Darnell Holland
Darnell Holland (born November 6, 1996) is an American football running back. He played college football at Kennesaw State. He played for the Philadelphia Stars of the United States Football League (USFL) from 2022 to 2023.
 Holland in 2019 | |||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | November 6, 1996 Bowdon, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Bowdon (GA) | ||||||||
| College: | Kennesaw State | ||||||||
| Position: | Running back | ||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2019 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career USFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com | |||||||||
Early life and education
Holland was born on November 6, 1996, in Bowdon, Georgia. He attended Bowdon High School where he was a two-sport athlete, in football and basketball.[1] As a senior in football, he made 2,123 all-purpose yards and scored 29 touchdowns.[1]
Holland committed to Kennesaw State University where he was a member of their first football team in 2015. As a freshman, he played in all 11 games and was a starter in three. He placed fourth on the roster with 343 rushing yards on 38 carries, an average of 9.0 yards-per-carry. As a sophomore, he started ten of eleven games and made 46 rushes for three touchdowns. In his junior year, Holland started 13 games at running back and ended the year with eight offensive scores. He ran for 727 yards and was seventh in the conference for scoring with 48 total points.[1]
Holland had his best season as a senior, rushing for 949 yards on just 80 carries, an average of 11.9 yards per rush.[2]
Professional career
After going unselected in the 2019 NFL Draft, Holland was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New Orleans Saints.[3] He was waived on May 13.[4]
Holland was selected in the 2020 XFL Draft by the Dallas Renegades but was waived on January 22.[5][6]
Holland was later signed to the XFL's practice squad team, referred to as Team 9, on January 30.[7] He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.[8]
From 2020 to 2021, Holland played for the Generals of The Spring League, winning the league championship in his first season with the team.[9]
Holland was selected in the 27th round of the 2022 USFL draft by the Philadelphia Stars.[10] In his first game with the team he recorded nine carries for 52 yards and scored one touchdown in a loss to the New Orleans Breakers.[11] He suffered a hamstring injury and was transferred to the team's inactive roster on April 30.[12][13] He was moved back to the active roster on May 14.[14]
Holland was placed on the injured reserve list by the team on April 8, 2023,[15] and moved to the inactive roster on May 16.[16] He was released on June 13, 2023.[17]
References
- "Darnell Holland". Kennesaw State Owls.
- Wilson, Ryan (April 25, 2019). "NFL Draft 2019: Kennesaw State's Darnell Holland highlights small-school sleepers you should know". CBS Sports.
- Beall, David (April 27, 2019). "Holland Signs Free Agent Deal with New Orleans Saints". Kennesaw State Owls.
- "Darnell Holland: Waived by Saints". CBS Sports. May 2019.
- Beall, David (October 17, 2019). "Holland Selected by Dallas Renegades in XFL Draft". Kennesaw State Owls.
- "Darnell Holland Transactions". The Football Database.
- Garcia, Art (January 31, 2020). "XFL Unveils 'Team 9'". XFL.
- Condotta, Bob (April 10, 2020). "XFL suspends operations, terminates all employees, but Jim Zorn says he has hopes league will continue". Seattle Times.
- Larsen, James (March 11, 2022). "Three Running Backs Who Are Bound To Tear It Up In The USFL". USFL News Room.
- Camenker, Jacob (February 23, 2022). "USFL Draft tracker: Complete results, rosters for new football league". Sporting News.
- Heilman, Michael (April 18, 2022). "Stars running back Darnell Holland shines in a loss to New Orleans". BGMSportsTrax.
- @USFLStars (April 30, 2022). "Darnell Holland, RB: Out (Hamstring)" (Tweet). Retrieved April 30, 2022 – via Twitter.
- @USFLStars (April 30, 2022). "Transferred to inactive roster" (Tweet). Retrieved April 30, 2022 – via Twitter.
- @USFLStars (May 14, 2022). "Roster Updates" (Tweet). Retrieved May 16, 2022 – via Twitter.
- @USFLStars (April 8, 2023). "Transferred Player to Injured Reserve List" (Tweet). Retrieved April 9, 2023 – via Twitter.
- @USFLStars (May 16, 2023). "Transferred Player to Inactive Roster" (Tweet). Retrieved May 17, 2023 – via Twitter.
- @USFLStars (June 13, 2023). "Released" (Tweet). Retrieved June 14, 2023 – via Twitter.
- "Philadelphia Stars Team Stats". foxsports.com. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
Further reading
- Culpepper, Juliakate E. (October 18, 2018). "Darnell Holland's humility, energy lead Owls' running back room". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- Bednarowski, John (April 25, 2019). "Kennesaw State's Holland hopes to run his way into NFL". Marietta Daily Journal.