Columbus track, football standout Holmes perseveres despite adversities
There are likely few athletes who have overcome as much adversity as Columbus senior Courtney Holmes, who is a football/track standout.
His mother died when he was 9, his aunt and two cousins were murdered when he was 16, he missed nearly his entire junior year of football because of a right knee injury, and he sat out most of his senior season after he was hit with a stray bullet while standing in the front yard of his family’s house in Goulds.
“I’m 54 years old, and Courtney has already had more bad things happen to him than I have in my entire life,” Columbus football coach David Dunn said.
“Yet, whatever hurdle he is presented with, he attacks it with a great attitude. I’ve never seen him down or depressed, and that’s a testament to his will.”
Added Columbus track coach Fred Foyo: “I’ve been doing this for 38 years, and he’s the most resilient kid I’ve ever come across.”
Holmes’ fortitude is evident in that he has won three high school state team titles — two as a sprinter on the track team and one as a safety for Columbus football.
However, because of the shooting that affected his liver and colon and required five surgeries, Holmes lacked his normal explosiveness when he returned to football in time for the 2019 playoffs.
Holmes, a 5-10, 185-pound safety, was just about to commit to the University of South Florida when he wrecked his knee. But once he had his surgeries, he found his offers pulled, including one from Michigan.
Instead, Holmes, 19, will enroll this fall at East Coast Prep in Barrington, Massachusetts.
It will be in that setting that Holmes will work to improve his 2.6 grade-point average, his 4.6 time in the 40 and his bench-press numbers (three reps at 225 pounds).
Dunn believes prep school is a great idea for Holmes.
“I coached in that area at Harvard, and I told him I will give him all my winter jackets,” Dunn said with a laugh. “He will be out there in the sticks of Western Massachusetts.
“The good thing is that he can spend a few months there, sign in December and still have four years of college eligibility remaining.
“Academically, he will have tutors who can help him improve his SAT score.”
TRAGEDY STRIKES
Holmes’ hardships started Dec. 9, 2009, when his mother, Stephanie Lanier, was killed by a hit-and-run driver.
The news hit Holmes at about 3 a.m.
“I heard crying and stuff,” Holmes said. “My older brother told me the news. It was tragic. … I knew I had to be a man.”
After that, Holmes, one of seven siblings and the cousin of NFL running back Devonta Freeman, was raised by his maternal grandmother, Bertha Fulton.
Holmes, who grew up playing football in the Richmond Heights area for the Palmetto Raiders Pop Warner team, enrolled at Columbus as a freshman in 2016.
By his sophomore season, Holmes became a starter and was impressing numerous college scouts as a two-way player. He was playing running back as a junior in Columbus’ spring game against Lehigh when he was hit with a clothesline tackle, and that caused his ACL knee injury.
Holmes was out again as a senior after he was shot in the backside.
The shooting happened July 22, 2019, and Holmes spent nearly four months in the hospital as doctors removed the bullet and also dealt with blood clots.
COMEBACK KID
Finally, Holmes returned for a Nov. 1 game against Atlantic, the regular-season finale.
“The first day he got cleared, he wanted 80 plays,” Dunn said. “But I said, ‘Courtney, you’re not ready.’ We gave him about 15 plays the first game, and he worked his way up as a nickel safety.
“He was amazing as a sophomore. He would break on the ball and blow up a play. But after the surgeries, he would break on a ball and just make the tackle. He was still physical. He didn’t turn down contact. But he looked human. It was night-and-day [difference].”
Holmes, who wants to study business and hopes to one day own a clothing store, selling his own brand of shoes, still had a major influence on his team during Columbus’ playoff drive.
“You can ask every kid on our team,” Dunn said. “When Courtney returned, our kids said our leadership got 100 percent better. Courtney is revered at our school.”
Columbus right tackle Andre Lamas, who will play for Florida Atlantic this fall, can vouch for Holmes as a leader.
“From the second he was able to practice, he turned our program around,” Lamas said. “We went from a 4-4 team to going undefeated the last seven games.
“He brings a different intensity to the team. Everyone respects him when he walks into a room. He holds people accountable.”
Indeed, Columbus, which went 11-4 last year, finished the season with seven straight wins, including a 21-20 victory over Apopka in the state final.
It was the first state title in the history of the Columbus football program, and Holmes — the indestructible force — was a big part of the effort required to hoist the trophy.
“It was a dream,” Holmes said. “I wasn’t 100 percent, but I was still making plays.”
Dunn said Holmes is now 100 percent healthy. The coach also said the state championship was the perfect end to Holmes’ high school football career.
“I’m happy for everybody on the team. But I’m happiest for Courtney,” Dunn said. “He deserved to have positive closure, given everything he’s been through.
“I wish I was as tough as Courtney Holmes.”
2019 BOYS’ TRACK STATE CHAMPS
Class 4A: Columbus
Class 3A: Miami Northwestern
Class 2A: Jacksonville Bolles
Class 1A: The First Academy (Orlando)
2019 GIRLS’ TRACK STATE CHAMPS
Class 4A: St. Thomas Aquinas
Class 3A: Miami Northwestern
Class 2A: Hallandale Class 1A: Evangelical Christian