Reggie Brooks leaving Notre Dame to join Holtz's Heroes Foundation

Legendary Notre Dame Running Back Reggie Brooks, who has been with the athletics department since 2008, is headed to Fort Worth to start a new journey.

Brooks is currently the Assistant Athletics Director of Athletics Alumni Relations.

He will now serve as the Executive Director of the Holtz’s Heroes Foundation (formerly Lou’s Lads).

The foundation provides a platform to help underprivileged students and legacies of Notre Dame. 

Tom Galloway, a former payor for Lou Holtz, is the President of Holtz’s Heroes.

“We felt the need to the need to move on to chapter 2. Unfortunately there have been a number of players that have passed away, teammates of mine and others untimely deaths. One of the things we hope to do over the next 10 to 15 years is to raise resources to help those families and those children that their dads had and mom and dads have shown them over the years,” Galloway said.

The foundation is named in honor of legendary Irish Coach Lou Holtz and includes many of his former players including Brooks.

As a player from 1989 to 1992, Brooks was a second team All-American, averaging 7.6 yards a carry and rushing for over 1,300 yards during the 1992 season.

“We need to make sure we are leveraging our influence to do something for someone else. To benefit that next generation. So they see this is what Notre Dame is all about. It’s not about just you. It’s about the team and the greater good. How we do that for generations to come so they can take it to the next step and level,” said Brooks.

I also spoke exclusively to Coach Holtz and asked him about bringing his former running back on board.

“What he’s done off the field is more impressive. You just marvel at the stuff he did with the monogram club. So we are really excite to have him. His wife has just taken a job in fort worth. The nice thing about this is reggie was going to be forced to leave Notre Dame anyway to go with his wife, but now he can run this fort worth or south bend, he can run it from wherever he wants,” said Holtz.

This is a major milestone for Holtz’s Heroes and the legendary coach tells me as the foundation grows they want to be open to not only students and legacies, but a beacon of hope for all families going through tough times.

Brooks will stay on with the Irish through the fall of 2020.