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The national championship game is almost here as the Notre Dame football team will take on Ohio State on Monday night. The Buckeyes and Fighting Irish met up on the gridiron during the 2023 season in South Bend. It was a great game that was won by Ohio State on the final play, but you might remember the contest because of what happened before and after with Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day and former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz. Now, drama is brewing once again.
Ryan Day and Lou Holtz have some bad blood because of some comments that each of them made about the other. Holtz said some negative things about Ohio State leading up to that game regarding the toughness of the Buckeyes. Ever since Ohio State lost two games in a row to rival Michigan, a narrative stating the Buckeyes weren't tough started to go around. Holtz fed into the narrative, and Day wasn't happy about it.
Now, the drama is heating up once again. Of course last year's feud was brought up ahead of the national title game, and Holtz chimed in with some comments of his own.
“If Notre Dame doesn’t win, it’s because we want to preserve Ryan Day’s job,” Holtz said in a post on Wednesday. “I was originally going to be at the game in spirit, but now I’ll be dragging my body along as well.”
After Ohio State beat Notre Dame last year, Ryan Day had a long message for Holtz in his postgame interview. He said that he wanted to know where Holtz was, and that he couldn't believe what was said about his team. Day also insisted that his team was tough.
“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is now,” Day said. “What he said about our team, 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. It’ll continue to be Ohio against the world.”
Despite the loss, Lou Holtz thought that Notre Dame was more physical and was the better team. The Fighting Irish easily could've won the game.
Holtz apologized to Day for offending him, and he also apologized to current Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman for putting him in a tough spot.
“I called Coach Freeman yesterday and apologized because I put him in a bad position, maybe,” Holtz later said on a podcast with Dan Dakich. “I don’t feel bad about saying it because I believe it. And Notre Dame was the better football team… if I was coaching I would’ve said it. And I would’ve watched their tape and said, ‘I think you’re better. I think you’re more physical. I think you’re more talented. Coach Day doesn’t believe so. Go prove him wrong and prove me right.’ But when I say something and I can’t control the outcome of the game, that’s unfair to Coach Freeman.”
Holtz wasn't done. He then took another shot at Ryan Day by calling out his struggles against Michigan. At that point, the Buckeyes had lost two games in a row against the Wolverines. It is now up to four.
“That’s his choice. And I can understand why he did it,” Holtz said. “He doesn’t want to talk about Michigan, 0-2 [the last two seasons]. He doesn’t want to talk about the big game coming up against Penn State and against Michigan again. He’s a great coach. He’s done a tremendous job. He’s a great offensive mind. Ohio State’s a good football team, I don’t think they’re a great football team.”
The feud is back on, and who knows, it could result in another viral postgame interview.
