Lou Holtz was at Notre Dame Tuesday, and while much of his talk centered around his experiences coaching college football at William & Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina, his message addressed a much larger picture.

The Lou Holtz Foundation and his "Game Plan for Success" charity luncheon raises money for those who cannot afford various forms of medical care, such as the four people in attendance whose $7,000 insulin pumps were paid for by Holtz's charitable foundation.

"If you want to make God laugh, tell Him what your plans are," said Holtz, who acknowledged former Irish standouts Tony Rice and Reggie Brooks among those in attendance.

The Holtz family has gone through its share of trials and tribulations away from the field, and Holtz has always made the best out of his niche among the thousands of lives he has impacted.

In 1999, his wife, Beth, survived cancer for the second time, son Skip lapsed into a coma and Holtz's mother died - all in the same year that his first South Carolina team went 0-11.

So Holtz knows heartbreak. He also knows the formula for overcoming obstacles.

"Don't tell people your problems: Ninety percent of them don't care and the other 10 percent are glad you've got 'em," said Holtz, pulling out one of his familiar lines.

Holtz had numerous motivating phrases to share with audience.

"Everything starts with a vision."

• "Lead by example. You have to make people accountable for the choices they make."

• "Everyone needs something to do, someone to love, something to hope for and someone to believe in you. If you lack any of those things, you have a void."

• "You have to have a passion to win; ask yourself whether you can live with mediocrity."

Holtz turned his message to the business people in attendance when he said, "You have to understand your purpose. My purpose as a coach was to graduate student-athletes and win; yours is to help the customer and the stockholder."

Holtz said there are two types of people: those who lift up and those who pull down. He had three rules for his players and children: Do what's right, do everything to the best of your ability, and show people you care. He said that everyone has three questions for those they come in contact with: Can I trust you? Are you committed to excellence? Do you care about me?

Holtz offered plenty of his usual quips, too, including some from his memories at Notre Dame, where he said he was not allowed to make more money than then-University president Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, who of course had taken the vow of poverty.

Of his memories on the Notre Dame campus, Holtz said he would be leaving his office at midnight, and he would look at the Golden Dome. "It's beautiful, it's snowing…and it's July," Holtz joked.

Holtz said that he has achieved 102 of the 107 goals he wrote down many years ago. He listed four of the five that he has yet to achieve: running with the bulls in Spain, learning a foreign language, visiting the pyramids in Egypt and going on an African safari.

He also had a message for Irish fans regarding Brian Kelly: "I hope you rally and support him because he's a great coach…Notre Dame is about family. Let's rally behind him, and help and support him."

Of Kelly, Holtz added: "He's got to have perseverance."

Holtz concluded his speech with his famous newspaper trick. He tore up a USA Today, only to unfold it intact to the astonishment of the audience.