Former head coach/ESPN analyst Lou Holtz died at 89 in Orlando on Wednesday. He will be remembered as one of the most successful college football coaches ever and for his love of magic tricks.
Holtz used magic tricks throughout his football life to motivate teams. One of them surfaced on social media shortly after the announcement of his death.
Lou Holtz’s newspaper magic trick goes viral
The Athletic’s Chris Vannini shared a clip of Holtz speaking with the Texas Longhorns. The year was unspecified. In the clip, the former Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach began shredding a newspaper and crumpling it into a ball. But then, he reopened it again as if he had never ripped it. He used this to teach his players never to let critics or negativity tear them or the team apart.
“The Lou Holtz newspaper trick has been stuck in my head for more than a decade. Blows my mind every time,” wrote Vannini.


















