I would say this
by irishrock (2018-01-11 10:24:44)

In reply to: Question about the final 2-3 years of the Holtz era...  posted by Irisharab

Post Reply Return to Rock's House

I don't recall the last few years of Holtz with the happiness I remember the stretch from 86-93. He had tougher losses, less recruiting success, and something just didn't seem right. Looking back, I can see how the stories about less support from the administration combined with a tighter recruiting criteria made it tougher for Holtz to have the on field success that he and ND fans were accustomed to. This may be a little strong, but it felt like Holtz was holding on versus the '86-'87 years where the program was ascending like a Saturn rocket.

A few things I heard back in the 95-96 timeframe:
After the OSU losses, Holtz was bitter and said something to the effect "it's hard to coach against another team when many of those players wanted to commit to ND but the academic side declined them"

After an emotionally tough loss to Air Force, it was rumored that Holtz went in to the AD and asked for a job description. He may have been using this ploy to see what the expectation for him and the program was. He may have been looking for the AD to give him a buck up conversation and offer 100% complete support of Holtz.

Recruiting restrictions made his job harder.

Sometimes, I wonder what Holtz/ND would have looked like had Moss enrolled/played at ND for three or four years. Sometimes, it's time to go. It was easy to understand that when Holtz left he was an excellent coach...but it also felt like the time was maybe right. Then his replacement came in and you knew that you were COMPLETELY wrong.

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