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Holder brings passion to two jobs

Back in November, the Surry County Sports Hall of Fame announced the next inductees.

The class, as usual, includes some of the best athletes in county history, but one honoree has more name recognition than the rest.

Kelly Holder has three decades of sports history on his résumé, including time spent with three of the high schools in the area: North Surry, Surry Central and Mount Airy.

He was a standout quarterback for the Greyhounds, got his start in coaching for the Golden Eagles, then put together a storied coaching legacy with the Granite Bears.

A 1988 graduate of North Surry, Holder received several accolades his senior season after passing for 1,583 yards with 12 touchdowns (on 111-213 completions). He also ran the ball for another 520 yards and 10 TDs, giving him a combined total of 2,103 yards and 22 TDs.

He wasn’t just an all-conference performer. Holder was named to the Winston-Salem Journal’s All-Northwest Team, named honorable mention All-State, and played in the East-West All-Star game in the summer of 1988. After graduating, Holder played at Elon College (now University) and graduated in 1993.

That kind of recognition could have earned him a place in the Sports Hall of Fame just on his playing career. But it was what followed that made Holder a local legend and earned respect across much of the state.

After 23 years in coaching, he finished with an overall mark of 218-85, which is winning 72% of the time. Some teams are pleased just to finish with a winning record in a season. Holder’s average season in coaching was 10-3.

Looking at how many points his team scored and how many his opponents managed, Holder’s average game score on Friday night was 33-15 — a blowout win.

Coaching days

Going back to the beginning, Kelly graduated and then married his sweetheart, Jill Taylor, in 1994. They now have been together more than 26 years with two sons, Logan and Ian.

In 1995 he got his first coaching gig at Surry Central.

“When I graduated from Elon, I had a few places I could have gone,” said Holder. “For some reason I was drawn to Surry Central. I really appreciated my time at Surry Central; they were really great to me and the kids were, too.”

A rookie coach still learning the ins and outs of the job, Holder still managed to be around the .500 mark after four seasons.

Then came an opportunity to take over the program at Mount Airy, where he would go 195-61 in 19 seasons with three trips to the state championship game.

Those 195 wins put him first on Mount Airy’s career records, passing legends Jerry Hollingsworth (177) and Wallace Shelton (150).

When Hollingsworth died last March, Holder talked about what a great mentor the former coach and athletic director was to him.

“By the time I was up for this job, I had known about him for a long time,” said Holder. “He was one of the most respected guys in the coaching business.”

“Early on I would go in his office quite a bit. He didn’t talk to me a whole lot about X’s and O’s. He talked about how to handle and treat kids and parents and things of that nature.

“I remember so many times sitting in his office and him talking at length about the things in coaching that nobody considers: running a program, getting the most out of every kid. … He talked a lot about every kid on the team having value. That stuck with me for a long time.”

Taking that knowledge, Holder continued the stellar legacy, winning or tying for the Northwest Conference title nine times.

From 2008-09, the Bears won 31 games in a row, including the 2008 state championship. The team made it back to the title game in 2009, but came up short.

Doug McDaniel, the Bears’ unofficial historian, said Holder’s 2008 team has a case as one of the greatest 1A teams in North Carolina history. he said the ’08 Bears led the nation in scoring with 846 points, or 52.9 points per game. The defense gave up just 6.1 points for an average scoring margin of 46.8 points.

Because of that season, Holder was named the East-West All Star Game coach for 2008. Later he would also coach the Shrine Bowl in 2015.

In 2017 Mount Airy went 14-0 to reach the Class 1AA State Championship, but lost to finish 14-1.

Knowing the program was still strong and the cupboard was far from bare, Holder decided it was the right time to step aside.

Mount Airy City Schools sent out a news release stating, “For 19 years, Holder has coached his players on and off the field. It is evident that his commitment to his players has reached beyond winning football games.”

“Relationships are more important than wins,” Holder said at the time. “And I have been blessed with lots of wonderful relationships with players.”

“While this decision has been a difficult one, Coach Holder feels the time has come to step down,” said the MACS statement. “He plans to spend his time with family, watch his sons pursue their college careers, and spend more time at church.”

Part of what made the decision easier was knowing that both sons had finished their playing careers, so he got to coach them both, with the boys making all-conference during their careers.

Holder admitted that he was rougher on them than the others. He said he could get on to his own kids a little more than the average player, and maybe in a different manner.

But despite the hard coaching, Holder said, “It was a joy and honor to be part of the same teams as them.”

His day job

While he stepped down from coaching, Holder isn’t finished yet with his teaching career, now in its 28th year.

He said he mostly teaches Algebra I, although he also has taught Algebra II and Geometry over the years.

“I don’t know if you know this or not, but not everybody loves math,” Holder said with a grin. “Sometimes it’s tough to make that exciting.”

“Teaching is a part where you get to meet all different types, not just the athletic people,” he said of his love for his job. “You get to be part of the entire school and meet a lot of people. … I enjoy it because you get the opportunity to be part of the education of young folks.”

He is back to teaching in the high school daily now, but last spring he had to learn how to teach remotely like all his peers.

Holder said he turned the dining room table into his home office, but a mobile operation so he could clear it off and make room for family dinners.

Holder said he appreciates all the teachers who worked with him during his days in the Surry County Schools district.

Looking back, he said, ”One of the toughest teachers on me was Mrs. (Lowanda) Badgett. I don’t know if she remembers it the same way. I didn’t think she liked me very much, but she really helped me so much at the very end.”

That tough love would make an impression on the lanky teen that would serve him well in his coaching career.

“North Surry was a great place to go to school,” he said. Then Surry Central treated him very well.

He said he wanted to give thanks to the city schools for taking a chance on a county boy to lead the program.

His love of Mount Airy was evident. With his obvious success on the field, Holder could have parlayed that into a coaching job at a bigger 3A or 4A school, but he wanted to stay here in Surry County to live and raise his children.

And Surry County is all the better for it.

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Source: https://www.mtairynews.com

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