Lou Holtz and Damon Stoudamire
Lou Holtz died on March 4, 2026 at age 89. Days before his passing, the legendary football coach was paid a profound compliment by his son Skip.
" He was successful, but more importantly, he was significant", said Skip Holtz in an ESPN article earlier this week.
Reading of Lou Holtz's death, and his life, brought to mind a story he told publicly more than once, about a painful lesson he learned early in his coaching. Holtz's team at William and Mary had just been walloped by a West Virginia team led by Bobby Bowden. Holtz had taken note that Bowden had played his star RB Jim Braxton deep into the 4th quarter , even with a big lead. Post-game, Holtz asked Bowden why he ran up the score.
Bowden's classic response , as he held the handhake and the gaze of the losing coach at midfield (paraphrasing)...."It's not my job to hold down my team's score- that's your job. If you don't like this score, you need to recruit better, or coach better, or schedule differently."
Obviously, Holtz got the message and his coaching career is testimony to that fact.
Now consider a different era, and a different sport. In March of 2023, Damon Stoudamire was introduced at a morning press conference on campus as the new head basketball coach at Georgia Tech. Coincident to his hiring, Tech President Dr Angel Cabrera asserted his desire for Georgia Tech to enjoy a high level of success in athletics, on par with the Institute's excellent academic success acknowledged around the world.
To Tech basketball fans, that was sweet music at the time. Under the affable Josh Pastner, the Yellow Jackets had become solid and decent, but not highly successful. Pastner took the Jackets to the NCAA in 2021 after they unexpectedly won the ACC tournament , pockmarked as it was by the Covid virus. Tech went out in the first round after Center Moses Wright had to sit out due to Covid. Otherwise, the Yellow Jackets were competent, but not competitive at a high level. There was a general feeling that the ceiling under Pastner was limited- and persistently so.
Enter Stoudamire, fresh from NBA success in Boston, and with previous moderate success at Pacific, he seemed genuinely devoted to his new task. And Tech fans looked forward to seeing at least some of the abundant basketball talent from Atlanta and area sign with and star for the Jackets.
Three years later, Tech bsasketball seems to be in a deep sad rut.
Today's loss to Clemson in the season finale spells a 2-16 ACC record for Stoudamire and his team this year. Tech's record has not been that poor for decades. The 12- game losing streak to end this year only makes things worse.
But most damning is the team's lack.of direction, coupled with their beleaguered coach's inability to diagnose– much less treat– whatever is ailing his squad.
In his post- game press conferences, Tech's head man evokes uncertainty, fatigue and outright puzzlement . He rarely aims criticism at a particular player, and often goes out of his way to defend tbem- especially his mercurial big man, Baye Ndongo. Which is fine. Ndongo is currently Tech's most gifted player, the one player who can consistently cause trouble for Tech opponents. The key word is consistently. Ndongo plays hard and plays productively some nights, and other times he goes quiet. There are plenty of other examples of Yellow Jacket players whose productivity waxes and wanes. Stoudamire seems bereft of any definite explanation, so the losses pile up.
The question comes, what to do about it. That issue falls to AD Ryan Alpert, who inherited Stoudamire from previous AD J Batt. As the AD, Alpert must give an unbiased look at Stoudamire's body of work, along considering the likelihood that we will see much better if no changes are made. Alperts task is to discern what, if anything, can his current coach bring to the fore in 2026-7 that holds promise for significant improvement.
The players seem to play hard for Stoudamire, which is better than not playing hard--but that should be a given. Whether they frequently fail to execute the plan, or whether the plan itself is flawed, is open to debate.
What's not debatable is that Georgia Tech just finished a 2-16 season in a league that offers challenges each game. Those challenges are not going to melt away. And GT President Cabrera has said he want Tech to win.
Given those factors,, let's revisit Lou Holtz's lesson from back when. It's not possible for Stoudamire or Tech to "schedule better". The ACC is Techs home, and there have been plenty of moments in tbe past where Georgia Tech has met those challenges head-on.
Recruiting better, and coaching better are possible. And required, if Tech wants to ascend in the ACC ranks.
But it seems unlikely that more-of-the -same from Stoudamire will yield better results-defined as more wins and fewer losses.
Given that probability, Georgia Tech should cut ties with their head coach forthwith. It's telling that $2.9 million buyout is a cited as a relatively low- cost maneuver these days . For Tech, that sounds like money well- spent.
If Tech's braintrust wants a return to those years where a packed Thrillerdome offers a raucous game day experience for a perennial league contender, then it's time to move in a different direction. Let Damon move on , and find a coach who can recruit better and coach better. Right now, Tech basketball is unsuccessful and insignificant.
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports