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Lou Holtz drove out to Jeremy Akers' house when he was recruiting him back in the early 1990s and more than anything, that's what stood out.
So as Holtz was announced by the National Football Foundation as one of 15 players and coaches enshrined to the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2008 on Thursday, his first meeting with the former Notre Dame coach popped up.
"A couple of my friends were like, 'We got to see this.,'" Akers said. "So I had a group of five to 10 guys, teammates from high school, they all came over to the house 10 minutes, 15 minutes before he's supposed to get there and they all park at the top of my street.
"Sure enough, my house was on a corner. He turned up my street, went up, went around and went right around the cul-de-sac where I think there were 10 high school students with jaws on the floor going 'That's Lou Holtz.' He drove around again and parked directly in front of my house, walked in and said something about 'So, your friends didn't believe ya.'"
That's one of the Holtz memories we heard about Thursday as people discussed Holtz the motivator, Holtz the coach and Holtz the recruiter.
"I look at him and he has done an incredible job motivating players but he's a good football coach," said Holtz' son, Skip, the football coach at East Carolina. "He's taken a lesser player and won a football game. He'd take his team and beat ya and then turn around and take your team and beat you. It wasn't just talent and calling plays.
"It was motivating players."
Holtz is always the motivator -- from his coaching days to now on ESPN when he gives football teams fake pep talks. And really, would anyone be surprised if a coach, desperate for a way to pump up his team, showed his players one of Holtz's pre-game ESPN talks.
Even Thursday, on the dias at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, Holtz couldn't help himself.
"I think everybody needs four things in your life," Holtz said. "Everybody needs something to do. Everyone needs someone to love. Everybody needs something to hope for. And everyone needs something to believe in.
"One thing about coaching, you always have lots of things to hope for. I will say that."
Joining Holtz in the Hall of Fame class is former Ohio State, Arizona State and Tulsa coach John Cooper, UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman, LSU halfback Billy Cannon, Virginia offensive tackle Jim Dombrowski, Northwestern linebacker Pat Fitzgerald, Florida linebacker Wilber Marshall, Washington State running back Rueben Mayes, Arizona State offensive guard Randall McDaniel, Syracuse quarterback Don McPherson, Wyoming tight end Jay Novacek, Texas Tech split end Dave Parks, Florida State nose guard Ron Simmons, Oklahoma State running back Thurman Thomas and Army quarterback Arnold Tucker.
