By Meghan Architect

We are delighted to have Coach Lou Holtz as a keynote speaker at this year’s annual conference. When Coach Holtz agreed to a phone interview, I was excited as a football fan and a bit nervous to conduct the interview. But what I learned is that Coach is one of the easiest people to talk to—especially about football.

Qs. Throughout your career you have had to adapt to change—different teams, different cities and different roles. What advice would you give to those who have to adapt to an ever-changing environment and how to best handle change?

Coach: You must know your goal and figure out how to accomplish it. When you go to a new school as a coach, you ask yourself what is your mission/mandate. No matter what business you’re in, these are two important rules: satisfy your customer/client, and make a profit. People get lost because they lose sight of the goal.

Qs. When you are putting together a team, what qualities do you look for that make a strong team?

Coach: On a team and in life, everyone has a role to play. Each team member must understand the importance of their role to the overall success of achieving your goal, no matter how big or small the role. I imagine this is especially true when it comes to 9-1-1 call taking—we can’t achieve success without each other.

Qs. You will be speaking at our annual conference on the topic of “Game Plan for Success.” Can you share your top takeaways?

Coach: You need to be accountable for the choices you make and don’t blame others for your decisions. So, really, the secret to success is to make good choices and take responsibility for those choices. Only you can change your environment.

Qs. Have you ever had to call 9-1-1?

Coach: No, but my daughter, who was eight at the time, called the police because I threatened to spank my son. I can’t help but laugh, and I have to say that my greatest accomplishment is my family.

Qs. What is one of the most memorable moments in your career?

Coach: There have been several memorable moments like the dedication of the statue, the induction into the Hall of Fame, winning the national championship, getting coach of the year. But honestly, to me it’s all about the players. What I learned from Woody Hayes is that your obligation as a coach is not to be liked or popular, but to make the players the very best they can be—and that means having high standards. The teachers and coaches you probably remember the most are the ones that were hardest on you, but that’s because they cared.

I’m extremely proud of my players. In fact, two of them were just inducted into the Hall of Fame, two were recently added to the Notre Dame coaching staff and two were put on the Notre Dame board of trustees.

Qs. What are your thoughts on the new college football playoffs? Do you feel this new format has improved the game and should it be expanded to more than four teams?

Coach: It has made college football even more popular. I do believe we should go to eight teams, but not more than eight. This is why: we have five major conference champions and every year at least one will be left out. Last year the committee escaped a very difficult decision when Notre Dame lost to Stanford. We will eventually have to get to eight teams to be fair and to give all conferences the chance to compete.

Qs. Any predictions for the coming year?

Coach: It’s really difficult to make predictions because you don’t know what’s going to happen. There will always be surprises and disappointments. Notre Dame will be very strong and most of their players are returning. A lot of strong teams lost players. Will Oregon be able to bounce back? Clemson … you need to keep an eye on with Deshaun Watson coming back and the recruiting success they’ve had. One team will definitely come from the SEC, one from the Big Ten, and one from the PAC-12, but you just don’t know. That’s why we will be glued to the TV this fall.

Qs. Any other thoughts you would like to share?

Coach: The one thing that makes college football so exciting is the band. People don’t realize the excitement that the band creates and that’s what makes football unique.
Want more? Join us at APCO 2016 for the Opening General Session on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016, and hear from Coach Holtz as he talks about his “Game Plan for Success.” Want to meet him in person? Be sure to stop by the APCO Pavilion in the exhibit hall after the Opening Session (as long as you’re not a Clemson fan)…

Meghan Architect is Director of Marketing and Communications at APCO International.