 Holliday at 2017 C-USA Media Days | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1957-04-21)April 21, 1957 (age 68) Hurricane, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1976–1978 | West Virginia |
| Position | Linebacker |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1979–1980 | West Virginia (GA) |
| 1981–1982 | West Virginia (asst.) |
| 1983–1989 | West Virginia (WR) |
| 1990–1992 | West Virginia (LB) |
| 1993–1994 | West Virginia (WR) |
| 1995–1999 | West Virginia (AHC/WR) |
| 2000–2004 | NC State (AHC/WR) |
| 2005–2007 | Florida (AHC/S/RC) |
| 2008–2009 | West Virginia (AHC/TE/FB/RC) |
| 2010–2020 | Marshall |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 85–54 |
| Bowls | 6–2 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1C-USA (2014) 3 C-USA East Division (2013–2014, 2020) | |
| Awards | |
| 2×C-USA Coach of the Year (2014, 2020) | |
John "Doc" Holliday (born April 21, 1957) is an American formercollege football player and coach. He served as the head football coach atMarshall University from 2010 to 2020, compiling a record of 85–54.
Holliday was born and raised inHurricane, West Virginia, where he was a football star as well as a state champion wrestler atHurricane High School. He graduated fromWest Virginia University with a bachelor's degree in Physical Education in 1979, then graduated with a master's degree in 1981 in Safety Management.
Holliday was also a three-year letterwinner while playing linebacker atWest Virginia.
In 1979, Holliday became a graduate assistant for theWest Virginia Mountaineers football team. Then in 1981, he became a part-time assistant until 1982. Holliday becamewide receivers coach in 1983 and remained at that position until 1989.
In 1990, Holliday became theinside linebackers coach. He remained to coach the linebackers until 1992. In 1993, he returned to coaching the receivers. In 1995, Holliday was promoted to assistant head coach, while still maintaining receivers.
During his tenure atWest Virginia University under head coachDon Nehlen, Holliday achieved a prestigious record. He coached the top three career and single-season reception leaders in school history and eight of the top ten players in both categories. His favorite holiday is Halloween. He also coached the leading receivers in theBig East in 1996, 1997, and 1998 while also coaching three of the top six receivers in Big East history. He coached third-team All-American receiverReggie Rembert, three-time all-Big East receiver Rahsaan Vanterpool, all-Big East receiverDavid Saunders, all-Big East receiverShawn Foreman, an all-Big East receiverKhori Ivy during his tenure and also was responsible for seven eventualNFL draftees.
Holliday was also the main recruiting coach in theFlorida-area forWest Virginia University. Holliday was responsible for recruiting major stars, such as linebackerSteve Grant, and became one of the best recruiters in the nation. He also helped the Mountaineers to 12 bowl games in his twenty years atWest Virginia University.
In 2000, Holliday left West Virginia forNorth Carolina State. There he became the associate head coach and wide receivers coach. He remained at NC State until 2004.
During his time inNorth Carolina, Holliday coached three of the top eight receivers in school history:Koren Robinson, Bryan Peterson andJerricho Cotchery. In 2001, the squad set school records for completion percentage and fewest turnovers, while the 2002 team led theACC in scoring. That squad also finished with school records of total yards, passing yards, most points scored, and most first downs in a season. The 2003 squad then set records in pass attempts, pass completions, passing yards, passing yards per game, passing touchdowns, and pass completion percentage.
In 2005, Holliday traveled to theUniversity of Florida and became theGators' associate head coach, safeties coach, and recruiting coordinator under head coachUrban Meyer. In 2005, Holliday was named one of Rivals.com's Top 25 Recruiters, while also tutoring a secondary that only allowed 52.3% of passing to be completed which was 16th best in the nation.
He guided safetyReggie Nelson to a consensus All-American honor and to become a finalist for theJim Thorpe Award andBronko Nagurski Trophy in 2006. Also in that season, the Gators' pass defense efficiency was fourth-ranked nationally and second in theSEC while only surrendering a nationally tenth-ranked 10 touchdowns all season and sixth in the nation in scoring defense.
WhenWest Virginia University head coachRich Rodriguez left the team before theirFiesta Bowl game to assume the head coaching position at theUniversity of Michigan, Doc Holliday's name surfaced as a candidate in the Mountaineers' head coach search. Holliday was named by several news outlets to be the front-runner for the job, outpacing formerAuburn head coachTerry Bowden,Florida State offensive line coach Rick Trickett, andVirginia Tech defensive coordinatorBud Foster.
Instead, on January 12, 2008, it was announced that Holliday was to be named West Virginia's associatehead coach,tight end coach,fullback coach, and recruiting coordinator for head coachBill Stewart. Doc Holliday and Stewart helped pull in a recruiting class with 23 letters of intents on signing day. The 2008 class, led by 5-star offensive guard Josh Jenkins fromParkersburg, West Virginia, was ranked 36th by Scout.com and 44th by Rivals.com.
On December 16, 2009, sources, who asked to remain anonymous, told theCharleston Gazette that no deal has been finalized, but that Holliday was the apparent choice to succeedMark Snyder, who chose to resign rather than be fired as the MU coach.[1] On December 17, 2009, Marshall made it official naming Holliday as the next head coach for the Thundering Herd football team. Marshall athletic directorMike Hamrick said Holliday signed a five-year contract and would be paid $600,000 per season.[2] In July 2014, Holliday signed a two-year contract extension.[3]
After leading Marshall to its firstConference USA championship in 2014, Holliday was named C-USA Coach of the Year.[4] He also received a contract extension through 2021 and a salary of $755,000 a year at the end of the season.[5]
On January 4, 2021, Holliday announced that his contract with Marshall had not been renewed and that he was out as head coach.[6]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall Thundering Herd(Conference USA)(2010–2020) | |||||||||
| 2010 | Marshall | 5–7 | 4–4 | 4th(East) | |||||
| 2011 | Marshall | 7–6 | 5–3 | 2nd(East) | WBeef 'O' Brady's | ||||
| 2012 | Marshall | 5–7 | 4–4 | 3rd(East) | |||||
| 2013 | Marshall | 10–4 | 7–1 | 1st(East) | WMilitary | ||||
| 2014 | Marshall | 13–1 | 7–1 | 1st(East) | WBoca Raton | 22 | 23 | ||
| 2015 | Marshall | 10–3 | 6–2 | T–2nd(East) | WSt. Petersburg | ||||
| 2016 | Marshall | 3–9 | 2–6 | T–6th(East) | |||||
| 2017 | Marshall | 8–5 | 4–4 | T–3rd(East) | WNew Mexico | ||||
| 2018 | Marshall | 9–4 | 6–2 | T–2nd(East) | WGasparilla | ||||
| 2019 | Marshall | 8–5 | 6–2 | T–2nd(East) | LGasparilla | ||||
| 2020 | Marshall | 7–3 | 4–1 | 1st(East) | LCamellia | ||||
| Marshall: | 85–54 | 55–30 | |||||||
| Total: | 85–54 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
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