He joins another former defensive end, Kroy Biermann, as the only Grizzlies to win the award. Now Holmes wants to keep adding to his career accomplishments at the next level. He will get a great chance to show NFL scouts what he can do when he plays in the East-West Shrine Bowl in Tampa Florida on Jan. 23.
"Especially for a small school guy, to be able to compete against power five conference dudes. Just really use that as a measuring stick to see where I'm at. I mean, I think I stack up pretty well. I'm hoping to surprise some people down there," Holmes said.
The Eagle Point, Oregon native originally wanted to play at the Pac-12 level but instead went to Montana and built himself into a pro-level talent.
"I feel like very guy in the FCS probably feels like they got slighted a little bit," Holmes said. "But I feel like everything works out the way it's supposed to. God had me in the right spot. It definitely worked out how it was supposed to, but yeah for sure, I have a pretty big chip on my shoulder."
Big Sky quarterbacks learned to fear him and now maybe NFL quarterbacks will see him closing fast.
