Lou Holtz speaks from heart while addressing Bulls

Posted Aug 12, 2011 by Adam Adkins

Updated Aug 12, 2011 at 10:43 AM

VERO BEACH The USF football team got a visit Thursday from Lou Holtz, the father of Bulls coach Skip Holtz.

Lou Holtz, currently a college football analyst for ESPN, took in the entire two-hour workout, bouncing around the practice field at the Vero Beach Sports Village to get a good look at the Bulls, and said he was impressed with what he saw.

“They’re a much-improved football team from what I’ve seen,” he said. “More experienced, more confidence, better fundamentally, and they’re very quick and they work hard.”

At the request of his son, Holtz also took some time to address the team after practice. This is the message Holtz said he delivered to the Bulls:

“If you want the right to fail, you have the right to fail. That’s what’s great about this country. Life is a matter of choices. Choose to do drugs, drop out of school, join a gang, choosing that problem. But you don’t have the right to cause your mother to fail.

“There wasn’t a player there their mother didn’t sacrifice to give them the opportunity. The greatest thing that can happen to their mother is for them to graduate. So, they may want to fail academically, but they don’t have that right because they can’t let their mother down.

“Same thing with the team. No matter how you feel you cannot let your teammates down. If you want to fail you have the right to fail, but you do not have the right to cause other people to fail because you don’t fulfill your commitment. Just how I feel and just spoke from my heart.

“But I also told them that they’re a very impressive football team, and who knows what this season may hold. It could be exciting.”

Holtz, who was decked out USF gear, also was asked if he was becoming a fan of the Bulls. He laughed a bit while offering this response:

“Do you think I wear this because it’s fashionable? Because I look good in green? I’m wearing this because of my son.”