In his own words: Gamecock great Ryan Brewer details Lou Holtz’s USC impact, legacy
Ryan Brewer was one of the stars for the Lou Holtz-coached football teams at South Carolina during the early 2000s.
Holtz died on Wednesday. Brewer talked with The State on the impact Holtz had on his college career.
What I remember playing for Coach Holtz
“What I remember playing for Coach Holtz, I remember a lot and a little at the same time. But everything he’s taught me, I’ve taken it to heart and passed it on to my kids and passed it on to my business. He’s one tough-nosed man that also brings joy and the commitment to the sport and to life that no other person has. … Everyone sees the speeches and, you know, his books and all the one-liners and things like that, and sometimes we hear a bunch and it sticks in our head. It sounds simple, but once you start applying that to not just football, you apply it to everyday life and business. Like my kids playing sports and I’m coaching now and you’re trying to tell them, you’ve gotta trust everyone around you. You want people that are committed and loyal to your program, to your business, to life, to being great, and the people that care about you, the people that are caring about.
“….He’s inspired everyone that he’s been around and talked to, but he really does want to bring out the best in you.”
Early time with Holtz
“It was kind of scary and nervous the first time I met him, until you see his stature.
“But from day one, he’s known how to push my buttons. He knows how to motivate me. Some people are like, man, I can’t believe he said some of the things he said to you, but in all honesty, if you look back at it, he knew what he was doing.
“He knew how to make me a better man, a better player, and knew how to push me in a direction to make sure I was going in the right direction. He made sure I was motivated, mentally and physically to go out there and dominate.”
So how was Holtz able to push your buttons?
“Some of these stories I can’t tell, man. Like one of my good buddies said, you’ve got to wait for the book to come out. But there are times where he may have grabbed me and said, ‘No wonder Ohio State didn’t want your ass,’ when I made a mistake or something like that. Or when I did something good, he would still be like, ‘That is still not good enough.’ He knew I always wanted to strive and be better than I was at that moment. He knew how to try and get me to where I was better than the day before.”
Outback Bowl memories
“My favorite memories during the Outback Bowl years were the team itself. Just where we came from and what we did. That was Coach Holtz, too. He kind of pushed us to find a common goal and bring us all together. Heck, sometimes that goal was that we were all pissed at Coach Holtz. Whatever brought us together, he found a way. He would walk in and make fun of us.”
What was Holtz like in the winless season?
“The winless season wasn’t a fun Coach Holtz. We lost every game. He had to find a way to motivate us. There was a story that he said the size of the trophy Brad Scott should have got for winning one game with us. Nobody was happy. Here you’ve got a legendary coach that comes in, and we don’t win a freaking game. We were young, so we were trying to find things out.”
Holtz being the right guy for program
“It is easy to look back because of the turnaround. He was the right guy because he was splash hire, the one that could bring recruits. There were three of us Mr. Footballs in the backfield at one time. That doesn’t happen. He found guys like me from Ohio, Andrew Pinnock from Connecticut. They wanted to play for coach in that stature.”
Holtz’s legacy at USC
“Obviously, his name was made at Notre Dame. I have become friends with guys at Notre Dame because of Coach Holtz and Heroes Foundation. Coming here, he changed the program and the face of the program. I wouldn’t say we were a laughingstock, because we had some moments before that but nothing crazy. But he turned it around to a program you would have pride in.
“Steve Spurrier wouldn’t have been here if Holtz hadn’t come here. He put us on the map, and we are here to stay. Coming from me, an Ohio guy, that Ohio State, Michigan and Notre Dame were my teams to watch. But I wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for Coach Holtz. I could say that for a lot of those guys.”
Favorite memories
“The man would drink like eight Diet Cokes a day. I would go see Coach Holtz (in Florida) once a year with my daughter playing soccer. Coach would just rattle off these one-liners and stories, life facts and knowledge. I hope my youngest daughter who was with me at the time would be picking up. But she said, ‘I learned you got to drink a lot of Diet Cokes to stay healthy, I guess.’
“His knowledge and memory was just crazy. He tells it like it is so vivid.
“He is one of the toughest guys I have met. I remember running him over in practice one time. We were running an option play, I was at running back and he was behind me. He stepped up to yell at the pulling guard and he forgot I was running in that direction. I hit him so hard that his glasses went flying. I was so scared that I went to hide behind one of the offensive linemen. Couple plays later, he came looking for me and grabbed me by the facemask and asked if my facemask was OK. His face was bleeding and glasses crooked.
“He was a tough son of a gun, for sure.”
