Hollingshead Works Way Up The Leach Ladder
January 31, 2022 | Football, Joel Coleman
New Mississippi State inside receivers coach Drew Hollingshead has paid his dues.
STARKVILLE – "It's been a journey."
Drew Hollingshead uttered those words on Monday afternoon while sitting in his office inside Mississippi State's Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex. Just outside the door, a headshot and a nameplate were on the wall in the hallway, letting passersby know who waited inside – Drew Hollingshead, inside receivers coach.
On Monday, it was announced as official. Hollingshead indeed is the newest member of the Bulldogs' on-field coaching staff. The 31-year-old has spent the last decade of his life working for this moment. Now, it's finally arrived.
"This was kind of the goal when I got into coaching," Hollingshead said. "I knew I wanted to coach at the highest level and be around guys who were really successful…I'm really thankful to [head coach Mike Leach] for believing in me and giving me this opportunity."
Make no mistake, Leach might've opened this door for Hollingshead. But he wasn't handed anything. Hollingshead earned it. It has indeed been a journey.
In His Blood
Football has essentially been a part of Hollingshead's life since…well…ever since he's had a life.
The son of a football coach that's had stops at the high school and collegiate level, Hollingshead was raised around the game – all parts of it in fact.
"I was a kid and remember vividly sitting in the living room and listening to [my dad] making recruiting calls when I was eight or nine years old," Hollingshead said.
Hollingshead would grow and go on to star for his father as a quarterback at Rockwall-Heath High School in Rockwall, Texas. And if you were a quarterback in Texas in the 2000s, there was a head coach over at Texas Tech that you were almost certainly paying attention to, given all the gaudy passing numbers his teams were putting up.
"You always looked up to [Leach and his Texas Tech staff] and what they were doing, especially playing the quarterback position," Hollingshead said.
The Red Raiders gave Hollingshead a little bit of recruiting attention. That allowed Hollingshead to get to know some of the guys on the Texas Tech staff. While Hollingshead ultimately went on to play his college football at Houston, the familiarity he'd previously built with some of the guys from Lubbock was instrumental in getting Hollingshead into the office that's now his in Starkville.
The Climb Begins
You've surely heard of Texas A&M, but have you ever heard of Texas A&M-Commerce? The Division II Lions football program is where Hollingshead's climb up the collegiate coaching ranks began in 2013.
Hollingshead actually began laying his foundation in the years prior with a stint at Hyde Park Baptist High School in Austin, Texas, then an internship with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. But it was at Texas A&M-Commerce where Hollingshead really began cutting his coaching teeth.
"It was my first real job when I didn't even have one," Hollingshead said of his time with the Lions. "I had to do everything. I had to go to the equipment shed to get out our equipment. I had to get out the practice jerseys. I had to set up for breakfast, lunch and dinner when we were trying to feed our players. I had a hand in a bunch of the recruiting stuff there."
When it comes to paying dues, Hollingshead was paying his from the jump. There was very little, if any, glamour or praise to be found.
What there was though was a chance. A chance to grow. A chance to learn. Hollingshead started out as a quality control coach in 2013 before moving to a more on-the-field role in 2014.
After the 2015 season, a graduate assistant position came open at Washington State. It caught Hollingshead's eye, particularly given who was leading the Cougars – Mike Leach, as well as some of the people Hollingshead had gotten to know previously when the staff was at Texas Tech.
"I was coaching receivers at Commerce at the time, but I was still relatively young so I could still do a GA position," Hollingshead said. "I applied. I got in there and got it and it was good. It was kind of one of those deals, right place, right time and you know the people that can help you achieve what you're trying to get."
It was time to learn under the watchful eye of Leach.
Leach Lessons
Hollingshead started out as an offensive quality control coach for Leach in 2016. It was far from a glorious position.
"You finally get to Division I as a GA and you have to start back over," Hollingshead said. "It's putting together the cut-ups. You're there late nights and drawing up cards and stuff like that."
But along the way, days go by and trust is earned. By about a year in, Hollingshead was a quality control coach for the Cougars, working with the quarterbacks.
To be handed responsibilities with signal callers would be a big deal no matter who the head coach was. It means all the more when that head coach is Leach – the Air Raid offense guru who evaluates, picks and teaches quarterbacks with the best of them.
Now here Hollingshead was overseeing the position that's effectively the brains of Leach's scheme. And how'd he do? Well, the results don't lie.
He had a hand in the tail end of Luke Falk's career – the same Luke Falk that is still atop the record book for career passing yards in the Pac-12.
In 2018, Hollingshead helped Gardner Minshew II lead the nation in passing. Anthony Gordon did the same under guidance from Hollingshead in 2019.
Were these quarterbacks all ultra-talented? Absolutely. But did Hollingshead help get the most out of that talent? You better believe it.
And for Hollingshead personally, it was a sign he was on an upward climb with his boss.
"Coach Leach put a lot of trust in me to let me help coach the quarterbacks," Hollingshead said. "I've been pretty fortunate with that for sure."
Hollingshead rewarded that trust. He also continued to soak in knowledge from Leach, becoming a better coach himself as time wore on. And the most important lesson Hollingshead picked up from the pirate?
"I've learned a lot from [Leach] in terms of, there can be a lot of clutter in the profession and coaching ranks and all that stuff, but the most important thing is always the players," Hollingshead said. "It doesn't matter how much football you know. If you can't teach it to your players and they can't execute it, you're not going to be worth anything as a coach. Just how he attacks every day at practice and his mindset and his game plans and coaching the position and making it where players can achieve, I've learned a lot from that. I think sometimes, guys get too caught up in scheme and having to run this or do this to be successful. No, it's about what your players can do. If you can teach it and they can learn it and you can put it out there on the field, you're going to have a lot of success. He's obviously done that for a bunch of decades now, so I've really learned a lot from that aspect for sure."
Hollingshead learned enough that when Leach was hired at Mississippi State after the 2019 season, Leach brought Hollingshead with him. Then this month, after two years as an offensive quality control coach in Starkville working with Bulldog quarterbacks, Hollingshead was chosen to fill MSU's vacancy at inside receivers coach.
When Leach was asked to explain why, the promotion of Hollingshead seemingly boiled down to three things – work ethic, experience and smarts.
"Well, the biggest thing is that he's done so many things for a lot of years," Leach explained. "He's put in a lot of time and part of having experience is time you've put into something. And Drew has worked directly with me for years. At least for what we're looking for, that's the most important experience. Then the other thing is he's an incredibly knowledgeable guy and handles so many other things on our staff, it'd be difficult to lose him. He knows all the responsibilities. He knows all the players. I think he'll do a tremendous job."
Getting The Job Done
Of course Hollingshead is now shifting positions that he's directly working with. He's climbed his way up the coaching mountain dealing with quarterbacks. Instead of the passers, Hollingshead is now guiding the pass catchers.
Some might see that as an obstacle. Hollingshead sees it as a benefit.
"I was fortunate to have played quarterback and obviously learning from Coach Leach and what the quarterbacks want in our offense, it's good so I can tell our receivers, 'Hey, this what we're looking for on this play,'" Hollingshead explains. "Or I can tell them, 'This is where the quarterback's eyes are going to start. Here's what he's expecting you to do. Here's what we're looking for and here's ways to attack the defense with your footwork and release to get you in the right spot, and we need you in the right spot because the quarterback is coming to you on this play or looking to you on this other play.' So it all goes hand in hand."
As Hollingshead discusses his new role, it's hard not to see the potential in him – not only for this season, but for his future. Some of Leach's most successful pupils have coached receivers for him through the years.
There's current Southern California head coach Lincoln Riley. There's now-Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen and SMU leader Sonny Dykes. Add Washington State offensive coordinator Eric Morris to the list as well.
"If Coach Leach sees me in the same light as those guys, that's awesome," Hollingshead said. "That's kind of what I aspire to be. The guys that have worked for Coach Leach – obviously he's a legend in this business and the guys that have been around him have gone on to have a ton of success and will go on to win championship after championship. That was sort of the appeal to work for him. Hopefully if I did put in the work and did well for him, I could eventually achieve that kind of success as well. He's successful for a reason and those guys are successful for a reason so to have an opportunity to learn the process and grow up in it, that's been really beneficial for me. I just want to do the best job I can possibly do."
That's getting the job done on and off the field by the way. It's not only Hollingshead's coaching chops that have so much potential. It's his ability as a recruiter.
"He's a good evaluator," Leach said of Hollingshead. "I think he's a persistent guy. I've always thought that, by far, the most important quality a recruiter can have is persistence. There's no replacing the most persistent guy. That's critical. That's the ultimate key is to be extremely persistent, but then he's also knowledgeable about what we do and our system and that type of thing. I think all that helps."
Another thing that aids Hollingshead is he feels he's completely prepared on multiple fronts in his quest to lure in top talent. He's been at Mississippi State for going on three years now, so he knows the landscape. He's been in this offense directly under Leach for over half a decade. There aren't many – if any – questions that he can't answer.
"[My background] helps a lot and I think kids appreciate that," Hollingshead said. "If you can lay out a vision for them [like], 'Here's how we see you' or, 'Here's what we'll expect of you in our offense', that really helps. And I can see it several different ways. I've played in this kind of offense. I've coached in the offense at a few different positions now. You can say, 'This is how we expect you'll be successful. This is what we can do to help you be more successful.' I think kids appreciate that and it's not just, 'Hey, come be a Bulldog. Hey, come look at our uniforms.' Now all of that stuff is good and it's good to show them the things you'll do to take care of them, but to lay out a clear and concise vision for them, I think that's important. Being that I've been in the offense and been around Coach Leach and this staff for a long time now and we're all on the same page in what we're looking for and our recruits, it makes that job just a little bit easier because I can communicate it pretty well."
Glowing Reviews
There's perhaps no better place to turn than the players Hollingshead interacts with to know what kind of a person and coach Hollingshead is.
Not long after news of Hollingshead's promotion got out on Monday, MSU slot receiver Austin Williams took to Twitter to show his excitement for who'll now be his direct position coach.
Williams later explained when reached for comment.
"I'm pumped up to get to work with Coach Hollingshead," Williams said. "He knows this offense like the back of his hand, and he can teach us the finer details. After being around him more during the bowl season, I immediately could tell he is going to push us to new levels. Couldn't be more excited to get it rolling."
Then, there's State quarterback Will Rogers. In his sophomore year in 2021, Rogers essentially rewrote the MSU record book, in part because of his growth under Hollingshead. And while now, Hollingshead won't be a primary voice in Rogers' ear, Rogers is confident the Bulldogs just got better.
"I think Coach Hollingshead is a great coach because he understands the offense and what we are tying to do as an offensive unit," Rogers said. "Obviously he has been around Coach Leach for a long time, so he gets what we are trying to do, and he will be a great coach for the inside receivers. I feel like he will make us better as a whole unit because of how he understands the offense and I know everybody in the inside receivers room is ready to get to work with him during spring ball."
There's a belief in Hollingshead. There's a bond with Hollingshead. The guys know it and feel it, and Hollingshead himself does, too.
"I've been around these guys for over two years now and they know what kind of coach I am and they know how to communicate with me and they know they can put trust in me and what I say can help them be successful," Hollingshead said. "It's not like they're having to learn a whole ton about me or how my coaching style is. They've been around me enough. That helps them. Then, me knowing what Coach Leach wants and how we want to do our stuff and be successful, that helps too. There's not a lot of teaching to me that needs to be done at this point. We can kind of slide in and make this an easy transition."
The Journey Continues
So, Hollingshead's trek rolls on with his biggest step yet in his blossoming career. From player, to D-II coach, to FBS quality control assistant, to now a real, on-the-field job, the journey continues.
The key word is continues. Hollingshead isn't content with just achieving one of his goals. Oh no. There's much more to earn.
Hollingshead has worked his way this far. He knows nothing else but to keep on working.
"It's been a journey," Hollingshead said again. "That's for sure. I've been at, it feels like, every level of this now. I've been very fortunate to have been around some really good coaches and learned a lot and picked up nuggets from all those guys so that when I eventually got my shot, I'd be prepared. And you know, the work doesn't stop now obviously. I've got to prove my worth to Coach Leach and our players and our coaches and the Mississippi State community. I've got to prove all over again that I'm worthy of this job, but the work I've put in and the journey I've taken has prepared me for this moment and I'm excited for it."
