In wake of the best recruiting class in school history, Thundering Herd Coach Doc Holliday sets his sights on the future of the program.
Interview by Jack Houvouras
HQ 75 | AUTUMN 2011
It’s been just over a year since Doc Holliday rode into town, but the Thundering Herd’s new head football coach hasn’t wasted any time making his mark. The former WVU, Florida and North Carolina State assistant coach adopted a no-nonsense approach that quickly saw the dismissal of several players who did not meet his disciplinary standards. His team went 5-7 in his first season, including one of the most exciting games in school history against cross-state rival WVU. For three-and-a-half quarters the Thundering Herd outplayed and outcoached the Mountaineers before running out of gas and losing the game 24-21 in overtime. Despite the stinging loss, Marshall fans came away from the game knowing that the future of the program was in good hands. Holliday, known as one of the best recruiters in the nation, put his stamp on the program this past spring with the best recruiting class in school history. The class includes two four-star and 14 three-star recruits, many from Holliday’s favorite stomping grounds in Florida. In late July we sat down with the man known for his laser-like stare and trademark intensity and found him confident, relaxed and ready for the 2011-2012 season.
Growing up in Hurricane, W.Va., did you ever think that you’d one day play linebacker for WVU, coach at WVU and then land your first head coaching job at Marshall?
Growing up in Hurricane, I had the opportunity to follow all that’s happened at Marshall since the plane crash in 1970. I knew Marshall was a special place; I knew it was a great job. I watched what happened from Jack Lengyel to Stan Parrish to Jim Donnan to Bob Pruett, and I knew it was a great job. Like I said, I knew it was a special place, but after being here for a year, I’ve figured out why. There are bigger budgets out there – the University of Florida has multimillion-dollar budgets, NC State’s got a lot of money, West Virginia has a bigger budget – but there’s not a program in America that means more to its fan base, more to its school, more to its town than Marshall University. As head coach, I understand that, and I make sure our staff and our players understand that. It’s a privilege to coach here.
What was the highlight of your career playing for the Mountaineers in the late ’70s?
At that time we didn’t have a whole lot of highlights, to be honest with you (laughs). We went to the Peach Bowl in 1975 under Coach Bobby Bowden. I started there for three years, but I don’t remember a whole lot as a player. I know we had a lot of great relationships, and I learned a lot from a lot of really good coaches.
How have the WVU fans reacted to your new job?
I’ve got a lot of great friends and a lot of support at West Virginia. But my job now is to win here at Marshall. A lot of them have been very supportive to be honest, and they’re happy that I did get the opportunity to be a head coach.
What did you learn as an assistant coach under Urban Meyer at the University of Florida?
I learned that there are a lot of great coaches out there, but it boils down to having great players. A lot of people ask me when I’m going to go back to winning championships like Pruett and Donnan and those guys did, and I say, ‘When I get some Randy Mosses, Chad Penningtons and Byron Leftwiches.’ And we’re getting there. We will be an improved football team this year, and we’ll be a lot better as far as personnel goes. But we’ve got to continue to maximize our players, not only as athletes but also as people. That’s something else I learned from Urban. You’ve got to find out what’s going on in their lives, what makes them tick. When you gain their trust as a coach, when they know you have their best interests at hand, they’re going to give you everything they’ve got.
Is there one coach in your life who has influenced you more than any other?
Urban, probably, especially when I look back to the things I’ve learned that helped shape our program. Urban won two national titles and was the quickest coach to get to 100 wins in the history of college football. Urban has it figured out. He knows what it takes to win. The plan to win is infallible – and we’re going to follow that plan.
Your father was a judge. What did you learn from him that has made you a better coach?
You know, a lot of people ask me the key to being successful. Being successful in life and winning championships in football are no different to me; it’s all about going to bed late and waking up early. Growing up, I saw my dad work extremely hard, not only in his law office as an attorney, but also when he became prosecutor and then judge. He still works; he’s 83 years old and he goes to work every day. So, the biggest thing I learned from him – really, from my entire family – is work ethic. My mom was the hardest-working lady I’ve ever met in my life who never got paid for a job. I don’t think there are a lot of secrets to being successful; whoever works the hardest is going to be successful in life.
On Rivals.com, your first recruiting class was the highest rated among all non-BCS schools, including Boise State and TCU. What makes you such a successful recruiter?
I think honesty and trust are important; I also think you’ve got to look at the track record of the kids I’ve recruited over the years. We have a base of players that I’ve recruited over a long period of time, and now I’m recruiting their sons; there are high school coaches I’ve known for years and I continue to recruit their players. I think one thing I’ve been able to accomplish over the years is to get kids that are successful on and off the field. When they walk out of here, they also walk out with a college degree. I tell every kid I recruit, ‘My goal for you is to walk out of Marshall University with a college degree in one hand and an NFL contract in the other.’ And a lot of people say you shouldn’t talk about the NFL, but I disagree. I want kids with high expectations – because that’s what I have. If I can’t recruit guys that have big dreams, then we’re not going to have what it takes to win championships.
It’s been almost a year since Marshall played WVU last fall in one of the most exciting games in school history. Looking back, what did you learn from that game?
Well, we lost the game; I don’t think there are any lessons learned from that. I don’t think you learn any lessons from losing anything. We’ve got to learn to finish; we’ve got to become a better football team. I don’t think you learn any lessons at all when you lose, whether you lose in life or lose a football game.
What is your opinion about the Marshall-WVU series? Do you think it’s a good thing for the state?
There’s not a state in the country that has two good Division 1 football teams that don’t play each other. Louisville plays Kentucky every year, and there would be an outrage if that didn’t happen. Florida plays Florida State, Iowa plays Iowa State, you can go on and on. Every state in America with two great universities that are both Division 1 has those schools play each other. I think it only makes sense, but that’s not for me to worry about. I’ll let Mike Hamrick and Dr. Kopp worry about all that, and I’ll just do my work getting this team ready to play.
Your players describe you as extremely intense and focused. What do you do in your time away from football to relax?
(Laughs) Unfortunately there hasn’t been a lot of that time to relax since taking this job. But when I can, I enjoy getting away with my wife and my kids. My daughter just graduated and she’s busy with her own career, and my son who played football at the University of Florida and won two national titles is working in the strength room, and of course I have two other sons here at Marshall – so the entire family stays busy. My mom and dad still live on a farm in Hurricane, so I enjoy getting there and spending time with them. I also enjoy getting out to the mountains of West Virginia and doing a little bit of trout fishing.
Why is an indoor practice facility so important for the future of the football program?
It’s not just the indoor practice facility; it’s the sports medicine clinic that goes along with it. It’s also the academic center, the Hall of Fame – you know, we’ve had so many great athletes come through here, from Randy to Chad to Byron to Troy, but we don’t have a place to honor these guys. All of that would be part of the facility. Today’s kids buy with their eyes; I truly believe that. I’ve learned after being in this job for one year that, number one, we can win a championship, based on the players we’ve been able to recruit, and, number two, we can go from last in the conference in facilities to first with this new complex. That will give us an opportunity to recruit even higher-caliber athletes. Kids today buy with their eyes, and this complex will give them that ‘wow factor’ when they walk on campus. It’ll make it so much easier for us to recruit players here.
Where do things stand in the ongoing quest to find the team’s starting quarterback for this season?
We’ve got four guys – we’ve got two true freshmen and two sophomores – that have been battling for the job. I think they’re all talented, but the quarterback is such an intangible position. Everywhere I’ve been that we’ve won national championships, I’ve seen that all great quarterbacks have the same characteristics – from Chris Leak to Tim Tebow to Philip Rivers, and from Chad Pennington to Byron Leftwich. They were all great leaders. That’s what we’re looking for. All four of those guys are talented enough, but we’re looking for the guy that the kids rally around, the guy that shows the most intangibles by the time we get on that bus for the West Virginia game.
All off-season, we heard about how stout your defense is going to be. What about the offense?
Well, the quickest way for us to win a championship in this league is to play great defense. The two teams that played for championships in this league have great defenses – Central Florida was No. 1 in the conference for total defense and SMU was No. 3. We did finish at the end of the year No. 4 for total defense. You know, in the plan to win, it starts with playing great defense. Offensively, we’ve got to get better. I feel good about our skill guys, our tailback, our offensive line; with these guys, we’ll be as good as anybody in the league. Our guys are extremely tough, and they’re working hard at it – but we’ve still got to come up with a quarterback.
When you look around the country today, you see major programs like USC and Ohio State in trouble with the NCAA. Do you ever think college football will be scandal-free?
When I see programs like Ohio State and USC doing all that, it just doesn’t make sense to me. At Ohio State, why can’t you do things the right way? You’ve got all the players at your disposal from the state of Ohio, you’ve got all the money in the world for facilities, you’ve got great coaches – why can’t you do it the right way? That’s one thing about Urban; he did things the right way and won two national titles. I’ve seen it work, and I know it can be done; so for that to happen in those places just doesn’t make sense to me.
A lot of sports publications predict that Marshall will go 4-8 this season. What is your prediction?
My prediction is that we’re going to go 12-0. I never go into a season thinking we’re going to lose a football game. We’ve got a great challenge ahead of us; we’ve got a schedule that’s extremely tough. A lot of people have our schedule rated the No. 8 most difficult in the country among the non-BCS. But you know what, we’re going to embrace this schedule. As head coach, I’m embracing it, and I know our players are, and we need our fans to. Is it a challenge, yeah, but we’re going to go into every game prepared. And we’re going to work like crazy in every game we play.
As far as future scheduling goes, do you want to keep playing these big-time programs?
I think we’ve got to continue, but we’ve also got to be smart, and Mike Hamrick understands that. This conference is an excellent conference; we’re going to line up and play with Southern Miss, Central Florida, Houston, Tulsa – these guys we’re playing can line up and play anybody. There’s no question we need to play a couple of BCS teams every year. But with that being said, the important thing we need to do is win our conference. We need to put ourselves in a position, going into our conference play, that gives us the ability to do that.
How does Marshall attract more big-time programs to Huntington?
I don’t think we have any trouble attracting big-time programs. Mike’s done a great job; he’s got Navy home and home, Purdue home and home, Louisville home and home. We’ve got all of that on the horizon, so Mike’s doing a great job. We’ve got to get our schedule straightened out, and Mike is on top of all that. We’re not going and playing people six times at their stadium and two at ours; we’ve got to get to the point where we get return games, and we’re doing that now.
Who’s the greatest college football player you’ve ever seen?
The greatest college football player I probably ever saw was Tim Tebow. He wasn’t just a great player, but it was the toughness he brought to the game, the competitiveness – the guy just wouldn’t lose. The greatest thing a leader can do is set standards and make sure everyone around you is up to those standards, and he did that. Not only did he set his standards extremely high, but he brought everyone around him up to that level too. Philip Rivers did the same thing at North Carolina State. From the time those two guys stepped into the huddle, people knew that they were going to find a way to win a football game. That’s what made those two guys so great. I didn’t coach Chad Pennington or Byron Leftwich, but being around them and seeing the kind of guys they are, I’m sure they’re the same way.
There has been a lot of talk about players who have left the program for various reasons, such as transferring or being dismissed for disciplinary reasons. How do you slow down that revolving door?
You recruit the right guys. You work extremely hard to make sure the kids understand that they have a set of core values they have to live by. If you break a core value, it’s a character flaw, and I’m not going to put up with that. You know, kids make mistakes; I made mistakes growing up. I can correct mistakes, but I can’t correct guys that break core values.
Who are some of your model student athletes?
A lot of our players have done extremely well academically since this staff has taken over. GPAs have continued to rise every semester. I know in the first summer session both basketball and football student athletes had a 3.0 GPA or higher. Tyson Gail’s a guy who does everything right; he gets good grades, and he’s going to be very successful. Lamar Brown is another one. We’ve got guys who are doing the right thing. You get what you demand in kids. They’ve got to go to class; they’ve got to sit up front; they’ve got to do the right things. The guys understand that they have to go to class and they have to live right. As soon as you get that across to them, academics won’t be an issue.
Where do you want this program to be in five years?
I want it to be quicker than in five years, but I want to win championships. That’s what this fan base deserves and that’s what this community deserves. Can we do it? Absolutely. Do we have a way to go? You know, we’ve got some work to do. With Mike Hamrick and President Kopp, I know their vision is the same as mine. They expect to win a championship in Conference USA. And now, after being the head coach for one year, I think we can definitely do that. The facilities are now in place; we’ve just got to go out and raise the money, and we’ve already got a great start on that. And we’ll continue to get better as a football team. Again, it’s personnel-driven; we need Chad Penningtons and Byron Leftwiches, and that’s what these facilities are going to help us get, along with the guys we already have. I wouldn’t have taken this job if I didn’t think we could win a championship. I can’t go to sleep at night not thinking that we can win a championship. I’m as excited now as I was the first day I took the job, because I know that winning’s a reality, that it’s going to happen.
