Holtz and Corso: open mouth, insert foot

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COVER PHOTO: Screenshot of Lou Holtz from "The Pat McAfee Show" on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023.

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Lou Holtz and Lee Corso are two well-respected former college football coaches that have been around the game a very long time.

The 86-year-old Holtz’s career spanned 45 years that included 35 as a head coach of six different colleges and one pro team. He spent his last year as an assistant coach under Woody Hayes on Ohio State’s 1968 national championship team before beginning his foray as a college head coach and had a one-year stop with the New York Jets in 1976 before jumping back to the college ranks with Arkansas. He won a national championship his third season with Notre Dame in 1988.

Corso’s career was 26 years long and was also primarily in college with the exception of his last year being the head coach of the Orlando Renegades in the now, long-defunct USFL. The 88-year-old’s legacy, however, has been cemented as one of the enigmatic analysts on ESPN’s College Gameday by either electrifying or infuriating the home-team crowd by adorning one of the featured team’s mascot’s headgear of who he thinks will win.

But it seems the two boomers opened their mouths and said some things this past weekend that really ruffled a couple of coaches’ feathers.

First was Holtz, who took it upon himself on Friday to publicly call out Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and his team’s toughness on “The Pat McAfee Show” in a lead-up to Saturday’s College Gameday, which was in South Bend.

“We will win because we believe,” he said. “Forget who in the hell we’re playing, just tell Ohio State this, take this message to Ohio State: they better bring their lunch because it’s going to be a full day of day’s work.”

Holtz prognosticated the Fighting Irish (4-1) would win because they were a better team than the Buckeyes (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) because they have the best offensive line in the country, were “set” because of running back Audric Estime’s nation-leading rushing yards, they have “great receivers” and had the best defensive line of any team.

“(Quarterback) Sam Hartman won’t even get his jersey dirty all year (because) he has time to throw the football,” Holtz said.

Then he launched into his personal dig on Day.

"I coached at Ohio State under Woody Hayes (and) we won the national championship when I was there and I'm proud of that.

"However, he (Day) has lost to Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan twice, and everybody (that) beats him, does so because they are more physical than Ohio State. And I think Notre Dame will take that same approach."

Holtz admitted the Irish’s schedule had been somewhat lackluster at that point (even though their first four teams are currently a collective 8-6) but that shouldn’t matter because the Fighting Irish face the best players in the country every day in practice, they had the home field advantage and shutting down OSU wide receiver Marvin Harrison, Jr. would not be difficult to do, even if he had difficulty remembering Harrison’s name.

“It won’t be much different than covering, uh, the great receiver they have at Ohio State. Plus we’re playing at home.”

And the rest, as they say, is history.

In what went down as potentially the greatest finish to an OSU football game, the Buckeyes prevailed with a last second, one-yard touchdown punch-in by running back Chip Trayanum to give the Scarlet and Gray a 17-14 victory.

Afterwards, Day let Holtz know during his postgame interview on the field that there were no hard feelings.

"I'd like to know where Lou Holtz is right now. What he said about our team,” he said incredulously to NBC field reporter Rebecca Lowe, “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 will continue to be Ohio against the world. But I tell you, I love those kids and we have a tough team.”

With 1:26 left in the game, only one timeout and trailing Notre Dame by four, OSU quarterback Kyle McCord orchestrated a two-minute-drill drive for the winning score. He only completed five out of 14 passes but three of those were for 19 yards or more - including a 21-yarder on 3rd-and-19 to Emeka Egbuka at the 1 yard line - as well as a seven-yard drag route connection with receiver Julian Fleming on 4th-and-7 where Fleming was able to just past the first down marker.

“Everybody wants to question these guys. These guys are warriors right here and to come back and win, this kid to come back in the second half and win,” he said pointing to McCord, “I’m emotional about this, for a reason.”

Day even seemed to take a pot shot towards other haters out there that have had their doubts about Ohio State’s mental resolve.

“A lot of people question these kids and say a lot of things about them and I love them. When someone attacks your family and to come in and win like this, it’s special.”

McCord finished 21-of-37 for 240 yards, no touchdowns but also no interceptions. He took one sack for the game which came on the final drive for nine yards, resulting in an intentional grounding call that put OSU in the 3rd-and-19 position.

Then came Corso, who called previously undefeated, No. 15 Oregon State’s matchup with undefeated, No. 21 Washington State the “No One Wants Us Bowl”. He was alluding towards the fact that they’re the only two Pac-12 teams left that currently don’t have a conference home come next year when the conference announced before the current season began that they’re disbanding.

The comment chafed Cougars head coach Jake Dickert so much that he felt the need in his postgame press conference to follow Day’s indignancy by calling out the geriatric Corso.

“I think nationally, there’s a lot of noise out there,” Dickert said. “I caught something this morning, I was watching Gameday, and Corso comes on and he says, ‘the no one watches bowl’. And I don’t really understand that, what’s the merit once again? Because the facts say people watch the Cougs. And the people watch the Cougs more than every team that’s left (to go) over (to) the Big 12. So, you know, coach Corso, he’s at the point where they (ESPN) just give him a sheet, he reads off of it, they try to make a joke but it doesn’t even make sense.”

The Cougars knocked off the Beavers, 38-35.

Dickert then took an even bigger swipe at the network itself, proclaiming the sports mega giant is responsible for the dissolution of the Pac-12.

“It’s well documented what ESPN has done to try and … get our league to where it’s at and I would love to have a conversation with coach Corso about the value that he sees in breaking up the premiere west coast conference. And I would also love to have a conversation with coach Corso about how he thinks student athletes and mental health and flying them all over the country is a positive thing. I’m open to those conversations.”

Corso’s comment seemed somewhat innocuous, though, and drew support from one of his Gameday counterparts, former Buckeye QB, Kirk Herbstreit, whose response was directed at former Washington State and NFL QB Ryan Leaf, who also works for ESPN.

“Huh? Is this a real tweet???” Herbstreit posited in his retort via X. “You must have been hacked Ryan. Lee’s point OBVIOUSLY was-it is 2 teams that have been left out-that haven’t found a home yet-NOT the “no one watches Bowl”. Know you’re excited your boys won but DAMN!”

The whole thing started when Leaf said Dickert was right and shared Dickert’s sound-off.

First off, Corso called the game the “No One Wants Us Bowl”, not the “No One Watches Bowl”. Dickert may be correct that WSU pulls in good ratings but that wasn’t the crux of the comment. It was the fact that the game featured the only two teams that literally the other four standing Power-5 conferences wanted nothing to do with.

In that regard, Corso’s point was somewhat valid. Even if it was a poor joke some schlub at ESPN typed onto a sheet for Corso to read, his (or whomever’s point it was) is valid.

When USC and UCLA decided to jump ship last summer to the Big Ten with Oregon and Washington following suit not even two months ago, it created a scrum for the conference to either buckle down and start finding suitable candidates to replace them or just collapse within themselves and call it a wrap.

Then the Big 12 poached Arizona, Arizona State and Utah as well as coaxing back old alum Colorado to hook up with them, leaving only four schools remaining in California, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State.

Then the silly talk of Cal and Stanford possibly joining a conference on the opposite coast (the ACC) turned true when they inked a deal to join for next year.

At that point, the Pac-12 powers-that-be opted to fold, leaving the Beavers and Cougars in the lurch. Although, rumors are currently floating around internetland that they could be headed towards the Mountain West Conference.

Still, it seems like Holtz and Corso’s time has come and gone. Even though Corso is still a staple of Gameday and a good portion of fans champ at the bit to see which mascot head he’s going to wear and proclaim as the winner, it’s woefully apparent his health is continually declining and he has a hard time clearly pronouncing words and thoughts, thus becoming tough to watch.

Holtz didn’t seem to have as difficult of a time on McAfee’s show getting his thoughts across and you might have to actually admire Lou for being as candid as he was. But maybe he should try to approach a question like that a little more tactfully so as not to piss off the opposing team and use it as fuel for their fire.

Then again, when you’re approaching the beginning of your 10th decade of life like Lou and Lee are close to, who gives a damn what everyone else thinks.