Holtz and Pearl Get Political
X's and O's are not the only thing legendary college football coach Lou Holtz and Auburn Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl are willing to talk about. Holtz has started doing a political leaning podcast for Donald Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank, and Pearl was his first guest.
The former Arkansas, Notre Dame and South Carolina head coach launched "The Lou Holtz Show" podcast Thursday. “The purpose of the podcast is not to promote Republicans, Democrats, White, Black,” Holtz said in press release. “It’s just to get people to make good choices. We need to get back to teaching young people about obligation, and how to help other people, how to make good choices, and understand that wherever you are in life, it is because of the choices you make.”
Holtz's inaugural show feature a man not unaccustomed to making political statements. Holtz asked Pearl, who is Jewish, about antisemitism on college campuses and Pearl agreed it has become a problem.
“When I was a freshman at Boston College, I took a political science class, had a great teacher. And he exposed me to some things that I hadn’t been exposed to before. And one of the things that he exposed me to was the greatness of pure socialism,” Pearl told Holtz. “Coach, you’re a coach. You want all ships to rise. You want everybody to do well. You want every man or woman to have the opportunity to be great. And so, if you look at pure socialism for what it is, just the whole kibbutz idea, it sounds great. Except it doesn’t work, in reality. It just doesn’t. I wish it would, but it doesn’t work.
“I work every single day because I want to be successful. I want to do well for my family. I wouldn’t work every single day if I was making the same as everybody else. I just wouldn’t. I honestly think, coach, one of the reasons why antisemitism is so prevalent right now, I think on college campuses, they’re still teaching a socialist approach. That they don’t believe in capitalism. They don’t believe in the trickledown theory."
Pearl pointed to many professors he considers far left wing, socialists. He told the podcast audience that professors generally have done little to nothing outside the sheltered academic setting. He doesn't know why it is but, "Those are the people who don't believe in capitalism and lean toward socialism," and he intimated they are indoctrinating their students.
Pearl also blamed some in the Jewish community for contributing to a stereotype of Jews that leads to antisemitism. "When guys like Madoff or some of these other people that are Jewish rip off the world and steal their money and act certain ways, then we contribute to that,” Pearl added.
The podcast will be produced every other week according to AFP Institute. Alabama Senior U.S. Senator and former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville and former Florida football coach Urban Meyer will be future guests on Holtz podcasts.