Lou Holtz talks to student athletes about life choices

He spoke to ballrooms full of people Monday night and Tuesday morning in Jefferson City, but perhaps his most important talk was to about 40 local high school students.

Prior to his speech Tuesday morning at the annual Vitae Foundation Breakfast at Capitol Plaza Hotel, former Notre Dame Football Coach Lou Holtz spent 30 minutes talking and interacting with the athletes, mostly sophomores and juniors from Jefferson City High School, Helias High School and Blair Oaks High School, along with Special Olympians.

Holtz arrived early and immediately sat in a chair in front of the group and began asking questions: “How many of you are A students, or B students, or C students or D students? You know, I was in the lower third of my class. If it wasn’t for me, there wouldn’t have been an upper half.”

Getting up and taking off his suit coat, Holtz, who has spent his life motivating young people, went over a specific game plan for life.

“The one thing I’ve got on you all is I know what it was like to be 17; you don’t know what it’s like to be 79,” he laughed. “I’d rather have memories than my youth.”

Holtz told the group society makes life too complicated; it’s simple if you follow three rules.

“The first rule is do what’s right,” he said. “If you have any doubt, consult the Bible. Being honest and loyal will lead others to trust you.”

Holtz said the second rule is doing things to the best of your ability, which allows you to form a belief in yourself.

“Don’t compare yourself to anyone else,” he said. “If you do, two things will happen: you’ll either feel superior to others or you’ll feel inferior — both are bad.”

Holtz credited not a coach but his sophomore English teacher with pushing him to make good decisions, which eventually let him get the grades he needed to go to college.

“There’s no one I wrote more thank-you notes to than to her for all she did,” he said.

Holtz said life is a team game, and no one has the right to cause somebody else to fail.

“You cannot let other people down,” he said. “That leads me to the third rule: show people you care. You’ll never meet anyone who couldn’t use a smile or a kind word.”

Holtz closed his talk by telling the athletes that by choosing a positive attitude, making sacrifices, getting rid of excuses, understanding what they are trying to do and dreaming big they would be able to look in the mirror and be satisfied with themselves.

“You can’t worry about the little things,” he said. “Have fun, and people will want to be around you. You will make mistakes, but don’t let that keep you from doing things.”