"I apologize and I am sorry": When legendary coach Lou Holtz's impersonator settled old scores with Ryan Day on national TV

Legendary former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz and Ohio State coach Ryan Day have had a long-running feud that dates back a few years. In September 2023, when Day's Buckeyes beat Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame 17-14 in South Bend, the Ohio State coach called out Holtz for his comments early in the season about the Buckeyes not being physical enough to beat elite opponents.

Nearly a month later, in October 2023, a Holtz impersonator, Ty Schmit, hilariously apologized to Day when they were both on "The Pat McAfee Show," which was live from Columbus, Ohio.

“I did want to come up here and kind of clear the air with you," the Holtz impersonator said while sporting Notre Dame gear and a prosthetic mask (1:26). "Because listen, like I said when we were back at Notre Dame when you guys played there?

"I used to coach at Ohio State back with Woody Hayes, I won a national championship. I love Columbus, I love all these people out here. Listen, I didn’t mean to chap your a** like that – I really didn’t and I felt so dang bad afterwards."

He added:

“I woke up the next morning and, low and behold, Ryan Day wants to beat the hell out of me. I did not feel good about it, I never meant to disrespect you or your boys. If you took disrespect or you thought I was making a mockery of you or your program? I apologize and I’m sorry that we ever got in that situation.”

The panel on the show was left in stitches with Schmit's impersonation of Holtz.

Holtz coached Notre Dame from 1986 to 1996. He won the national championship with the program in 1988.

Holtz also worked as an assistant coach at Ohio State in 1968.

Holtz was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

Lou Holtz took a dig at Ryan Day's Ohio State before 2025 national title game

Ohio State HC Ryan Day - Source: Imagn

Before the 2025 national title game between Ryan Day's Ohio State and Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame, Lou Holtz took a cheeky dig at the Buckeyes coach on X.

"If Notre Dame doesn’t win, it’s because we want to preserve Ryan Day’s job. I was originally going to be at the game in spirit, but now I’ll be dragging my body along as well," Holtz tweeted before the game.

The Buckeyes eventually beat Notre Dame 34-23 in the final, which led to Day winning his first national championship.

It will be interesting to see how Day's Ohio State team defends its national title next season, after losing several key players in this year's NFL draft.