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Mike Holloway
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A new era of Florida track & field began on June 19, 2007, when UF Athletics Director Jeremy Foley announced that head men’s track & field coach Mike Holloway would take on the same role with the Gator women’s program and become the first person in school history to assume the title of head men’s and women’s track & field coach.
When the announcement was made, Holloway had recently capped his fifth year at the helm of a Florida men’s track and field program that boasts nearly 400 All-America honors, 29 NCAA titles and 24 top-10 finishes at NCAA meets. He now takes the reins of a storied women’s program that won the 1992 national indoor title and has also posted a combined 24 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. The UF women have also captured nine Southeastern Conference crowns in their 35-year history.
Numbers like those prove that the Gators are one of the most dominating track and field programs in NCAA history, and Holloway is a tremendous reason why Florida is synonymous with the top teams in the nation. In his five seasons as head men’s coach, he oversaw seven individual and relay NCAA titles, four runner-up finishes at NCAA Championships and two NCAA East Regional titles.
Those figures don’t even take into account his seven seasons as one of the top sprint and hurdle assistant coaches in the country. In his 12 seasons at Florida, Holloway has guided athletes to the following accomplishments:
* Indoor 400m world record holder (Kerron Clement – 44.57)
* Collegiate 400m hurdles record holder (Kerron Clement – 47.56)
* Collegiate indoor 4x400m relay record holders (3:03.51)
* No. 2 all-time American 4x100m relay (38.35)
* No. 2 all-time 200m indoor and No. 3 outdoor collegian (John Capel – 20.26, 19.87)
* No. 3 all-time 100m American collegian (Bernard Williams – 9.99)
* No. 4 all-time collegiate shuttle hurdle relay (54.76)
* No. 5 all-time collegian 110m hurdler (Josh Walker – 13.32)
* No. 5 all-time collegian 400m hurdler (Rickey Harris – 48.16)
That’s a lifetime of coaching honors, and Holloway’s done it in just a dozen years.
Holloway, who was named Florida's men's track and field head coach in 2002 after serving as an assistant at UF since 1995, is one of the premier sprint coaches in today's track and field world, and has developed the Florida men into one of the top collegiate sprint programs in America since he took control of the reins in 1995. He's coached athletes to 12 NCAA titles in the last nine years, and 14 school records in the 12 indoor and outdoor events 400 meters and below have been set under his watch - easily providing a glimpse of Holloway's impact on the program.
The list of accolades and accomplishments Holloway’s athletes have earned at both the professional and collegiate levels is staggering and continues to grow with each successive year. He has coached five athletes to a total of 11 Olympic or World Championships medals, seven of which have been gold.
Holloway was in Osaka, Japan, with former Gator Kerron Clement for the 2007 IAAF World Outdoor Championships when the latter won gold in the 400mH, claiming just the second individual world track championship by an athlete with ties to the UF men’s program. In 2005, he guided Clement, then a 19-year-old phenom, to a world record in the indoor 400m (44.57), as Michael Johnson's 10-year-old record fell. Later in the year, Clement won the U.S. Outdoor Track & Field Championships title in the 400m hurdles with the fastest time run in the event since 1998 (47.24) before he claimed his second-straight U.S. 400m hurdle title in 2006. In 2004, four current or former Holloway-coached athletes competed in the Olympics, with former Gator Bernard Williams earning a silver medal in the 200m. In addition, Clement set a record in the 400m hurdles at the 2004 World Junior Championships. In all, nearly 15 athletes who have trained under Holloway participated at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Holloway's success in his five seasons at the helm of the Florida men’s program shouldn't come as a surprise, especially considering the fact that Holloway's athletes or relay teams have won 12 NCAA titles. Current or former Florida athletes who have worked under Holloway hold or have set the indoor 400m world record, the 400m hurdle collegiate record, the indoor 4x400m collegiate record, equaled the collegiate records in the indoor and outdoor 200 meters, run the third-best 100-meter American collegiate time ever and the fifth-best 4x100-meter relay clocking of all time, which is also the second-fastest American collegiate time in history.
All of that happened within just the last nine years, and after Josh Walker's sixth-place finish in the 110m hurdles at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Holloway reached a coaching milestone, having tutored an All-American in every sprint and hurdle event. Walker and Clement also became the first tandem from the same school ever to sweep the NCAA 110m hurdle and 400m hurdle titles in the same season in 2004, and they repeated their feat in 2005.
After being named head coach of the Gator men's track & field program following the 2002 season, Holloway quickly set out to instill in the rest of the athletes the same philosophy and work ethic that has made his sprinters so successful. As a result, the Florida men won the 2003 NCAA East Regional team title, finished second at the 2003 SEC Indoor Championships and were sixth at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships. For his efforts at the East Regional meet, Holloway was named the East Region Coach of the Year.
In 2004, Holloway coached UF to runner-up finishes at all five championship meets (NCAA indoors and outdoors, SEC indoors and outdoors and the NCAA East Regional), while his athletes claimed six SEC titles, three NCAA titles and earned 31 All-America honors that year. Things kept chugging right along in 2005, when the Gators duplicated their efforts from 2004 by taking second at all five championship meets. Florida racked up 27 All-America honors, four NCAA titles and seven SEC crowns along the way. In 2006, Holloway mentored a pair of Gator freshmen, guiding them to monumental achievements, as Jeremy Hall became the first freshman in more than 30 years to claim the SEC 60m title and Calvin Smith earned indoor All-America honors in the 400m before going on to achieve the same feat outdoors. The latter also became just the second athlete in school history to win the SEC outdoor 400m crown as a freshman.
Holloway’s tenure as an assistant coach, however, was no less decorated than his time at the head of the men’s program. He added the first individual national title to his list of accomplishments in 1999, and by the end of the 2000 season, he had added two more national championships in events Florida had never been able to win before: the 100m and the 4x100m relay. In 2001, Florida was one of only two schools to have at least one athlete qualified for the NCAA Championship meet in every event 800m and lower. This all came just months after freshman Rickey Harris ran a then-school-record 45.78 to win the NCAA Indoor 400m championship. Harris' time was the third-fastest in the world during the season and claimed Florida's first indoor individual national title since 1990. In 2002, Harris won the 400m hurdles championship at the NCAA outdoor meet, giving UF its first-ever title in the event and becoming the first double NCAA champion under Holloway. Harris set a then-school record in the process and his time of 48.16 ranked as the third-fastest final time in meet history. He then went on to finish second in the 400m dash, becoming the second male athlete in NCAA history to earn All-America honors in both events in the same year, and the first to do so since 1963.
Holloway's reputation as a sprint coach was solidified before then, though. One need not look further than his squad's performance at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Championships, when his athletes won two national titles and scored a school-record 42 points by themselves. The Gators' 4x100m squad cruised to the fastest time ever by a collegiate squad that included a lineup comprised solely of American citizens, and earned the school's first national championship in the event. Bernard Williams capped an astounding first season at the NCAA Division I level with Florida's first 100m national title. Earlier in the year at the 2000 NCAA indoor meet, sophomore John Capel equaled the American and collegiate record of 20.26 in the 200m. He was the only collegian to break the 20-second barrier that year and finished with the second-fastest time in the world before eventually making the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team.
Holloway began setting the foundation for the Gators' emergence on the national sprint scene from his first year as a coach during the 1996 season. Since then, sprinters have earned 150 of the 214 All-America honors bestowed on the Florida track and field team, including an award in every sprint event - indoors and out.
Also boasting international experience, Holloway served as the head coach of the U.S. team at the NACAC Under-23 Championships in 2004, where American athletes guided by Holloway combined to win 27 of the 40 events.
In addition to how his athletes fared at the 2004 Olympics, Capel won the gold medal in the 200m and was the leadoff leg of the gold-medal winning 4x100m relay team that also included former Gator Bernard Williams at the 2003 World Championships in Paris.
At the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials, Holloway-coached prodigies won both semifinal heats of the 200m before Capel grabbed the victory in one of the most anticipated track match-ups in the preceding four years. Capel defeated world record holder Michael Johnson and "the fastest man in the world," Maurice Greene, not only in the finals but also in the preceding semis to earn the top 200m spot on America's team for the Sydney Olympic Games.
Florida alumnus Dennis Mitchell was working under Holloway's direction when he captured the 100m title at the 1992 and 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials, giving Holloway a Trials champion in three of the last four Olympiads. During the summer of 1997, Florida alumnus Mark Everett posted the second-fastest all-time 800m performance by an American when he clocked a 1:43.20 at a meet in Line, Austria, while working under Holloway.
Having served as the girls and boys head coach at Buchholz High School from 1985-1995, Holloway was no stranger to the tradition-rich Gainesville track & field community prior to being named a Florida assistant. During his 11-year tenure, Holloway guided the Bobcats' programs to a total of 19 county, 17 district, 14 regional and eight state titles, (including cross country). In all, 18 of 20 boys' school records and 14 of 19 girls' records were broken during the Holloway Era. Among the long list of accomplishments Holloway contributed to the Buchholz program, the school's 1995 milestones could arguably be his most lasting achievements. Holloway led both the boys' and girls' Buchholz teams to state titles in 1995, marking the first time such a feat had been accomplished by one coach.
At the beginning of his coaching career at Buchholz, Holloway worked as a graduate assistant for two years (1986‑87) under then-Florida women's head track & field coach Lyle Knudson. During this time, Holloway coached UF's 4x800m foursome of Sandra and Sonja Braasch, Chris Crowther and Susan Nash to a world-record time of 8:29.35 and a U.S. National indoor title.
Holloway is married to the former Angela Fitts. They have a daughter, Michele, a son, Michael II (MJ), and granddaughter, Alana, who was born in August 2006.
The Mike Holloway File
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Education: Bachelor of Arts in History, University of Florida, 2000
Coaching Career: 1983-84, Assistant Coach, Gainesville High School; 1986-87, Graduate Assistant Women’s Coach, Florida; 1985-94, Head Coach, Buchholz High School; 1995-2002, Associate Head Men’s Coach, Florida; 2002-2007, Head Men’s Coach, Florida; 2007-Present, Head Men’s and Women’s Coach, Florida.
Team Accomplishments: Florida - 2004, 2003 NCAA East Regional Championship; 2004 SEC Indoor Championship; Buchholz High School- eight Florida state team championships; 1995 back-to-back boys and girls team state championships; 14 regional, 19 county and 17 district titles.
Career Totals (head coach): UF: 12 National Champions; 23 All-Americans; 89 All-America Honors; Buchholz: 50 All-State individuals; 25 cross country individual All-State runners; 10 athletes went on to compete in collegiate track and field.
1996 Olympic Qualifiers: 1 (two competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials)
2000 Olympic Qualifiers: 1 (seven competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials)
2004 Olympic Qualifiers: 4 (10 competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials)
Top Athletes: Derrick Atkins (2007 World Championships 100m Silver Medalist); John Capel (2005 World Championships 200m Bronze Medalist, 2003 200m, 4x100m Relay World Champion, 2000 Olympic 200m Finalist, 200m U.S. Olympic Trials Champion, 200m NCAA Champion, SEC Champion); Kerron Clement (Indoor 400m World Record Holder, 2007 World Championships 400mH Gold Medalist, 2005 and 2006 400m Hurdles U.S. Champion, Two-Time 400m Hurdles NCAA Champion); Mark Everett (Three-Time U.S. Olympian); Jimmie Hackley (Four-Time SEC Champion); Rickey Harris (2002 400m Hurdles NCAA Champion, 2001 Indoor 400m NCAA Champion); Stephen Jones (110m Hurdles Barbados National Champion, IAAF World Championships Qualifier); Tyrone Kemp (Eight-Time All-American; Coached at Buchholz High School); Dennis Mitchell (Olympic Gold Medalist, Four-Time Olympic Medalist, Three-Time Olympian, Two-Time World Championships 4x100m Gold Medalist, Two-Time World Championships 100m Bronze Medalist); Josh Walker (2005, 2004 110m Hurdles NCAA Champion); Bernard Williams (2004 200m Olympic Silver Medalist, 2003 4x100m Relay World Champion); 2005 Indoor NCAA Champion 4x400 relay team (Sekou Clarke, Bernard Middleton, Stefan Pastor, Kerron Clement); 2004 Outdoor NCAA Champion 4x100 relay team (Ahmad Jasmine, Mike Morrison, Kyle Farmer, Sekou Clarke); 2000 NCAA Champion 4x100 relay team (Daymon Carroll, Bernard Williams, Aaron Armstrong, Geno White);Women's World Record Setting and National Champion 4x800 relay team (Sandra Braasch, Sonja Braasch, Chris Crowther, Susan Nash)
| Athlete Improvement | |||
| Athlete | Event | High School PR | Florida PR |
| Paul Brown | 110mH | 14.80 | 13.94 |
| John Capel | 100m | 10.40 | 10.03 |
| 200m | 21.04 | 19.87 | |
| Daymon Carroll | 100m | 10.53 | 10.17 |
| 200m | 21.24 | 20.56 | |
| Chris Carswell | 110mH | 15.18 | 13.88 |
| Kerron Clement | 400mH | 49.77 | 47.24 |
| Gerald Clervil | 200m | 21.95 | 20.77 |
| 400m | 49.80 | 45.71 | |
| Kyle Farmer | 100m | 10.65 | 10.29 |
| 200m | 21.15 | 20.41 | |
| Jeremy Hall | 100m | 10.44 | 10.30 |
| Rickey Harris | 400m | 46.21 | 44.84 |
| 400mH | 50.07 | 48.16 | |
| Adrain Mann | 400mH | 52.83 | 49.38 |
| Willie Perry | 100m | 10.52 | 10.12 |
| 200m | 21.33 | 20.42 | |
| Dwight Ruff | 400mH | 50.37 | 49.50 |
| Calvin Smith | 400m | 46.17 | 45.52 |
| Josh Walker | 110mH | 14.19 | 13.32 |
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