Lou Holtz, the Hall of Fame coach who led Notre Dame to its last football national championship, died on Wednesday. He was 89.

Holtz had reportedly been in hospice care for months. He died Wednesday surrounded by his family in Orlando, Florida.

“Notre Dame mourns the loss of Lou Holtz, a legendary football coach, a beloved member of the Notre Dame family and a devoted husband, father and grandfather,” Notre Dame president Rev. Robert A Dowd said in a statement, in part. “Among his many accomplishments, we will remember him above all as a teacher, leader and mentor who brought out the very best in his players, on and off the field, earning their respect and admiration for a lifetime.”

Holtz was a head coach at six different schools and even spent a season as the coach of the New York Jets. He’s most known for his tenure at Notre Dame from 1986 through 1996 as the Fighting Irish went 100-30-2 under his watch.

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Notre Dame went 12-0 in 1988 and finished the season at No. 1 in both the AP Top 25 and the coaches poll after its Fiesta Bowl win. It was the first national title for the Irish in 11 years after they won four across the 1960s and 1970s. The Irish have not won a championship since.

The Irish allowed just 11.2 points per game that season and famously beat Miami 31-30 on Oct. 15. The Hurricanes entered that game at No. 1 while Notre Dame was No. 4. The Irish’s win broke Miami’s 36-game win streak and moved Notre Dame up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25. The victory is one of the most iconic college football games of all time.

The Irish sealed that national championship with a 34-21 win over West Virginia. Thirty-seven years later, it remains the most recent title Notre Dame has won in football.

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Holtz left Notre Dame after the 1996 season and was hired at South Carolina in 1999. He turned around a Gamecocks program that went 0-11 in his first season before going 8-4 in 2000 and 9-3 in 2001. After three straight losing seasons, Holtz retired from coaching. A brawl vs. Clemson marred his final game at South Carolina, and both teams refused bowl berths at the end of the season as a punishment for what happened.

Before Notre Dame

Holtz’s head coaching career started at William & Mary. He spent three seasons with the Tribe before he was hired at NC State. He was 33-12-3 with the Wolfpack before he was hired by the Jets ahead of the 1976 season.

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His time in the NFL didn’t last long. The Jets were just 3-10 before Holtz resigned with a game to go in the regular season.

Holtz immediately went back to the college ranks and was hired by Arkansas ahead of the 1977 season after longtime coach Frank Broyles stepped down. The Razorbacks were 11-1 in Holtz’s first season with the team and won the Cotton Bowl. Arkansas won 10 games again in 1979, and Holtz finished his Arkansas tenure with a 60-21-2 record when he was fired after the 1983 season.

Holtz then spent two forgetful seasons at Minnesota before taking the Notre Dame job. The Gophers were 10-12 in those two seasons.

He finished his college coaching career with a record of 249-132-7. He ranks third in all-time wins at both Notre Dame and Arkansas.

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In 2008, he was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Post-coaching career

Holtz is known by many younger college football fans for his time at ESPN as a studio analyst for the network’s college football coverage. He left ESPN in 2015.

Holtz was also politically active, both as a coach and after he was done coaching. At Arkansas, he filmed campaign ads for North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms.

Though he flirted with the idea of becoming a politician himself, Holtz never officially ran for office as a Republican, though he remained active in GOP circles. He spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention and made a disparaging remark about President Joe Biden’s Catholicism. The comment caused Notre Dame to disavow what Holtz said.

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On Dec. 3, 2020, President Donald Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.