Rod Holder, who has been a part of three national championship teams as either a player or coach, is in his 10th season as assistant head coach and offensive line coach at Norfolk State University. Holder is one of three assistant coaches who have been on Pete Adrian’s staff each of the last nine seasons.
Holder’s no-nonsense style has transformed the NSU offensive line into one of the more productive, well-balanced units in the MEAC. Last year, the Spartans boasted the MEAC’s No. 2 rusher in Rolandan Finch, who ran for 1,113 yards. Finch became the third Spartan back to top 1,000 yards while posting the school’s fourth 1,000-yard season since 2007.
With three new starters in 2012, NSU finished fourth in the MEAC in fewest sacks allowed (18) and third in passing offense (181.9 ypg).
Despite breaking in four new starters and switching to a no-huddle spread offense, the offensive line was a key to the Spartans’ first-ever MEAC title in 2011. The Spartans finished first in the MEAC in passing offense (236.6 ypg), second in total offense (393.8 ypg) and fewest sacks allowed (15), and fourth in rushing (157.2 ypg).
Tackles Blake Matthews and Kendall Noble were both first-team All-MEAC selections following the 2011 campaign. Matthews earned NSU’s first-ever MEAC Offensive Lineman of the Year award and was also a second-team FCS All-America selection in 2011. Matthews was a third-team All-MEAC pick in 2013, marking the 11th time that one of Holder’s protégés has been named to the all-conference team.
In 2010, the NSU offensive line allowed a MEAC-low 12 sacks, or just 1.09 per game. That figured ranked 18th in the Division I FCS in fewest sacks allowed. Two Spartans earned All-MEAC honors for the second year in a row, as Noble and center William Falakiseni were both voted to the second team.
Falakiseni and Noble led a veteran line that paved the way for running back DeAngelo Branche to become NSU’s all-time leading rusher. Branche ran for a MEAC-leading 1,330 yards in 2010, the second-most for a single season in school history and the second time in three seasons Branche topped 1,000 yards in a season. As a team, the Spartans averaged 174.6 rushing yards per game in ‘10, third-most in the MEAC and NSU’s highest tally since 2005.
In 2009, an NSU-record three Spartan offensive linemen earned All-MEAC honors: Falakiseni, Noble and tackle Calton Ford. Falakiseni was also named to the SBN Black College All-American team. That trio of linemen helped NSU finish the 2009 campaign ranked third in the MEAC in both scoring offense (26.6 ppg) and total offense (348.4 ypg).
Holder had an immediate impact on the NSU front line. In his first year with the program (2005), the offensive line helped the Spartans finish fourth in the conference in total offense with just one senior starter. NSU ranked third in the MEAC in passing yards per game in 2006 and third in scoring offense in 2007.
Holder came to NSU after serving as offensive line coach at Rutgers University in 2004. That season, Rutgers led the Big East in passing offense (310.5 yards per game) and was third in total offense (394 ypg). The Scarlet Knights also allowed the second-fewest sacks in the conference (20 in 11 games).
Prior to working at Rutgers, Holder coached the offensive line at Western Illinois University from 2002-03. The Leathernecks’ offense averaged over 36 points per game in each of his two seasons there, and finished in the top two of the Gateway Conference in total offense both seasons. In that time, Western Illinois compiled a 20-6 record and finished No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Today Division I-AA Coaches Poll in both 2002 and 2003. Holder also helped coach All-American lineman Fred Layne in 2003.
Holder served as assistant offensive line coach at the University of Miami in 2002 when the Hurricanes won the Rose Bowl and the national title.
As a player at Miami from 1986-89, he earned over 20 starts on the offensive line and helped the Hurricanes to national championships in 1987 and 1989 under legendary coach Jimmy Johnson. In his four years as a letterwinner there, Holder helped the ‘Canes compile a 45-3 record and three bowl wins, two in the Orange Bowl and one in the Sugar Bowl. He graduated in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in business.
Holder played for one season in the World League of American Football with the New York/New Jersey Knights in 1991. Holder began his coaching career as an offensive line coach for three Miami, Fla., area high schools from 1992-97. He then served as the graduate assistant offensive line coach at the University of Illinois in 1997-98, while earning his master’s degree in educational policy studies.
Holder then coached at Northeastern in 1999 and at Bentley in 2000. He joined the XFL as offensive line coach of the Chicago Enforcers in 2001, before returning to Miami later that year. While in the XFL, he worked alongside Spartans’ head coach Pete Adrian, who was the defensive coordinator.
Holder and his wife, Michelle, have one son, Rod Jr., a member of the Coastal Carolina football team.
