Lou Holtz, who later became one of the great coaches at Notre Dame, lived and coached by three principles:

1. Do right.

2. Do your best.

3. Show people you care.

Ten Days before the biggest game in the history of Arkansas football, allegations of misconduct took place with three-star players and a young woman.

Police did nothing. Administrative blackout—How did Coach Holtz respond? Phillip asks the question, “Could Holtz’s standard exist in today’s College Football? Take a listen with your morning coffee & find out!

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I remember my first time on campus very vividly. I grew up a Notre Dame football fan. I aspired to play football for the Fighting Irish, being a cradle Catholic from the Midwest. I grew up watching Notre Dame football on NBC. I was 8 years old when the movie Rudy came out—Hey, that could be me! In high school, I was a poor student who never took my studies seriously and procrastinated too much.

Furthermore, I was an average, undersized football player who was merely shifty due to my smaller stature. By senior year, the University of Notre Dame wasn’t in the cards for me. Naturally, I still followed the Irish. Brady Quinn was the Quarterback of the Fighting Irish in my first year of community college. I can remember “The Bush Push” in 2005 and how USC cheated to beat Notre Dame.

I eventually found myself at Southern Illinois University, where I was a Saluki. I was still a procrastinator; I wanted to live the good life. I wanted to be average. In September 2009, I was having some medical troubles that ended with me going into surgery to have my gallbladder removed. My Dad was waiting with me in the pre-OP room. I remember telling Dad, with a tremble in my voice, being scared, “This is the worst day of my life.”

“Son,” with a chuckle in his voice, “you’ll have worse days.”

The following week, I played campus intramural flag football.

In March 2010, during our Spring Break, I visited a friend near Seattle, Washington. I was tremendously excited, having never been to the Pacific Northwest and being a fan of grunge rock music. The plane landed; I settled in, and my friend took me to the college where they were working to show me around. My brother called me while I was on the campus tour. I was busy, so I ignored the call. My sister immediately called me: I thought, “That’s odd.” So, I picked up the phone call.

“Sit down. Dad is dead.”

I told this story once to a group of Scouts during a talk on resilience—I quoted Mike Tyson, who is attributed with the following: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

Life had punched me in the mouth. I became depressed and flunked out of college. (Remember, I only wanted to be an average student, so I didn’t have far to fall). I came home and got a job at the telephone company—AT&T, a year away from graduating with my Bachelor’s degree.

There is a life irony here that I have wrestled with for more than a decade: My Dad’s death changed who I was for the better. I love my Dad— I love him. I can’t explain it, but Dad's death sent me to the rock bottom of mediocre, so the only thing I could do was slowly climb out of it. I got a job. I paid bills. I met my future wife and got married. I remember announcing at my wedding reception, on November 3rd, 2012, after hearing there were some Notre Dame fans in attendance (one of them being Gabriel Rubio’s uncle): “Notre Dame has defeated Pitt in OT.”

I could no longer be a procrastinator; I could no longer be average. I was the husband—this was the beginning of my family.

Lou Holtz writes in his autobiography, quoting 1 Peter 4:13:

Saint Peter commanded us to “rejoice” in our suffering, and not to “be surprised by the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.” It is a natural part of life, a part that, as long as it doesn’t destroy you, builds character and helps you define your priorities.1

Dad’s death did not destroy me. In fact, it made an adult adolescent decide to reprioritize his life and become a man.

I returned to college. There was a difference when I walked into the room during this second stint. I wanted to be the best academically in the room. I realized how hard I worked was a reflection of myself and my family, a reality that, prior to my Dad’s death, would have never occurred to me. I graduated with Cum Laude honors, which is quite a feat after flunking out. I wanted to continue my studies, so I earned my master’s degree in Theology, earning Summa Cum Laude honors.

Now, I am a husband and a Dad, teaching my kids to give glory to God and to rejoice in our sufferings. There is a value in hard work—that can only be fully realized by the end of it. Iron sharpens Iron.2

It’s a paradox. I love my Dad, and I miss him. I wish he could meet my kids, but oddly, I wouldn’t be the man I am today if I didn’t lose him. It’s a mystery that I’ll never understand on this side of the eschaton.

There is no doubt that, as we close out 2025, many of you have suffered. Many of us will experience suffering in 2026: Hold Fast the Faith, Hope in God, and remember, Love Never Fails

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Riley Leonard did not see the same success during his junior year, battling injuries throughout the season and playing only seven games. Leonard, seeing the writing on the wall in a quarterback competition at Duke, entered the college football transfer portal (streamlined and popularized during the COVID-19 and NIL era) and transferred to Notre Dame.

In the 2024-25 season, Riley Leonard would return to form with his best collegiate season by leading the Fighting Irish to a 14-2 record, posting: 2,861 yards passing, 21 TDS, 8 Ints, 906 yards rushing, 17 rushing TDs.

The on-field success of Riley Leonard in the 2024 season was incredible—but what was more remarkable was how, in that year, Leonard was able to become the leader of the locker room because Leonard is a man of God—a true Notre Dame man. In fact, to this day, on social media, Notre Dame fans adore Leonard's exploits on the field, his leadership, and his witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

How did Riley Leonard inspire the Notre Dame Football locker room and win the lasting adoration of the fans? Leonard loves Jesus and shares the gospel with the world. St. Paul writes, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”1

Robert Karris, a biblical scholar, notes that St. Paul's passage in the Letter to the Romans conveys the theme for the entire text—the election of the faithful and the saving power of the good news of Jesus Christ.2 There is little doubt that the Holy Spirit has endowed Riley Leonard with many gifts (vv. 1 Cor. 1-11)—and he takes these gifts and his election seriously.

On the national stage in last year’s College Football Playoff, Riley Leonard continued to proclaim the Gospel and Jesus Christ:

Leonard preached Jesus Christ, as the leader of one of college football’s blueblood programs, emphasizing life's priorities: beginning with the properly ordered foundation of a person striving for divine friendship with God. While it is true that every person is born in the Image of God—Imago Dei—the Catholic faithful who are catechized in our Catholic Faith come to understand from the letters of St. Paul that it is in our baptism that we become adopted sons and daughters of God—and heirs to the kingdom:

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.3

It’s important to note that while some Catholic influencers on social media reported that Riley Leonard is Catholic, the evidence does not support this claim. The Baptist Press reported during the 2024-25 CFP campaign that Leonard “was an active participant in youth group activities at First Baptist Church while a high school student. He and his family attended a nondenominational church, but Leonard would regularly visit small groups and Wednesday night youth activities with FBC.”4 The r/Catholicism section of Reddit suggests there’s no indication that Leonard ever joined the Catholic Church.

The Baptist upbringing would then be evidence that Riley Leonard doesn’t see baptism as a sacrament but rather as an outward symbol of a believer's faith. In the Catholic tradition, baptism regenerates the soul, healing the wound of original sin, according to 1 Peter 3:20-21.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church 1213 explains, “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: “Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water and in the word.”5

Nonetheless, Riley Leonard continued to herald the name of Jesus Christ and the saving power of the gospel on the national stage, representing arguably the premier Catholic University in the United States. Avery Cardinal Dulles S.J., who is considered by many to be the most significant American Catholic theologian, explains in his book Models of the Church that Leonard’s theological view falls into the model of The Church as Herald:

The goal of the Church, in this style of theology, is simply to herald the message. This ecclesiology goes with a strong evangelistic missionary thrust. The Church’s responsibility is not necessarily to produce conversion (only God can do that), still less to build the Kingdom of God; but rather to evangelize all the nations in accordance with the “great commission” of Mt. 28:18–20. The preaching of the gospel is related to salvation, because it summons men to put their faith in Jesus as Savior. It announces the day of salvation that is at hand for believers. More than this, the preaching is itself an eschatological event. The word of God, on the lips of the authorized herald, is impregnated with the power of God himself, whose word it becomes. The word saves those who believe in it. Conversely, it condemns those who refuse to believe.6

Dulles explains, from a Catholic viewpoint, that there are certainly criticisms to this view of theology not being founded in an incarnation view of Jesus Christ (and with it, the sacramental economy of salvation), but the strength of this point of view that Catholics can certainly incorporate into their lives is the boldness of proclaiming and living the faith on their sleeves.

Dulles continues:

For one thing, it [the Church as Herald] has a good biblical foundation in the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament, in Paul, and elsewhere. Secondly, this ecclesiology gives a clear sense of identity and mission to the Church—especially the local church—as a congregation that heralds the good news of Jesus Christ and sets its face against all idolatry. Thirdly, it is conducive to a spirituality that focuses on God’s sovereignty and on man’s infinite distance from him. This ecclesiology leads to obedience, humility, and readiness for repentance and reform.

Pastor Ryan Smith notes in Baptist Press, “Leonard, the starting quarterback for the Notre Dame, is “just the most humble kid you’ve ever met,”7 The explanation by Avery Cardinal Dulles tracks for how Riley Leonard views his relationship with God and how he continues to live by his faith and share it with the world.

At the University of Notre Dame, Leonard drew a tremendous amount of attention on social media for more or less leading a Bible study that would become a hit among his teammates:

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the 2024-2025 season made the improbable Cinderella run in the College Football Playoffs. Naturally, the framing of their run might catch some flak from other Notre Dame fans—but the experts didn’t see it coming. Riley Leonard would lead the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to the National Championship Game, scoring the game’s first touchdown and showing the camera and all the eyes of college football fans:

Unfortunately, Riley Leonard would be humbled by the Ohio State Buckeyes in that game. The Buckeyes defeated Notre Dame 34-23. In the post-game press conference, Riley Leonard would continue to preach the gospel on the national stage in defeat. So, my fellow Catholics, ask yourself, what can we learn from Riley Leonard’s witness to our LORD?

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