North Carolina State University Athletics
Program Spotlight: Phillip Holloman
10/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Mark Kimmel
Raleigh, N.C. - One of the first lessons we all learn when growing up is to listen to your parents. It is usually essential for harmony in a household. However, here is one example when it was a good thing this lesson was not exercised.
You see, if Phillip Holloman had listened to his parent’s back at the age of 10, this article perhaps would have never been written. Back then, growing up in Norfolk, Va., Holloman’s parents did not want him to play football.
Holloman’s earliest football memories were of watching players like Deion Sanders and Emmitt Smith on television. He saw what they did on the football field and he made up his mind that he wanted to mimic what he saw NFL players doing on Sunday. So it only took a little recruitment by the local kids in the neighborhood to get him involved in sand lots games near his home, of course this was done without the blessing of his parents.
“They thought it was too dangerous and I was too young to participate in football at the time,” said Holloman. “But I went out anyway on Saturday mornings and began playing local pick up games. It only took a few weeks to figure out what I was doing, because I would come home with grass-stained pants and shirts. They were certainly a little mad at first for going behind their backs, but they saw how much I enjoyed it, they saw how much passion I had for the game.”
“Those early day’s sparked it for me,” explained Holloman. It sparked a true love affair with the game of football that has brought him all the way to NC State.
As his talents on the football field materialized through middle school, his formidable high school career really took off by his junior year when college recruiters began calling from up and down the East Coast.
Always blessed with tremendous speed, (Holloman qualified for the Virginia state championships in the 100 meters all four years at Lake Taylor HS) coaches saw his talents all over the field as a wide receiver, running back and defensive back, but through all his success, Holloman still wasn’t sure if he wanted to play at the next level.
“Honestly, I really wasn’t thinking of playing football in college until my junior season,” added Holloman. “But knowing the opportunity to get an education, get a scholarship and continue playing football kept me going.”
He chose to don the red and white uniform of the Wolfpack because the Triangle “felt like home” to Holloman. Raleigh reminded him of what he knew growing up in the Tidewater area, plus it was only a brief three-hour trip down the interstate. That allowed his parents and friends from the neighborhood a chance to see him run out the tunnel at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday’s in the fall.
And once out that tunnel, that is when the fun begins. “It makes you get teary eyed. It makes you emotional,” Holloman added. “All week you practice hard and you go to class and you think you can’t go on any more, but Saturday comes and you hear those fireworks and everybody is screaming for the team, even though it feels like there screaming just for you. Its really emotional and you get hyped up and ready to play.”
Holloman entered the 2007 season having played in 27 games, mostly as a reserve defensive back and on special teams. He saw the bulk of his playing time during the 2005 campaign playing in 11 games, while he also saw the field on 10 occasions as a junior in 2006.
The red-shirt senior has already graduated with a degree in sociology and is currently taking graduate level classes at NC State. He got a taste of life after football this past summer, working an internship at John Hancock Financial Advisors. Although he said that it’s a field he may pursue down the road, Holloman would like to steer his immediate future into Social Work around the greater Raleigh community.
He lives with his girlfriend Candace Broadie and the two have formed a bond together. “She is a very special person that helps me out a lot,” said Holloman. “She makes sure I stay grounded and keeps me on task”.
His task continues even in his final months as a football player with the Pack. He spends countless hours watching game tape in an effort to become better at two positions, both free safety and corner back, so when called on he will be ready to contribute for first-year head coach Tom O’Brien.
Holloman is very encouraged about the new coaching staff and thinks there are good things right around the corner for the program with Coach O’Brien being “a great fit for this university”.
“I like the way the coaching staff approaches us like men,” explained Holloman. “They discipline us, they do it and then move on. They understand were college students and we are going to make mistakes, but they also know we’re going to do a lot of things right as well.”
Holloman also appreciates the off the field training that Coach O’Brien and his staff has provided.
“Their teaching us more than football, they’re teaching us about life. A lot of the younger players don’t know it yet, but having us wake up early in the mornings (for practice and class) and holding ourselves accountable for our actions are important life lessons for the future. They love you like we are their own sons,” said Holloman.
He has also taken important life lessons from his parents. Things were not always easy for the Holloman family as they suffered through some tough times living in Norfolk, but he learned through them how to persevere through them.
“There have been times that didn’t look bright for me here at NC State and maybe I wanted to quit,” Holloman mentioned. “But I always thought back about mom and dad and remembered how they fought through the tough times.”
“Something bad may happen, but something good always comes out of it, said Holloman.”
And certainly something good has come out of these lessons. Holloman is a man poised to take on life after college with a degree already in hand, a solid relationship with his girlfriend, Candace, in place and a fine football career at NC State to look back on.
Now aren’t you glad that, at least this one time, he didn’t listen to his parents?
Raleigh, N.C. - One of the first lessons we all learn when growing up is to listen to your parents. It is usually essential for harmony in a household. However, here is one example when it was a good thing this lesson was not exercised.
You see, if Phillip Holloman had listened to his parent’s back at the age of 10, this article perhaps would have never been written. Back then, growing up in Norfolk, Va., Holloman’s parents did not want him to play football.
Holloman’s earliest football memories were of watching players like Deion Sanders and Emmitt Smith on television. He saw what they did on the football field and he made up his mind that he wanted to mimic what he saw NFL players doing on Sunday. So it only took a little recruitment by the local kids in the neighborhood to get him involved in sand lots games near his home, of course this was done without the blessing of his parents.
“They thought it was too dangerous and I was too young to participate in football at the time,” said Holloman. “But I went out anyway on Saturday mornings and began playing local pick up games. It only took a few weeks to figure out what I was doing, because I would come home with grass-stained pants and shirts. They were certainly a little mad at first for going behind their backs, but they saw how much I enjoyed it, they saw how much passion I had for the game.”
“Those early day’s sparked it for me,” explained Holloman. It sparked a true love affair with the game of football that has brought him all the way to NC State.
As his talents on the football field materialized through middle school, his formidable high school career really took off by his junior year when college recruiters began calling from up and down the East Coast.
Always blessed with tremendous speed, (Holloman qualified for the Virginia state championships in the 100 meters all four years at Lake Taylor HS) coaches saw his talents all over the field as a wide receiver, running back and defensive back, but through all his success, Holloman still wasn’t sure if he wanted to play at the next level.
“Honestly, I really wasn’t thinking of playing football in college until my junior season,” added Holloman. “But knowing the opportunity to get an education, get a scholarship and continue playing football kept me going.”
He chose to don the red and white uniform of the Wolfpack because the Triangle “felt like home” to Holloman. Raleigh reminded him of what he knew growing up in the Tidewater area, plus it was only a brief three-hour trip down the interstate. That allowed his parents and friends from the neighborhood a chance to see him run out the tunnel at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday’s in the fall.
And once out that tunnel, that is when the fun begins. “It makes you get teary eyed. It makes you emotional,” Holloman added. “All week you practice hard and you go to class and you think you can’t go on any more, but Saturday comes and you hear those fireworks and everybody is screaming for the team, even though it feels like there screaming just for you. Its really emotional and you get hyped up and ready to play.”
Holloman entered the 2007 season having played in 27 games, mostly as a reserve defensive back and on special teams. He saw the bulk of his playing time during the 2005 campaign playing in 11 games, while he also saw the field on 10 occasions as a junior in 2006.
The red-shirt senior has already graduated with a degree in sociology and is currently taking graduate level classes at NC State. He got a taste of life after football this past summer, working an internship at John Hancock Financial Advisors. Although he said that it’s a field he may pursue down the road, Holloman would like to steer his immediate future into Social Work around the greater Raleigh community.
He lives with his girlfriend Candace Broadie and the two have formed a bond together. “She is a very special person that helps me out a lot,” said Holloman. “She makes sure I stay grounded and keeps me on task”.
His task continues even in his final months as a football player with the Pack. He spends countless hours watching game tape in an effort to become better at two positions, both free safety and corner back, so when called on he will be ready to contribute for first-year head coach Tom O’Brien.
Holloman is very encouraged about the new coaching staff and thinks there are good things right around the corner for the program with Coach O’Brien being “a great fit for this university”.
“I like the way the coaching staff approaches us like men,” explained Holloman. “They discipline us, they do it and then move on. They understand were college students and we are going to make mistakes, but they also know we’re going to do a lot of things right as well.”
Holloman also appreciates the off the field training that Coach O’Brien and his staff has provided.
“Their teaching us more than football, they’re teaching us about life. A lot of the younger players don’t know it yet, but having us wake up early in the mornings (for practice and class) and holding ourselves accountable for our actions are important life lessons for the future. They love you like we are their own sons,” said Holloman.
He has also taken important life lessons from his parents. Things were not always easy for the Holloman family as they suffered through some tough times living in Norfolk, but he learned through them how to persevere through them.
“There have been times that didn’t look bright for me here at NC State and maybe I wanted to quit,” Holloman mentioned. “But I always thought back about mom and dad and remembered how they fought through the tough times.”
“Something bad may happen, but something good always comes out of it, said Holloman.”
And certainly something good has come out of these lessons. Holloman is a man poised to take on life after college with a degree already in hand, a solid relationship with his girlfriend, Candace, in place and a fine football career at NC State to look back on.
Now aren’t you glad that, at least this one time, he didn’t listen to his parents?
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