Holcombe ready to tackle bigger role
One smudge. Two smudges.
After a streak of black was smeared under each eye, he’d look in the mirror, make a face and give a curt nod once he was satisfied with what he saw.
Keith Holcombe was ready to play some football.
“When he’d walk around the corner, he’d have that look in his eyes of, ‘OK, it’s on, boys. Here we go,’” Hillcrest High School assistant coach OK Bryant said.
Currently in the midst of his 20th season with the Patriots, Bryant was Holcombe’s linebacker coach and defensive coordinator at Hillcrest since Holcombe was a young ninth grader called up to varsity. Bryant still laughs whenever he remembers how his star linebacker’s white jersey was always streaked black by the end of a game.
Now a sophomore at the University of Alabama, Holcombe’s ways have not changed. The 6-foot-4, 227-pound defensive bulldozer still wears his signature eye black. He played a career-best game last weekend against Kent State, recording six total tackles en route to being named a player of the week, all while painted up.
Defensive lineman Jonathan Allen didn’t notice Holcombe’s art, but best believe fellow linebacker Reuben Foster did.
“Oh boy, Keith Holcombe is a whole ’nother animal,” Foster said.
The reasoning behind the paint is simple. Growing up, Holcombe said his father, Danny, always preached, “If you look good, you play good.” There’s no reason to not trust the advice either. Danny played at UA as an offensive lineman under late coach Paul W. “Bear” Bryant from 1980-82.
Besides, Keith Holcombe feels he has to improve his intimidation factor somehow, and the eye black is a start.
Although Holcombe doubts opponents are scared of him, his teammates believe otherwise. Allen doesn’t miss how fast Holcombe flies around any offensive player on his way to the ball. Then, once he does reach his target, Allen thinks Holcombe hits just as hard as Foster, Alabama’s leading tackler.
“I don’t know about that,” Holcombe said. “Reuben’s a freak of an athlete. I try to hit as hard as him, but if I do that I might break my body in half.”
Holcombe has proved he’s unbreakable, though.
At the age of 9, Holcombe was diagnosed with diabetes, and he has refused to let it hinder him.
“Based on how he plays, you couldn’t even tell he has diabetes,” Allen said. “You have to give him a lot of credit. He deserves a lot of credit for that.”
It’s a part of who he is, and there’s no way around it. So, Holcombe mounts his insulin pump underneath his shoulder pads and just plays ball.
Still amazed by this, Bryant only recalls the pump coming out one time during his entire Hillcrest career. Thankfully for Bryant, Holcombe’s mother, Kendra, was there, leaning all the way over the sideline fence to fix her boy up.
“Once the pump came back on, it was like Keith was in la-la land and all of a sudden he was right back with us,” Bryant said. “He came up to me like, ‘Coach Bryant, can I go back in?’”
And Bryant let him.
This is the same boy Bryant would take snack breaks with during practice to make sure his insulin levels stayed balanced – and because Bryant liked the little juice boxes with a straw that his mother packed.
There was a trust built. Keith knew his health, so much so that he was confident enough to pick up another sport collegiately: baseball.
Bryant sees the impact he makes with each decision. He stops at nothing to follow his dreams.
“He’s affecting other people who have that condition or have had an adversity in life,” Bryant said, “proving that they can overcome those things and accomplish everything they want as long as they trust their heart and work hard.”
Right now, Holcombe is in football mode and won’t talk baseball. He acknowledged it’s a challenge being a two-sport athlete, but he knew what he was getting into when he signed up for it. He just feels blessed for the opportunity.
The flip will switch in January. Then, the No. 42 linebacker becomes the No. 18 outfielder.
He’ll still wear eye black, though.