Michael Terrence “Terry” Holland served as athletic director from 2004 through 2013. Following his retirement in 2013, Holland was named emeritus director of athletics at ECU. Holland is credited with having overseen a comprehensive about-face in ECU athletics, effectively transforming football, basketball, and baseball – the big three men’s sports – from lackluster, losing teams into ones that achieved improved play if not winning seasons, championships, and select postseason competition. Holland was also the visionary and driving force behind an extensive, state of the art transformation of ECU athletic facilities, upgrading and accommodating the major men’s sports as well as other sports, both men’s and women’s, comprising ECU athletics. Few in ECU history has rivaled Holland’s far-reaching legacy vis-à-vis athletic performance, infrastructure, and academic integrity among student-athletes.
Holland realized a turnaround in athletic performance by realigning coaching staffs. First, Holland replaced John Thompson, the head football coach who won infamy with a 3-20 record in two seasons, 2003-2004, with a promising new coach, Skip Holtz. Under Holtz’s leadership, Pirate football went 38-27, winning conference titles, repeated bowl invitations, and bowl game victories. When Holtz left, Holland hired ECU alum and collegiate coach, Ruffin McNeill. In six years as head coach, McNeill achieved a 42-34 record with three bowl invitations and one bowl victory. Holland also replaced the head basketball coach, Bill Herrion, first with Ricky Stokes and then with Jeff Lebo. Under Lebo’s leadership, the basketball team emerged with successive winning seasons and a postseason championship victory in 2013. Holland also replaced baseball head coach Randy Mazey with Billy Godwin. Under Godwin’s leadership, ECU baseball emerged as a powerful, winning force in collegiate play. With these changes, Holland effectively presided over a wholesale revival of ECU’s showcase athletic teams.
Holland was also the driving force behind a monumental expansion and redevelopment of the athletic campus, resulting in a 25 million dollar state of the art Olympic Sports Complex. Upon Holland’s retirement in 2013, the board of trustees decided to name the complex after Holland. The Terry Holland Olympic Sports Complex includes a 1,000 seat softball stadium, the 1,000 seat Johnson Soccer Stadium, the eight-lane Bate Track Facility, and a 20,000 square foot administrative building. Adjacent the complex, the new 5,000 seat Clark-LeClair Baseball Stadium, which opened in 2005, stands as another dimension of Holland’s determination to advance ECU’s athletics to unprecedented levels. Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, long the center of ECU athletics, also underwent a $20 million expansion, increasing its seating capacity to 50,000. These developments reflected the vision and passion Holland provided while serving ECU as athletic director. Through them, ECU athletics gained unprecedented national recognition and respect.
Holland also oversaw the comprehensive development of women’s athletics at ECU. Another Holland hire, women’s basketball coach Heather Macy led her team to become a major force in women’s basketball competition. Macy’s student-athletes also achieved the highest GPA in Conference USA basketball competition two years in a row, 2012-2014. At present, Macy is ECU’s all-time winningest women’s basketball coach.
A graduate of Davidson College, Holland emphasized excellence in academic performance. While other universities were visited with academic scandals involving student-athletes, ECU witnessed an impressive record of classroom performance complementing performance on the field. During the 2009-2010 year, nearly half of ECU sports netted a perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR) score of 1,000.
In 2003, Holland was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. It was then noted that Holland’s induction was “a fitting tribute for … a successful coach and a dedicated visionary leader.” While at ECU, Holland’s exceptional abilities as a visionary leader were evident as well.
Sources
- “’Valued Leader:’ Complex named for ECU athletics director; new role announced.” ECU News Services. December 12, 2012. http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/news/tholland.cfm.
- Keenan, Corey. “Former East Carolina Athletic Director Terry Holland Honored.” The East Carolinian. November 21, 2014. http://www.theeastcarolinian.com/news/article_6df58a80-71cb-11e4-90be-83eebda6f2e9.html.
- Miller, Ed. “ECU Athletics is on the rise. He’s a big reason why.” The Virginian-Pilot. June 6, 2009. https://pilotonline.com/sports/article_25c0812d-41a6-581c-b3cb-fc414ebbe32f.html.
- Summers, Nathan. “The Search is Over: East Carolina Picks Holland as New AD.” Rocky Mount Telegram. September 8, 2004. P. 15.
- Wood, Norm. “Former coach and AD Terry Holland honored by U.Va.” Daily Press. May 29, 2018. http://www.dailypress.com/sports/uva/dp-spt-virginia-terry-holland-reunion-0924-20160923-story.html.
Citation Information
Title: Michael Terrance "Terry" Holland
Author: John A. Tucker, PhD
Date of Publication: 6/25/2019