’t appear too skinny.

“He said ‘If I stand in this line all this time and don’t weigh 100 pounds, I’m going to be sick’,” Dawson said. “Well he made it just like every single thing he has done.”

It had been a long wait to get the sculpture installed as initial plans were for it to be unveiled in summer of 2021. But due to the pandemic and other factors, it had to wait.

The wait ended up being worth it for supporters in attendance.

Holtz, a 1954 East Liverpool High School graduate, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump in a morning ceremony on Dec. 3, 2020 at the White House.

The speech did not touch on that event however and was overwhelmingly reflective on what the people of East Liverpool meant to him throughout his life. He brought up people like his old high school football coach Wade Watts who famously encouraged Lou to go into coaching.

“He meant high school coaching, not Notre Dame!” Holtz said.

Holtz also told an emotional story about his late wife Beth’s 22-year battle with cancer. He said that even though he did thousands of interviews over his life, she never did until the very end of her life.

“She only did one interview in her entire life and it was about cancer,” Holtz said. “They said ‘Mrs. Holtz, what did you learn from having cancer?’ She said I learned how much my family loved me.’ Why do we have to wait until there is a catastrophe before we realize it?”

He said the lesson of that is to reach out and show people you care and he tied that in to encouraging everyone in the audience to give young people a chance.

“I’m just an average individual by any way you want to look at it,” Holtz said. “I hope when future students look at the bust and talk about Lou Holtz, they’ll think anything is possible. If that guy can do it, I sure can because I have more talent than he had.”

Notes

¯ Holtz’s youngest son Kevin was in attendance.

¯ Holtz reiterated a commitment to give $75,000 to $100,000 worth of scholarships to East Liverpool students every year. He said he is leaving it in the hands of people of East Liverpool to pick worthy recipients because he can no longer do so without his wife around to help.

¯Holtz, 85, said he had back surgery four weeks ago and says he is getting better.

¯Holtz still had some barbs for his old high school rival Steubenville.

“We were coming up through Steubenville yesterday on the way here and I remember we used to say ‘Steubenville needs water, everybody flush your toilets.'”

¯ Holtz called out Salem philanthropist Bob Sebo and brought up the story of the 1953 football game between Salem and East Liverpool. Salem won that game 13-2 but Bob Sebo, who played at Salem, was the leading scorer for the Potters in that one because he was tackled for a safety.

¯ Sebo bankrolled the Hall of Fame dinner and also sent his plane to fly Holtz into town.

¯ Former Notre Dame 1988 national championship football players Bryan Flannery and Frank Stams were in attendance. Flannery served in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002. Stams had a pro career that included a stint with the Cleveland Browns.