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SOUTH BEND - Is he or isn't he?
Only Lou Holtz (and maybe Notre Dame athletic director Michael Wadsworth) really knows. And neither is saying much.
After reports leaked on CBS and ESPN on Friday, the buzz circling the Irish's football game Saturday against Pittsburgh was all about the speculation that Holtz, Notre Dame's football coach for the past 11 seasons, would resign after this year.
All parties involved on Saturday would not confirm or deny the rumor. But the decision is expected to come later this week.
"I am not a fortune teller," Holtz said in his postgame press conference. "I am coaching at Notre Dame."
Holtz did his best job of dancing around the questions and never really came out and gave an answer one way or another.
"There comes a time when you need to sit down and look at certain situations," he said. "You would like to be able to do that when the year is over. People have jumped to conclusions that I am leaving.
"I am not going to say I will be at Notre Dame next year, because I don't know," he said. "The controversy and the way it has surrounded me has just overwhelmed me. I have been through this for eight years, but this year, the vultures have really been out."
Before this season, Holtz's five-year contract ran out and he has been working on a "lifetime" contract and a handshake from Wadsworth. The contract is good as long as Holtz and the football program live up to certain expectations from the administration.
"The university continues to believe that Lou Holtz is doing a great job with our football program and representing the university in the best possible fashion," Wadsworth, the second-year Irish AD, said. "We honor his right to make his statement when he wants to make it."
Wadsworth would not say whether or not he knew of Holtz's decision, but made it clear that Holtz does know what he wants to do after this season.
"If he has made up his mind it is his right to choose the time to make the statement that he wants," he said. "I think he has a pretty clear idea of what he wants to do."
Not even the players seem to know for sure, or they weren't telling.
"He really hasn't talked to us about it," Irish tailback Robert Farmer said. "He just said he was going to make the best decision for him. And we support him in anything he does.
"I guess the media is making a big deal out of it," he said. "It does seem that it is stronger this year. I don't read the paper or watch too much TV, so I really couldn't say how strong it is."
Wadsworth and Holtz will meet this week, like they do every week, but a press conference about Holtz's future could come as early as Tuesday.
"We will meet, like we meet every week," Wadsworth said. "I am sure this subject will come up from time to time. It is the coach's decision."
The timing of the rumors has come at an odd time, but stories of Holtz leaving has been around almost as long as he has. But this time, it seems different. Like it won't go away, because this time their is some truth to the story.
"I don't think it is that big of a deal of whether I stay or whether I go," Holtz said. "What is important is the people in that lockerroom.
"When I signed a contract here, everybody knew I would resign eventually," he said. "Unless Notre Dame went bankrupt, I was going to leave Notre Dame eventually. I don't think Notre Dame is going to go bankrupt. I want to leave it on a solid foundation. I have talked to the appropriate people. I am very positive about Notre Dame's future."
Wadsworth said the university has not short list of possible replacements for Holtz, but that he wants a decision to made soon as to not interfere with recruiting.
"We want to clearly do is to have the issue settled before the early part of December when the recruiting phase becomes most critical," Wadsworth said. "There is never a great time, you just have to deal with it as it comes up."
Names like Irish assistant Bob Davie, Northwestern coach Gary Barnett, Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez and LSU coach Gary Gerry DiNardohave come up as possible successors for Holtz.
