Holtz-Hudson alliance grows stronger

When Skip Holtz first met Greg Hudson in 1986, Holtz was one of the upperclassmen on the Notre Dame football team, a flanker.

Hudson was a young linebacker and a guy that looked up to Holtz.

“I was a senior and he was a freshman,” Holtz recalled. “I knew him then, but being in different classes, we weren't near as close as we are today.”

As it happened, both men found their futures in coaching instead of playing, and the two have proven to be inseparable ever since. As Holtz enters his fourth season as East Carolina's head coach, Hudson enters his fourth season as the Pirates' defensive coordinator.

Hudson returned to the Notre Dame program in 1993 as a graduate assistant coach while Holtz was the Fighting Irish's offensive coordinator under his father, head coach Lou Holtz. A permanent bond was formed.

“That's when we really first started to get close together,” Holtz said of Hudson. “I was newly married and he was newly married, our wives got along so well together, and we spent a lot of time together those couple of years.”

When Holtz went to Connecticut for his first head coaching gig, he immediately hired Hudson as his offensive coordinator.

Now, the two are revisiting those Notre Dame days yet again, reunited in much bigger and different roles. But the premise that keeps reconnecting them seems to be the same.

“When I made the decision to come here, I called (former coach and now athletic director) Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin,” said Hudson, referring to his departure from the University of Minnesota to join Holtz at ECU in 2005. “He said you've got to be around good people. No matter what you do in this profession, stay around and work with good people. If Skip Holtz has an enemy in this world, I want to meet the guy.”

Holtz, Hudson and the remainder of what has been a very loyal ECU staff for three seasons seems to be an embodiment of the wisdom of Alvarez.

Holtz's commitment to doing things the right way lured Hudson away from his defensive coordinator position at Minnesota and compelled him to join Holtz. Now, they're close enough for Holtz and his wife to be the godparents of Hudson's children.

“He was a teammate of mine, an older teammate,” Hudson said of Holtz. “You attain a respect for people in this game, for men that are ahead of you and people you follow. It comes down to respect.”

On the heels of consecutive winning seasons, both coaches have been mentioned during the offseason coaching searches of other programs.

While both might be hired away at some point, neither have found reason to separate again just yet. In fact, it seems the two families grow closer all the time.

“That relationship has grown as our kids have grown up together, and been baptized together,” Holtz said. “It's an intertwined family situation. My three kids, his four — it's like we both have seven. There are days when they're all at our house, and there are days when they're all at his house.”

Hudson's stock has continued to rise ever since Holtz plucked him from Minnesota. Hudson also had a memorable stint in his hometown of Cincinnati, where he mutli-tasked for the Bearcats from 1997 to 2000 as a tight ends/offensive line coach, running backs coach, linebackers coach and assistant head coach.

Hudson knows he wants to be a head coach before he's done, and he said that has helped strengthen his relationship with Holtz.

“You have a respect for the position he holds,” Hudson said. “You admire it and you desire to be in that position one day so you respect it. That makes it easy to work together.

“We like the same things, we have the same beliefs and philosophies and standards, and we've both got great-looking wives, so it works.”

Nathan Summers can be reached at nsummers@coxnc.com, or at (252) 329-9595.