Coach Jeff Koonz begins his ninth season as head coach of the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are coming off a 5-4 season in 2018 attaining a final national ranking of No. 21 for a second consecutive year. The 2018 season was highlighted by last minute victories over South Division playoff teams Co-Lin and No. 5 Jones on a last drive “hail mary” pass. The Bulldogs finished the season as the No. 3 rushing offense in the NJCAA.

 

The 2016 historical year saw the Bulldogs go 7-3 and winning its first NJCAA Bowl game. Holmes won the Graphic Edge Bowl in Cedar Falls, Iowa and finished the season as the No. 7 ranked team in the country.

  

Koonz was also named the 2016 MACJC Coach of the Year and the MAC Coach of the Year. He also received this honor after the 2012 season.

 

Coach Koonz’s Bulldogs will have 40 players participating at four-year universities this season. This is the largest number in school history.

 

Josiah Coatney (Ole Miss) will be representing the Bulldogs at SEC schools this season.

 

Holmes has produced 30 players that have played in the NFL during the last 31 years. The 2014 year was highlighted by the induction of Walter Jones, Class of 1994, into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Lyndon Johnson currently plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Sean Harper signed a free agent contract with the Houston Texans while D.J. Montgomery signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns.

 

Coach Koonz, the MACJC Coach of the Year in 2012, came to Holmes from Georgia Military College, where he served as the special teams, strength and conditioning and defensive line coach. Prior to coming back to Holmes, Koonz coached the defensive line at Georgia Southern University for three seasons and served as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Presbyterian College. Coach Koonz previously coached at Holmes from 1994 to 2000. The 1996 squad won the North Division Championship.

 

Coach Koonz has put together an outstanding coaching staff, all of which have Division I coaching experience. Coach Koonz’s current staff has been a part of nine NCAA National Championships and 32 bowl victories.

He has been an innovator in promoting Holmes Community College Football. The 2014 season marked the beginning of the Jeff Koonz Coach’s Show, which airs every Tuesday night during the football season. In 2015, Koonz established the Milton Lee Olive Scholarship. His teams have been involved in many community service projects including reading at elementary schools and doing maintenance at the gravesite of Milton Olive in Ebenezer.

Prior to getting into college football coaching, he played football at SUNY-Plattsburgh and returned to his alma mater, Wallkill High School, to become the head football coach.

 

Koonz holds a bachelor of science degree from SUNY-New Paltz and a master of science degree from Georgia Southern University. 

 

His wife, Patti, is also from Wallkill. They are the parents of one son, Jeffrey, who is currently the linebacker coach at Ole Miss.