Pat McAfee will be the first one to tell you that he never expected the interview with Lou Holtz from his show in South Bend last week to get the legs that it did. The interview was referenced by Ohio State coach Ryan Day after the Buckeyes defeated Notre Dame as motivation for the win.
The interview featured producer Ty Schmitt in Notre Dame garb and a prosthetic Holtz mask interviewing Lou Holtz as Lou Holtz.
While the college football world has talked a lot about Holtz saying that Ohio State is not a tough team and Day’s response to that, McAfee admitted on his show Wednesday that he had no idea how it would go.
“Ty’s been doing this impersonation for his whole life, on this particular program the last couple of years,” he told guest Bobby Carpenter. “Then Lou Holtz, his foundation, started following us, and we’re like, very thankful that they took it positively, but you never know until he’s sitting there.”
Carpenter said that he is surprised it went as well as it did, because Holtz had to be uncomfortable, at least for a moment.
“Anybody that can sit there with an impersonator of them in a chair, I have an immense respect for, because that’s hard, man, when you dive into your deepest insecurities. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but like Stephen A. Smith, Lou Holtz, guys that get impersonated, Gruden, that’s a tough deal.”
Earlier this week, McAfee said it was “so dumb” that a bit from his show was at the center of a controversy in college football. That doesn’t mean he isn’t happy that is the case.
“It was phenomenal. I appreciate, though, that Ryan Day utilized that to motivate the boys.”
