Dave Holland, Millennium Hall of Fame

There are few structures or buildings named after living human

beings, let alone a facility with the name of the o7 opposingf7

football coach written in big block letters.

But that’s just what Corona del Mar High’s football team sees this

week. There is no escaping Dave Holland.

Holland, the former CdM coach who led the Sea Kings to back-to-back

CIF Southern Section Division VI titles in 1988 and ‘89, was honored by

the program when the CdM football weight room was named after him in the

mid-90s.

But Holland, who returned to high school coaching four years ago when

he accepted the Laguna Beach position, will coach Thursday night against

the Sea Kings for the first time in his storied career, which includes

112 victories and league Coach of the Year accolades four times.

Holland this week has told Orange County prep reporters that the

Pacific Coast League clash against CdM (at Newport Harbor High) is “just

another game,” but the reality is much different. It’s homecoming for CdM

(0-5) and many of Holland’s former players will be in attendance.

“Playing Corona del Mar is real special,” said Holland, who has the

Artists (3-2) believing they can win this year. “It means a lot to come

back.”

The winningest football coach in Newport-Mesa District history (with

106 victories at CdM), before Newport Harbor’s Jeff Brinkley broke the

record earlier this season, Holland served two separate terms as head

coach at CdM, a total of 20 years.

Holland, once a scrawny, 138-pounder at Garfield High in East Los

Angeles, bulked up by lifting weights -- a rarity in the 1950s -- and

played at East LA College and Whittier College, where his coaches

included George Allen and Don Coryell, both of whom would become NFL

coaches.

“It was a life-changing experience for me,” Holland said of his senior

year at Whittier, when Coryell replaced Allen as the Poets’ head man. “In

fact, the way I coach, I try to coach like he coached. People think

(Coryell) is a shy person, but he brought out the best in the guys he

coached and made each guy feel like they were the most important guy on

the team. He had a way of doing that.”

Holland, who said every practice and chalk talk with Coryell was “a

coaching clinic,” returned to East LA College as an assistant coach while

doing his graduate work, then coached at El Rancho High.

Meanwhile, Holland became a black belt in karate, which helped form

his coaching philosophy for offensive linemen. “It became the basis of

the techniques I taught, keeping it simple with a lot of repetition,” he

said.

Shortly thereafter, Holland heard of an opening at CdM and arrived for

a job interview he’ll never forget.

“I’d never experienced anything like it,” Holland said. “I had come

from almost the ghetto in East LA, and El Rancho was similar, with a lot

of city kids and minorities. I had coached a lot of minorities. But when

I came down to Corona del Mar and walked through the quad during a lunch

period for an interview, it was like I was on a movie set. They were the

most gorgeous-looking people I’d ever seen. I’d never seen so many

blond-haired, blue-eyed people in one place.

“(CdM) was very laid back, but very special. And I found out that the

kids could play football. Some of the toughest kids I ever coached were

right there.”

After serving as an assistant coach for a couple of years, the CdM

head coaching job opened up and Holland didn’t hesitate, taking over the

reins in 1967.

In Holland’s first term, which lasted nine years, CdM won its first

football championship in 1971, as the Sea Kings captured the Irvine

League title with Karl Killefer, quarterback Reed Johnson and running

back Bob Ferraro.

“The team didn’t believe it could win, but finally, in our senior

year, Holland had us believing,” said Ferraro, who coaches with him now.

“It was hard, because (CdM) had so many losing years in a row.”

But when winning turned to three straight autumns of losing, Holland

figured it was time for a change. “I really got discouraged,” said

Holland, who resigned and later accepted an assistant coaching position

at Orange Coast College, serving under Pirates Coach Dick Tucker for four

years (1976 to ‘79).

“I learned a lot from Dick,” Holland said. “He kept everything in the

right perspective. He never got excited or depressed. He just kept

pushing along and the kids always responded. He knows how to take games

as they come and forget about it. He always had real good self-confidence

and self-esteem. He was a great coach with Xs and O’s, but I think I

learned more about the day to day, the ups and downs of football.”

Holland returned to CdM as offensive coordinator and coached under

Dick Morris, who was Holland’s assistant the first time around. But when

Morris was felled by a heart attack, following the ’82 campaign, Holland

stepped back in as head coach and remained there until 1993.

“(Morris) was a good guy to work with, because he allowed his

(assistants) to coach and develop, and he was well-organized,” Holland

said.

CdM went 8-3 and made the CIF playoffs in Holland’s first year back,

then captured three straight Sea View League titles from 1987 to ‘89,

including two CIF championships.

“That was one of the best parts of my life,” Holland said. “When the

Katovsich boys (Todd and John) moved in from Texas, they brought in a new

philosophy -- you don’t win unless you practice hard. They both had a

really good work ethic, especially Todd, who was the older one.

“The first day of practice, we were having a drill ... not at full

speed, but pretty hard. And Todd whacked some guy that was heard

throughout the whole school, and everybody started tightening their chin

straps. (The Katovsich brothers) were really the development of those CIF

championship teams.”

Guys like Jerrott Willard, who later played linebacker at Cal, and

Jeff Thomason, a tight end who has played in two Super Bowls for the

Green Bay Packers, also performed for CdM in the era of three straight

league championships.

But some of Holland’s favorite Sea Kings were those without tremendous

skill, but who played with enormous heart, like guard Pat Kelly in the

late 80s, special team player Ryan Dalton in 1992-93 and quarterback Matt

Evans. “(Evans) typified a lot of Corona kids, overachievers who played

with a lot of heart,” he said.

Holland, two-time CIF Division VI Coach of the Year and the State

Coach of the Year in 1990, is a member of the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of

Fame, celebrating the millennium.