Marshall University announced today — in a press release — that the school would not renew head football Coach John “Doc” Holliday’s contract. It was set to expire on June 30.
The school will instead form a search committee to find Holliday’s replacement. Marshall University president Jerome Gilbert said athletic director Mike Hamrick will serve as chairman of the search committee.
Holliday is finishing his 11th year as head coach. Late last month he was named Conference USA’s Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. He previously won the award in 2014.
In a statement, Holliday said “I’ve always strived to build and leave the program in better shape than I found it. We took a lot of pride in building a winning and clean program.”
Holliday recorded 85 wins at Marshall, including three straight seasons with at least 10 wins. He also led Marshall to eight bowl games, winning six of them.
The team started the season well this year with seven straight wins, but then lost the last three games, including the conference championship and the 2020 Camelia Bowl.
In 2017, before Governor Jim Justice took office, he reportedly met with Gilbert to recommend that Holliday be replaced by former MU coach Bobby Pruett.