Ask Tre’mond Shorts what it’s like to block for Quay Holmes, and he does what he does best — smile.
“That’s the million-dollar question right there,” says Shorts, East Tennessee State’s star offensive tackle. “It’s great. He sets you up and makes you look good.”
Holmes has looked pretty good himself through his career. The redshirt junior running back is on a record-setting pace. Sometime early in the season he should pass Brian Edwards into second place on ETSU’s all-time rushing list. He needs 219 yards to accomplish that feat.
Then the big mark will be in his sights.
Brandon Walker gained a school-record 4,095 yards from 1996-99. Holmes enters this year with 2,711 and two more full seasons to play. With a big year, he could catch Walker this season.
“I want to just continue what I’ve been doing and really just improve,” Holmes said. “I’ve been doing really good every season. I don’t want to fall off. I want to continue to be the best that I can be for the team, show up every day and work, and be somebody our team can lean on.”
The Bucs have leaned on Holmes, but not exclusively. His running mate in the backfield, Jacob Saylors, has rushed for more than 1,500 yards at ETSU and currently holds the school record for yards per carry at 6.3.
“I think the fact that we’ve had Jacob Saylors to share some of the load has probably made it easier for Quay to show up every day,” ETSU coach Randy Sanders says.
Showing up every day has been one of Holmes’ many calling cards. He’s been as durable as he’s been productive.
“I told our team the other day the two greatest traits a football player can have are accountability and dependability,” Sanders said. “One thing you can say about Quay is he’s always very accountable for what he does and he always shows up. He’s very dependable. It’s not ‘shoulder hurts, knee hurts, ankle hurts. I need to take a day off’ or something. He just shows up and performs and practices and sets a great tempo. It’s good when guys have that attitude and that kind of work ethic and they get rewarded for it. He’s done a remarkable job.”
Holmes holds the school record for rushing yards in a game, 255 set in 2019 against Mercer. He’s been an All-American thanks to his skills as a running back and kick returner. He’s also on the preseason watch list for the Walter Payton Award, one of 35 players to watch for the award that goes to the national player of the year.
What makes him tick?
“Really just never being satisfied, always trying to improve,” Holmes said. “I hate when people have anything negative to say about me. I’ll work day in, day out to get better. I just want to be a do-it-all player. When you think of Quay Holmes I don’t want anybody to say he can do everything except this or that. I want to be a do-it-all guy.”
And as much as Shorts likes blocking for the Bucs’ main man, Holmes is just as appreciative to have Shorts up front.
“He makes my job so much easier,” Holmes said. “They’re a unit, but he’s definitely the leader of that group. I’m really appreciative of him.”
