ETSU football’s standout running back, junior Quay Holmes (Powder Springs, Georgia) has accomplished a lot in his time here at ETSU, both on and off the football field.
This year, Holmes was tabbed to the STATS FCS First Team Preseason All-American squad, as well as the HERO Sports Preseason All-American Special Teams Second Team.
“I put a lot of work into it, and it just feels good getting recognized,” Holmes said. “I hold myself to that standard as well.”
Of course, Holmes has not exclusively been recognized this year — in 2019, he received many awards such as being named to teams like STATS FCS Preseason Third Team All-American, Preseason All-Southern Conference First Team Offense and others.
Along with nominations to various teams, Holmes has also had many other accomplishments, including being tabbed to the Southern Conference honor roll and named College Football Performance Awards National Performer of the Year trophy preseason watch list. Holmes has also been named the SoCon Offensive Player of the week and College Madness FCS National Player of the Week.
“For me, one of the biggest things I needed to improve on was watching film,” Holmes said, describing his work habits. “Taking 15 to 20 minutes out of the day to watch the practices we’ve been doing or staying after workouts. Some jump rope, balance drills… trying to find any little thing because it’s all going to add up.”
Having a strong relationship with your team is also an important factor when thinking about what pushes an athlete to do their best, as well as their love for the game and what they do, according to Holmes.
“I started playing when I was five years old, so it’s just one of those things I walked into,” Holmes said. “But it’s definitely helped me and changed my life. It’s gotten me a full ride scholarship to college.”
The impact of seasons getting postponed this fall due to COVID-19 has greatly affected student-athletes all over the world.
“Honestly, it’s just built more excitement really,” Holmes said of the football postponement. “I had a lot of goals that I wanted to accomplish for myself and for our team. It’s challenging myself to make sure I’m putting in that extra work because we don’t know when our season’s going to start, but when it does you want to be as ready as you can be.”
With hopes of getting to play as soon as he can, Holmes is ready for the season and constantly putting in work to do his best.
“I have six younger siblings so I’m trying to be a good example for them,” Holmes explained. “Even if I don’t make it to the pros, being able to go to school for free, that’s given me a head start in life. Whatever I decide to go into in life, I was able to get that because I was playing football.”
