Like it is: Holtz will have no trouble motivating Gamecocks

WALLY HALL
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

After a week of not feuding, maybe it is time to give the devil his Lou.
The man is pure magic when it comes to motivation.
Imagine how long he's waited on the opportunity that came last Saturday night after the victory over Kentucky.
Can't you just see Holtz looking at the dirty, sweaty and bruised faces of his exhausted players and saying: "Frank Broyles is the only man in my life who ever fired me and I want revenge."
Did he say that?
Holtz will probably deny it. Others in that room will say they heard it loud and clear.
Those who have been around Holtz more than a couple of years will have no trouble believing he was capable of saying those words.
Especially if it would help him get a much desired victory over a young, inexperienced Arkansas team -- a state, school and team he obviously has a personal vendetta against.
Holtz obviously knows his players well enough to know if that was the right strategy, even if some of them weren't potty-trained when Broyles told Holtz to knock off early that Sunday afternoon 17 years ago so he could look for another job.
Broyles didn't wake up that Sunday morning and think, "Hmmm É what can I do to stir things up today?"
It was something that had weighed heavily on his mind for a long time.
Broyles was worried about recruiting but he was alarmed about a political commitment Holtz made.
And the truth be known, it should have been the best thing that ever happened to Holtz because it taught him a lesson. No one is bigger than the program.
Far be it for anyone to question Holtz's highly successful strategies or avenues of motivation or even his thinking.
Maybe daily cursings of the 76-year-old Broyles, who, like him or not, has an incredible national reputation as both a coach and administrator, was just what South Carolina needed.
You can bet Holtz has forgotten to mention that in 1992 he and Broyles talked about him returning to Arkansas.
So, apparently, the Gamecocks are ready to hang a hundred on the Hogs because 17 years ago, Broyles fired Holtz for not recruiting and for doing a couple of televised endorsements for that elder statesman of racism, Sen. Jesse Helms.
There are no doubts now how much this football game means to Holtz.
And you know what? He really doesn't need that type of motivation.
Holtz is the one coach in America that no one in his right mind wants to face.
Maybe he's a genius.
Maybe he's the most driven individual in coaching.
Maybe he's the mad scientist of college football.
Whatever he is, Holtz is extremely dangerous because he is so unpredictable on the field.
After the 1978 Orange Bowl victory over Oklahoma, Larry Lacewell, one of the best defensive coordinators ever, said:
"We could not figure out a way to stop him. There was no rhyme or reason to what he was doing. It was like he was drawing plays out of a hat. Except, that it worked all night."
Whatever people skills Holtz may lack -- and they do seem to be better with those who can make him even wealthier -- he makes up for in football sense.
He leaves no stone unturned.
Today, or maybe Saturday morning, he's going to face his South Carolina Gamecocks and lay down Lou's law.
On a blackboard, in large letters, he'll write the word TURNOVERS.
He'll tell his team they can't win if they have turnovers.
Next he will write PENALTIES and then talk about how they can't sustain drives if they kill themselves with mistakes.
Then it will be LOST YARDAGE and how those plays can be worse than penalties.
Next Holtz will write BIG PLAYS, and he'll talk more about how they can't give up the long run and deep pass.
Then he'll jump right on the kicking game.
Holtz will summarize the categories and will tell the Gamecocks if they win most of them, they should win the game.
What he will say then only he knows, but he will find some magical words to motivate his team.
He's a master at it. He might even tell them again, "Frank Broyles is the only man in my life who ever fired me and I want revenge."

This article was published on Friday, October 13, 2000

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