Paul Hoolahan helped lift Allstate Sugar Bowl to the highest level

It was a distinct pleasure to know Paul Hoolahan.

We lost Paul unexpectedly on Wednesday.

Paul was a New York native who played football at North Carolina and later served as athletic director at Vanderbilt.

In 1996, Hoolahan arrived in New Orleans to take over as CEO of the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Hoolahan presided over the annual bowl game and all aspects of the Sugar Bowl until 2018.

It was a highly successful tenure.

Paul was a highly successful professional, who helped usher in a new era for the big game as the college football landscape underwent dramatic change, first with the Bowl Championship Series and later with the current playoff system which exists in college football.

Hoolahan deftly used his contacts and relationships locally, statewide and nationally to keep what is now the Allstate Sugar Bowl on the front burner as an elite bowl game, remaining one of the title rotation games annually.

That, my friends, was not an easy task.

Compared to its counterparts in southern California, southern Florida, north Texas, Atlanta and in the Phoenix area, New Orleans is a smaller market with far fewer corporate entities and monies to fund the massive amount needed to be part of the national playoff rotation.

Hoolahan adeptly positioned the Sugar Bowl properly and the game has remained highly competitive as one of the best of its kind nationally.

He ushered in the partnership between the Sugar Bowl and the SEC and Big 12 conferences for the matchup of top teams from those conferences annually. That move has proved quite beneficial to New Orleans.

Additionally, Hoolahan presided over the Allstate Sugar Bowl championing the cause of prep sports in Louisiana, sponsoring many LHSAA championship events during his tenure, supporting an annual sailing regatta and even the Allstate Sugar Bowl National Prep Basketball Classic.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has sponsored CrescentCitySports.com since its inception, along with my Original Prep Football Report on radio for nearly two decades, now airing locally on NASH ICON 106.1 FM.

Hoolahan was honored with induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2015, a richly deserved honor.

Hoolahan handed over the keys to the Sugar Bowl kingdom to Jeff Hundley, who was his most trusted, most valuable, most capable right hand during his time running the entity.

Hundley has continued the superb stewardship of the Sugar Bowl while paying homage regularly to Hoolihan.

On a personal level, I have been blessed to be a member of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Media Selection Committee since 1980, annually nominating and awarding monthly amateur athlete accomplishments, yearly award winners and nominating and selecting inductees into the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame.

I was asked by then Sugar Bowl CEO Mickey Holmes to be part of the committee in 1980. It has been a humbling honor to be involved for over four decades.

Mickey was a wonderful man and friend whom I admired.

Troy Mathieu was a good man and friend who took over as the Executive Director in 1993.

Hoolahan then came in and the rest is history.

History will treat Hoolahan kindly.

It should.

Paul was simply outstanding in his job.

The Greater New Orleans area owes a debt of gratitude to him.

OBITUARY
Paul J. Hoolahan
March 12, 1950 – November 16, 2022

Paul John Hoolahan, of Metairie, La., was born on March 12, 1950 in New York, and passed away unexpectedly on November 16, 2022 in Metairie at the age of 72. He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Katherine and their three daughters: Kate, Molly and Megan; siblings Priscilla Stewart (late Frank), Nancy Staab (Al), and Stephen Hoolahan (Amy) as well as many beloved nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents Stanley and Mary Hoolahan.

Hoolahan directed Sugar Bowl operations as the organization’s chief executive officer for 25 games, including five national championship games. In over two decades with the Sugar Bowl, Hoolahan directed organizational efforts which generated well over $3 billion for the local economy.

Hoolahan’s involvement in college football at the highest-level dates to his playing days at the University of North Carolina where he was an All-ACC lineman. Hoolahan later returned to UNC, where he would serve as a strength and conditioning coach, an academic advisor, an assistant athletic director, and finally an associate athletic director. Hoolahan also served as Director of Athletics at Vanderbilt University.

Hoolahan coached and played high school football at his alma mater, St. Francis Prep, a perennial power one-time home to the late Vince Lombardi, and was enshrined as an inaugural member of St. Francis Prep’s Athletics Ring of Honor.
Paul will be remembered for his generous spirit. He was a true leader and had a way of making everyone he met feel important and valued, welcoming them as a friend. Despite his many professional accomplishments, his greatest pride was his family. To his family, Paul was thought of as one of the toughest people with the kindest heart. He taught his daughters the importance of hard work and dedication in each of their pursuits and showed them how to live a life full of courage, compassion, integrity, and laughter.

Please join the family to celebrate his life. A visitation will be held on Monday, November 21, 2022 at St. Catherine of Siena 105 Bonnabel Blvd., Metairie, Louisiana beginning at 12:00, followed by a Funeral Mass at 3:00pm. Interment will be private.

For those so desiring, donations may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in his name.