Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach and college football icon Lou Holtz made a controversial statement on transgender athletes Sunday.
Holtz took to social media to voice his opinion on the matter, but it wasn’t the first time he made his political affiliations known. Holtz gave a speech at the Republican National Convention in 2020 to publicly issue his support for presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Lou Holtz took to X/Twitter to voice his opinion on Transgender athletes
While Holtz may continue to voice his opinion on political issues on behalf of the Republican party as campaign season continues to heat up, he simply took to his own X/Twitter account to explain how he feels about transgender athletes.
Holtz specifically spoke out against the idea of transgender women competing in women’s sports.
I was happy when Title IX came out.
But here we are, many years later, and now we can’t even ensure women competing against women.
It’s crazy!
— Lou Holtz (@CoachLouHoltz88) June 23, 2024
Holtz doesn’t mention an athlete who might have prompted this statement, but notable transgender swimmer Lia Thomas turned away from Olympic competition less than two weeks ago after a legal battle.
Thomas switched from men’s college swimming to women’s college swimming after transitioning during that time. Thomas filed a case against Worldwide Aquatics that resulted in three judges on the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissing Thomas’ request for arbitration with Worldwide Aquatics, thus ending Thomas’ hopes for competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
This ruling brought the issue of transgender athletes back into the forefront of political discussion, which could have prompted Holtz’s statement on X/Twitter.
Many fans issued support for Lou Holtz following his statement on transgender athletes
Holtz’s statement on X/Twitter prompted a mixed bag of reactions from his followers. This is not the first time Holtz has taken to the social media platform to express his point of view on certain political issues.
Holtz vocalized his support for Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker on social media after Butker gave a controversial graduation speech at Benedictine College.
Harrison Butker was speaking at a Catholic university, not an abortion clinic!@buttkicker7 stood strong in his faith, and America is rallying behind him.
His jersey is now a top seller in the NFL.
Americans respect men who dare to be bold in their faith. pic.twitter.com/aErHQpAW31
— Lou Holtz (@CoachLouHoltz88) May 21, 2024
The fact that Holtz had been outspoken on his political stances in the past may have prompted like-minded fans to follow him, resulting in a plethora of supportive responses. Part of his speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention transcribed by the LA Times showed his unfaltering support for Trump.
“It is a pleasure, a blessing and an honor for me to explain why I believe that President Trump is a consistent winner, an outstanding leader, and deserves to be reelected as our president.”
💯 Coach. Thanks for speaking out on protecting women’s sports.
— The Cowboy Regg ✭ (@Irish_Cowboy88) June 23, 2024
Your absolutely right coach Holtz. It’s madness when a young lady trains all her life and her dream is wrecked by a male who can’t compete with his own gender. This needs to stop now!! God Bless you coach Holtz for speaking out. 🙏🙏
— Patriot and Trump Supporter (@tkrane33) June 23, 2024
MOST of Americans stand WITH women competing against women.
Not the pretend wannabes.
— Dawn Niebuhr (@NiebuhrDawn) June 23, 2024
Thank you, Coach for standing up for justice in girls sports #TakeBackTitleIX
— ICONS (@icons_women) June 23, 2024
Many fans did not support Lou Holtz’s statement on transgender athletes
Despite cultivating a strong contingency of followers who are like-minded, Holtz is still mostly known for his contributions to the game of college football.
Holtz, who was inducted into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame in 2008, was the only coach in NCAA history to lead six different programs to bowl games on top of being the only coach to lead four different programs to Top-20 finishes.
Holtz led Notre Dame to a National Championship in 1988. He also managed to solidify himself as a college football icon and become known to the next generation of college football fans with his unique voice as an analyst for ESPN. These achievements could’ve resulted in a large grouping of followers who don’t follow him for his political affiliations, resulting in unsupportive replies to his statement on X/Twitter.
Please give us 3 examples where it has impacted sports above the participation level
— Walter_The_Mutt (@Walter_The_Mutt) June 23, 2024
I’m guessing you weren’t actually happy when Title IX came out.
— Orwell’s Ghost (@planterspunch7) June 23, 2024
Who let you out of your crypt?
— Jill (@jilldubs) June 23, 2024
Old man yells at cloud
— Jeremy Hurd (@jmike1616) June 23, 2024
Get More NFL and College Football Content
For more news and trends in the college football world, click here or follow me on Twitter @KusleikaAndrew.