Elliott Avent was standing in his usual spot, the left end of NC State’s home dugout inside Doak Field, when a fan leaned over the railing during his team’s three-run eighth inning to share the news that was rippling through all of college athletics: Lou Holtz had died.
Avent, a lifelong Wolfpack fan, grew up with a special admiration for the luminaries that walked the sideline of nearly every sport on campus. Holtz, who coached NC State football for four seasons with a 33-12-3 record and the 1973 ACC title, was no different.
Though the two never met when they were in Raleigh together with Avent a wide-eyed freshman and sophomore and Holtz in the final two seasons of his Wolfpack tenure, the baseball skipper has gleaned a lot from the legendary football coach.
“One of the best speech givers I ever heard,” Avent said of Holtz after his team’s 9-2 win over Queens on Tuesday afternoon. “I’ve got two or three of his books at home. I comb through them constantly. He’s so smart, and he’s such a showman. I’ll never forget seeing him tear that newspaper up into 15 pieces and then fold it back together. I wanted him to teach me that trick.”
While the two didn’t cross paths at NC State, they did meet by happenstance during his eight seasons at New Mexico State, his first head coaching position from 1989-1996.
Avent and his Aggies team sat on a layover in Chicago in the mid 1990s, and word spread that Holtz was one terminal over waiting for his own flight. Kevin Putz, who caught at New Mexico State for two seasons in 1995 and 1996, was a lifelong Notre Dame fan and walked up to his coach with an idea.
“‘Go get him and see if he’ll talk to our team,'” Avent recalled Putz, who played the Irish’s fight song every football game day in his dorm room, telling him. “‘You can talk to anybody.'”
Sure enough, Avent walked down to where Holtz was to see if he’d spread his wisdom with the Aggies. The ever-gracious coach was more than willing to do so.
“He got the team together and gave one of his great talks, which he so eloquently does,” Avent said. “He signed Kevin Putz’s hat and the hat stayed in the dugout the rest of the year.”
Avent, who later bonded with the likes of George Tarintini (men’s soccer), Kay Yow (women’s basketball) and Jim Valvano (men’s basketball) over the years, is always looking to learn from others. Holtz was no different, one that he continues to pull from with his books to this day.
The veteran skipper, who is in his 30th season leading the Wolfpack, believed Holtz was more than just a coach. His ability to impact his players’ lives, in Avent’s opinion, was just as critical.
“Lou Holtz is one of the great coaches of all time, one of the great people of all time,” Avent said. “The lessons he taught his players, he was one of the great representatives of college football. He will be dearly missed.”
