Focus On The Name On The Front Of The Jersey

​When Lou Holtz became the coach of Notre Dame football back in 1986, one of the first things he did was have the players' names removed from the backs of their jerseys.

The names have remained removed from Irish jerseys ever since.

Holtz wanted the players to know that going forward, they were playing for something bigger than themselves - that the only name that mattered on the jersey was Notre Dame.

It's quite the contrast, isn't it? Today, some 40 years later, players get paid for the names on their jerseys. Today, it's not uncommon for a player to leave the name on the front of the jersey to get paid more for the name on the back of it.

And to be clear, that does include Notre Dame players.

I don't have a strong opinion on that change - or the system. It's here and there is no turning back.

But Coach Holtz passed away yesterday. And as I reflected on his life, the philosophy of no names seemed a fitting place to start and end. No names wasn't just a coaching strategy for Coach Holtz, it defined who he was.

Holtz was never flashy or glamorous - he was often simply more relentless than everyone else. He out-gritted people. And he expected his players to do the same.

Former Notre Dame player and Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Brown, once said, "Coach Holtz demanded excellence every day — not because he was hard on players, but because he believed they were capable of more than they believed about themselves."

Holtz wasn't a big man - he often poked fun at himself for being the little guy with the cartoonish voice - and yet, he always felt like the biggest man in the room.

Big enough to have a gift for convincing a group of individuals they were at their best when they worked together - and then he pointed them to where they were going to go. Together. That often required them to forget their value as individuals, and fully embrace the identity of The Fighting Irish.

It's interesting. As I look back on the 1988 National Championship team - currently the last one in Irish football history - I can remember some of the individuals on that team. Tony Rice and Ricky Waters come to mind. But what I remember most is watching that team beat Michigan and Miami in close, heart-pounding wins during the regular season.

And I remember that TEAM carrying Coach Holtz off the field after beating West Virginia to secure the championship.

As former players and others begin to reflect on what Coach Holtz meant to them - as many have done over the years - I'm pretty sure Coach Holtz wouldn't want any of the reflection to be on him as an individual. I'm pretty sure he'd want them reflecting on all they did as a team.

Coach Holtz never hid from his belief that he was living a life serving something much bigger than himself. And whether your something is God or Team or Family or Country - Holtz never stopped living out what he believed was the most important first step of that service:

Forget about the name on the back of the jersey.....

I am fond of saying, life is not a you thing; it's a WE thing.

God speed, Coach Holtz. And thanks for all the WE moments you invited us into sharing over the years - not the least of which is that 1988 National Championship.

It won't ever be forgotten.