Mike Hollis (00:00:00):
Can you make it look so easy? Its kicking must be pretty simple. I’m like, yeah, I make it look easy, but it didn’t, it wasn’t overnight, you know, for that to happen. I worked hard to make that look easy, although yeah, it does look easy because I know what I’m doing, but, it, it took time to get that level. So again, any, any, any profession at any, in any industry really to get to the top of the level of whatever it is you’re doing
Zach Colman (00:00:31):
Welcome everyone to another episode of the brand power analysis podcast. I’m on our show today is, uh, why don’t you just introduce yourself?
Mike’s Journey
Mike Hollis (00:00:40):
Uh, Mike Hollis, uh, the original Jacksonville Jaguars kicker, uh, back from 1995 to 2001. I also kicked for the Buffalo Bills and the New York Giants, and I’m retired in 2004 and now just living the dream loving, loving what I do and, just, uh, focusing on, on, uh, spread my knowledge of the kicking, uh, aspects into the kicking world. Love it.
Zach Colman (00:01:07):
Nice. So why don’t you tell everyone a little bit about your journey, uh, into the NFL and, uh, a little bit about where you’re at now?
Mike Hollis (00:01:15):
Wow. How much time do we have we need? no, it was a, it was a very challenging journey in a way because I, you know, I’m, I’m five foot eight on a good day, 180 pounds. And, you know, I was overlooked by a lot of coaches, and even, my journey going from high school to college was challenging. and again, that was because of my size and I was, I was better than some other guys, at, at the time I was playing against in high school. And, I, it was kind of unfair in my opinion that, that I was overlooked, but, uh, that kind of fueled my fire. You know, it gave me the opportunity, to work harder and prove a lot of people wrong, which I did. You know, I went on to a junior college, played two years at Wenatchee valley college in central Washington, and then was able to, uh, have an opportunity for scholarship, uh, as a walk-on at the University of Idaho.
Mike Hollis (00:02:04):
And so every place I went, whether it was 12 junior college was a scholar scholarship. It wasn’t a whole lot, but, any, you know, the universities that, that had an interest, every one of them, uh, had an interest, but with no scholarship offers. So it was kind of like, it was a gamble. I had to make sure that, you know, I was going to the right place and doing the right things. And so that was a little challenging too, but, taking advantage of that opportunity and internet scholarship at the University of Idaho. And then, now going from Idaho to the NFL, it was, uh, a little bit of a challenge. I, I was, I got on with the chargers in 1994 and, uh, was able to be there in training camp. Uh, the community gets John Carney and, uh, learned a lot. I knew I was going to be just a camp leg going in there and, and, uh, doing my thing and, and learned a lot.
Mike Hollis (00:02:49):
And, and, I grew from that. So it was a great experience for me. And, uh, the next year was when the, uh, Jacksonville franchise, I had opened up also with the Carolina Panthers that same year. And, actually, the charges wanted me to go back to San Diego. And again, I felt it was a better opportunity for me because, at that time, John Carney had gone to the pro bowl in 1994. So, uh, I knew that you know, I was going to be just another camp lag and I wanted to play, you know, so I, I had an opportunity to, uh, to work out for the Jaguars twice actually. you know, that was another thing that I had to battle. It was a hurdle that I had battled before. it was my size, Tom Kauflin didn’t think I was a, you know, some of that, that they wanted to have on their team primarily because of my size.
Mike Hollis (00:03:34):
And, you know, really didn’t matter. It was, it was a matter of how well I can kick a ball. I can understand if I was a punter at five foot eight, you know, having a snap that’s over my head. I’m not tall enough to catch this tap, but I’m a kicker. I don’t need to touch the ball at all. Uh, so I literally had to convince Tom coffin and the Jaguar staff that, that I was worthy of, of a kicker in the NFL at five foot, eight, 180 pounds. And, I think, I, I think I changed the minds of a lot of people in, in the Jacksonville, you know, uh, staff, uh, and most importantly, Tom Kauflin because, uh, later on, as I played, you know, during my years here in Jacksonville, I got credit for 11 tackles on special teams course kickoff. but I know I had more than that because we had some know holding penalties that, uh, that would negate it, those, those tackles that, you know, you’ll never see on the stats, but, I was an athlete I got in there and I did the best I could.
Mike Hollis (00:04:26):
I wasn’t going to be one of those kickers that just kinda, uh, you know, tries to fluff them down or trip them or whatever I got in there. And I, you know, I, I want to make sure that I was, uh, you know, show my teammates and my coaches that I could play football. And, and, and I wasn’t, it, wasn’t just,
Zach Colman (00:04:42):
I see that I, you see that a lot and you see a lot of the commentators laughing about that when, when you see the kickers going and trying to make a dive, sometimes the quarterbacks too, but more so the kickers, I see it all the time and I laugh a little bit because, why don’t you tell people a little bit, because we’re, I was going out with that is my, my dad played, played in the NFL for a very small amount of time. And so when I grew up, I was, I was forced to play, uh, not force. He kind of, you know, he was being a father, but he, uh, he wanted me to play soccer to kind of, you know, get my, my, my foot skills going and he’d do all that before I transitioned into a kicker. So why don’t you tell people a little bit about, uh, because I think a lot of fans in particular, they kind of look at it kicking, is that one thing of, because they don’t see all the background, all the background of all the skills and stuff that kind of are needed for
Mike Hollis (00:05:37):
That. Yeah. That is a position that’s overlooked in that regard, by the armchair quarterbacks of the world, the guys that think that just anybody can do it. uh, and, and, and to be honest, I believe in my opinion that, that a lot of the guys that are playing in the NFL right now, you know, there’s, there are guys out there have really good form. They’re really smooth and they’re good at what they’re doing. but the majority of the athletes in the NFL right now are kickers and are extremely good athletes. I was never going to be an extremely good athlete, you know, I worked hard, but I just didn’t, I wasn’t given that, that incredible gene, like a lot of those guys, were given. And, and not only that they’re, but they’re also bigger, faster, stronger than I ever was or ever will be.
Mike Hollis (00:06:22):
so I had to rely a lot on my technique. And, and again, there’s a lot to do with you think of golf, you know, think out tedious golf can be sometimes, and it’s, it’s kinda the same way with kicking. And, and, the thing that I learned as, as a, as a kicker in the NFL is I really was able to focus on my form and technique more so than actually making the kick, which kind of sounds kind of strange people ask me like that, how would you deal with a mentally? I was, it was really hard and Elliot, yeah, it was, it was challenging. It’s, it’s mentally, physically, and mentally difficult. because you’re kicking you’re, you’re playing a sport at the highest level in the world, in a position that, uh, you got one chance to make the kick.
Mike Hollis (00:07:05):
It’s not like baseball, where you get, you know, four, four balls and three strikes. You got one chance to kick that football and make it so, and, and, and what’s worse it is actually expected of you every time. So, especially at that level and especially playing for the gala, Tom Kauflin, there was no mediocrity that you can’t, you cannot be complacent. It was, it was, they expected perfection day in and day out. And again, I agree. I, I believe that 100%, and I expect that of myself as well. so there’s a lot of work that, that, that goes into a technique that you, you have to, you know, get to the ability to be able to trust. you have to actually, you know, incorporate that technique into what you’re doing. And the biggest part about kicking in my opinion is, is what I said before.
Results-Driven Kicker
Mike Hollis (00:07:51):
You can’t care about the results. If you’re a result-driven kicker, you’re going to now rely on your athletic ability to steer that ball for the uprights. And I never had, I can’t say never when I was younger, I did, but not until I started learning this. Pro-form kicking technique from a guy by the name of Jim Gitano. who’s now my, you know, he’s my coach here at the facility where we coach, he taught me this, this way of kicking, where it kind of requires trust. It requires trust in the technique and, and, and actually it made it a lot easier because I was able to dumb down the process a lot easier than a lot of guys that were just athletically steering up all. And the other thing too, about those kinds of guys, is that when they get into a slump, which we’re all going to have, what was their answer to their slump, they didn’t really have much of a foundation to fall back on.
Mike Hollis (00:08:39):
So other than just athletically, just trying to, oh, I gotta, I gotta kick it harder maybe next time, or what are, they really don’t know what to do sometimes. So at least in my case with the technique and stuff that I worked on and tried to perfect, on a daily basis, I’ll put it that way. because there, it was very difficult to, I don’t even know what to be honest with. I’ve never had a perfect kick in my entire life, as far as being as close as perfect, I could, I can tell you I was 99.9% as close as perfect as I could be on some kicks, but that’s the challenge is that you know, even learning this, this technique and getting better, you’re still trying, you know, striving for that perfection. But, even in the process of doing this stuff, you’re still getting good.
Mike Hollis (00:09:21):
And that’s kind of, even my first couple of years in the NFL, I was still learning this technique and, you know, and it finally caught on and, and things were, were, were easier at that point. And it makes it easier to dumb, dumb things down. And, and again, that has a lot to do with the mental stress as well, if you’re able to, to dumb down the situation and make it less stressful, absolutely. A hundred percent. Why, why add some more stress and, and, you know, to your plate, really, as far as, you know, having more pressure on yourself, you’re going to get pressure from the team, you know, the coaches, the players, the fans too, clearly the fans, but again, it’s, it’s your job and, and you know what you’re doing, they don’t know what you’re doing. You, you deal, you know, you know what you’re doing. So as long as you can trust what you’re doing on a day in day out basis, and just focus on positive things and, and, good things will start to happen. And, and that’s, that’s kinda the name of the game really for me.
Zach Colman (00:10:13):
Yeah. I think that’s something that I’ve, I’ve kind of, uh, working with, working with athletes that I’ve kind of seen, from that outside perspective and nothing against my Atlanta Falcons, but I think that that’s kind of showcases kind of some of those losses that you get from when you, when you felt from behind and stuff like that is, and it happens in the, in the business world too. I mean, you kind of over you overthink stuff. And so when you overthink stuff, it, you put too much pressure on yourself. And when you put too much pressure on yourself, productivity actually lacks more than it. It seeds. And I think that a lot of fans don’t see that when it comes to especially being a kicker, because like I always say, when I watch it again, I’m like, man, everyone thinks that every fan that watches tickers out there playing, they think that the kickers have it easy. Cause they’re only out there for a couple of days. I’m like, but listen like usually those kicks are crunch time. It’s that, it’s that extra point that the team loses by then they’ll look back and they say, oh, well, they lost by one point, it’s all because that miss or they need that extra three points to win the game and over time or at the end of the game. And, and that, that must be, that must be something that’s really hard, to wrap your head around. What would you agree with that?
Mike Hollis (00:11:30):
Uh, it is definitely to the average person that wants to treat it that way, but if you can kind of trick your brain into thinking that every kick is the same, why would a 51-yard game-winning kick me any different than a, then a 30-yard kick? The beginning of the game? There’s, there’s no difference why I don’t need to treat that kid any differently than I would. in, in any other circumstance or situation. That’s the thing too is if you’re, if you, if you look at the results or the consequences of your actions on the field, if you look at the results or the consequences of what you’re about to do, then that’s going to put pressure on yourself. But if you just treat it like just, just another day, just you’ve done that same kick a million times.
Mike Hollis (00:12:16):
Why would you do that? Kick any different? And that’s a lot of times what kickers get in trouble with is ultimately second-guessing themselves, and I did, I was a victim of it as well. My first, a year and a half or so. I wasn’t thinking this certain way. And Brian Barker, who was the punter for the Jaguars, he told me one day. So listen, Mike, you don’t, you have to think about this on game day. When you walk on the field and game day, the field is still 120 yards long, clearly a hundred yards without the end zones. Uh, the goalposts are still 18 feet, six inches wide. the field is the same. The hashes are the same. There’s absolutely 100% nothing different about the field on game day than our practice field. On any other day, everything is the same with the exception of, yeah, you’re in a stadium now, you got people watching you now.
Mike Hollis (00:13:03):
Yeah. And now it matters, but that, that shouldn’t change what you do. So in other words, don’t, don’t do anything more on game day then, than you think you need to do, because there’s no reason to. Why would you, why would you try to try harder on game day it’s actually if anything, I would think about trying less in a, in a way that more relaxed and confident because you got the adrenaline of the, of the game it’s, you know, it’s game day, you know, there are fans watching, you know, there are TV cameras everywhere. You know, there are probably millions of people watching on TV, but that, that, that in itself will add that excitement. So you don’t need any extra excitement you need to actually just be calm and, and, and, and allow and trust your form and technique and everything you’ve worked so hard to do. Let that do your work for you on game day. It’s really that simple.
Zach Colman (00:13:52):
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that that, that goes for, I, I think it’s funny that you say that because one of the reasons I got into this field is because I saw such a connection with, with, uh, playing, uh, you know, playing sports and playing in the NFL and stuff like that, too. It’s a business and how it relates so much. And I think that all, a lot of people from the outside world, not just watching sports for PR, but from the business perspective, they don’t see the value in other things. And I think it’s just because, because they, they don’t do that for a living, you know? So there’s so much stuff out there now saying, oh, I’ll get this for this, or do this for this. And it acts like it’s easy when in reality, that’s, that’s kind of downplaying it. That’s not how it works in football or, or business. I mean, they don’t see no one sees how many kicks, like how many average kicks Steve, would you say during training that you would do? Let’s just say on a weekly basis.
Ten Thousand Hour Rule
Mike Hollis (00:14:51):
Oh boy. I really don’t know, honestly, if I kick more than, you know, 30 or 40 balls a day in a, in a, say a, uh, four, four day practice week and a clear game day, I’m going to kick it a lot more than that. But, you know, not, not a whole lot and a lot, probably a lot less than you might think. Uh, but again, I was different. I didn’t, I didn’t need to kick a lot. and, and, and, but, but on the other hand with my technique and form, the way I kick, I could kick for hours, I, I didn’t have a problem with it. And, that’s where there’s a lot of guys out there talking about kick counts and things like that. And, and you mentioned some earlier about working hard and that’s, that’s one thing too, is that you’re right.
Mike Hollis (00:15:27):
People don’t see the hard work that you put in and the dedication and, and, and being a team player as a kicker, I did all the running and everything that, all that the team did actually more, you know, Brian bark and I, we would do a lot of our conditioning. And then at the end of practice, the team would run as a team, and guess what? Tickers and punters were out there running as well. So again, we’ll probably work a little bit harder now, clearly we’re not out there running plays in the, in the middle of August and September and Jacksonville where it’s a hundred degrees, but we’re still working hard. And I think that you know, at that level, when you get to a level of any success of, of any industry, whatever it might be, you, you you’ve put work in to get to that level.
Mike Hollis (00:16:04):
Don’t, don’t let anybody tell you. You have not. clearly they see, and especially in my position where I’m kicking and I say, you know, I’ve, I’ve heard this too. Like, Mike, you make it look so easy. Gosh, its kicking must be pretty simple. I’m like, yeah, I make it look easy, but it didn’t, it wasn’t overnight, uh, you know, for that to happen, I worked hard to make that look easy, although yeah, it does look easy because I know what I’m doing,, it, it took time to get to that level. So again, any, any, any profession at any, in any industry really to get to the top of the level of whatever it is you’re doing, you, you got to put work in it. Everything was the CEOs of the world were, were making millions of dollars. If anybody could do it, everybody would be doing it. Why wouldn’t you want to earn a million dollars a year if it was that easy, that gap, but people don’t look at it that way? They’ll lay down.
Zach Colman (00:16:55):
Look it, I mean, I think it’s funny when you, when, when I’ll be out watching a game or doing something and someone will bring up like, you know, a player and be like, oh, well he has millions. And like, they, they earn too much or this and that. And it’s like, yes, every field is different with the way that the money works and how much you make. But, but at the end of the day, it’s the same thing I see with a lot of these Facebook ads and stuff out now, out now with businesses and saying, oh, we’ll help your business grow with this with only a hundred dollars a month or $200 a month. Like, what are you doing? I mean, that’s, that’s not even enough to work for three hours a month. I’m like, what you think you’re going to get here with three?
Zach Colman (00:17:30):
And I feel like it kind of puts businesses in a perspective of, I actually think it’s a disservice to businesses because what it does is it makes them think mentality, oh, I can make millions off of just spending $300 a month when it’s like, no, every business is like an athlete. You have to train hard. It’s, it’s a team sport. You have to work the right people. You have to, there are lots of systems in place. So, so I think that’s a good lesson for people is to kind of learn that, Hey, yeah, you don’t have to spend, there are going to be people out there that try to take your money or, you know, try to leverage you or use you in a wrong way. But, uh, I do agree with you. I do agree with you that there is a lot of hard work and whenever you and whatever you do, but that said like, so how do you feel, when you got close to the end of your career, what made you decide to open your business? And you can talk a little bit about that. And, and what, how hard was that transition into the business world?
Mike Hollis (00:18:26):
Starting with that last question? it was difficult. It was, it was not what I thought it was going to be. and primarily because it, you know, there there’s, it when it stops, it stops. And you don’t, you don’t associate really with the, with the guys that, you know, one day you were in the locker room, hanging out and talking and having a goal time, you know, playing on the same field and, you know, sweat, blood, and tears and, and the next day you’re not. and so you kind of have to look within yourself and, and the thing, the thing that a lot of people don’t realize, as well as the longer you play in the NFL, the more obsolete your college degree or your, whatever, your, your, your skills, where before the more obsolete they become, having played, you know, basically nine, 10 years, you know, away from my degree in college, I couldn’t use that degree.
Mike Hollis (00:19:11):
I mean, yeah, it might look good on a resume, but I would probably have to go back and get certified. And you think about the peers that you went to school with, who, you know, 10 years after graduating the same time you did, they’re in the middle of their, their careers doing probably just fine with their degrees, whereas I’m kind of starting all over. So that is it’s difficult because people don’t realize that, but then again, you’ve got all the money in the world, you know, you can just put that money in the bank and earn interest and live on that. And like, yeah, no, I was the kicker. And, you know, I was in the timeframe when kickers were starting to get paid pretty well, but now, now these guys are getting all kinds of money, but, then again, you know, so it, it’s a little bit of a challenge and, and, and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.
Mike Hollis (00:19:52):
So I, there was a good, I guess I retired in 2004, but I didn’t start this academy until 2007 because I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do. I had some time to kind of think about it. It wasn’t like financially. I was, I was desperate for, for money and work at that time. But, all in all, honesty I have to work. It’s, this is what people, well, how’s it like being retired? Well, I retired from the sport, but I’m not retired, from life. I do work. I do, you know, I have this thing that I’m doing. And, and, and that’s really where I’m going with this whole kicking academy is that I was extremely passionate about kicking in the NFL and just playing and just challenging myself, to be the best that I could be. And the other thing too, about the stuff, that I was working on and the technique that I was using in the NFL it’s different than most.
Mike Hollis (00:20:41):
And so, the, the example of me playing nine years in the NFL, you know, going to a pro bowl, the NFL and scoring in 1997, kicking a 59-yard field goal in a game, in a dome. All of that, I’m not, I’m not saying that to impress you. I’m saying that to impress upon you, that I did that at five foot eight on a really good day and 180 pounds. I was a small guy and I was able to achieve a lot of cool things. And again, it wasn’t because I was extremely athletic and big and freakishly strong and all that. I was very average as an athlete. I’m very envelope average as far as size is concerned, but I didn’t want people to tell me what I could and couldn’t do. And so I, that was a challenge for me. So I developed a passion for kicking and I developed a very big passion for kicking the way I do.
Mike Hollis (00:21:28):
And because I know it works. I know that if somebody like me, an average athlete can do what I did. I know that anybody can do that. And so that’s where it leads me back to where I was talking about before most of the athletes, most, most of the kickers in the NFL right now are very good athletes. They’re extremely athletic. They’re strong, they’re big, they’re faster, you name it. And they got good at certain techniques. They did. But even though what they’re doing, I think that they’d be even better doing it the way I’m teaching it. That’s not to say that, what they’re doing is wrong. I’m just saying based on my personal experience, as a, as an average athlete and five foot eight on 180 pounds, I did things that you guys that are big, strong, freakish, athletic are doing now. you know, they got strong legs, don’t get me wrong, but, there’s something to say about, uh, the technique that I’ve used.
Mike Hollis (00:22:14):
And, and, and that’s where my passion really is. So again, going back to this, the pro from kicking academy that I’m doing now, I just, I have a passion for teaching it because of how well it worked for me. and, and, and the guys that really commit to it and understand it and know it, you’ll, you’ll hear them like quickly after they finally have that first kick that they were just like, wow, that felt so different. And so good. that’s when they finally realized that, yeah, you know, he knows what he’s talking about. That’s, this is good stuff. And then it becomes more of an addiction. Yeah. Call it a passion if you want, but it’s more of an addiction, uh, to this kicking style. And, and, it’s so, so rewarding as a coach and as a person, uh, as a mentor to see those kinds of, uh, things happening to the kids that we’re working with. And, and, you know, every year we’d have kids getting scholarships at certain schools, and it’s, it’s really cool to see that. And I’m happy for those guys cause they’ve worked really hard.
Zach Colman (00:23:08):
Yeah, no, definitely. How were you able to handle that? Uh, the challenges of that transition?
Mike Hollis (00:23:15):
Well, you know, it’s a room for him to live after football or the actual okay. Yeah. It’s it, again, I’m, I’m more of a, I, wasn’t more of a goal setter per se. So people say, well, what are your goals? Well, you know, my goals are to do the best I can day in and day out under the circumstances that I’m given, because, you know, I, I don’t, yeah, there’s long-term goals. People like to have, these goals and dreams of being somebody or being something or reaching a certain level of something that is always there, but those are not the most important goals for me. At least my most important goal for me is to do the best that I can. And day in and day out on the circumstance I’m given. And every day I look myself in the mirror and if I can truly, and honestly tell myself that I did the best I could, under those circumstances, today, maybe today wasn’t a great day, but I did the best I could then I’m okay with that.
Mike Hollis (00:24:09):
Do you know? So again, I think people get a little bit discouraged if they don’t reach certain goals. And I think that’s, that’s just a negative, to begin with. Like, Y you know, you fail, oh, I failed the goal. Like I didn’t really fail the goal because I did the best I could under the circumstances I was given. I’m not making excuses. I’m just saying clearly, I don’t know if I could have done that any differently. so again, there are always trials and errors to things, and there’s always going to be a failure. but I’m not gonna ever let failure define me as a person. So what it is in this transition between life after football and, you know, the actual playing the game, and now the real world, I’m doing the same stuff mentally. I’m, uh, I’m treating life the same as I did when I was playing football.
Mike Hollis (00:24:47):
Like I want to do the best I can every day, you know, under the circumstance, I’m given and, let the, let the cards fall where they may, and I’m okay with that. some people think differently. They, they, you know, clearly I want to be successful and yeah, money’s great. But for those people who think that money is everything promise you, it’s not, I had, I had money. I had lots of money back in the day when I was playing. And, and it’s, it’s, it actually adds more stress because with more money, a lot of times you have more responsibilities and more toys and more things and be more this and more of that. And it becomes more of a burden, to be honest with you. So, more money really is not the key, happy life is, is what I’m looking for. And I have, I’m a very happy, optimistic kind of person, and I do the best I can, and I enjoy what I’m doing and I love helping others do the same.
Zach Colman (00:25:35):
Yeah. I think a lot of people preach that. And I think, I think in business, it’s very similar. You have to kind of find your passion as you did, and kind of have to, make sure you’re happy while you’re doing it because there’s going to be a lot of failures. and as you go through those failures, you are going to have, I call it that I call, I tell my wife, I just call it the business depression, because I feel like one day I’ll just be depressed. I, there’s no reason why. And I’m like, and I’ll know I’ll be fine tomorrow. but because you have these goals, you have to set in mind and you’re most of the time you, you don’t pass those bulls, but you learn from those goals as you said, so next time you do that goal, or next time you pass that goal, you’ll do better.
Zach Colman (00:26:17):
But then you look past the whole year and you look at those, those goals that you’ve done. And you’re like, well, I’m actually doing a lot better than I was, you know, a year ago, I got a lot more done than I thought. So sometimes too, it’s, it’s the whole aspect of slow down, you know, slow down and, and you’re going to have these bowls, but if you don’t perceive get, get past these goals on time, just know that you’re always trying to do better. As long as you’re trying to do better grow as a person and grow as a business owner. you’re, you should be, you should be just fine. and I think that’s where we come back to our original point where people want things fast. They, they see so many gurus out there and so many, like make million dollars by next year and do this. And it, at the end day, it’s like, they’re only making a million dollars because they’re tricking you to think you can make a million dollars, you know, how it really works in the real world. so, uh, you talked a little bit about your business a little bit, so why don’t you get in, why don’t you get into a little more deeply into, your passion and why you opened that business in general?
Mike Hollis (00:27:23):
Well, I mean, it’s, it’s like I said before, it’s, it’s really where, where I stood in the things that I’ve accomplished at, at my stature, you know, that, that average athlete, that was never going to be real big freakishly athletic and strong.
Zach Colman (00:27:37):
I put it a two by the way, I’m five foot eight too, by the way.
Achieving Greatness
Mike Hollis (00:27:43):
But yeah, but yeah, I mean, it’s, it’s because I was able to achieve something that a lot of people thought I couldn’t. and, and not to say that I, I didn’t think I could. And that was the stance I took back in the day, even getting my road to the NFL was when, when I’m learning this technique and this form I wanted to get as good. And this is what I tell my kids all the time was like, we, we are, we want you to understand that we want to give you the option or the ability to get to the level of success that you specifically, you are capable of getting if it happens to be the NFL, that that’s great, that’s just icing on the cake, but what you’ll never know, unless you, you, you, you get to that level of, of success that you can get to.
Mike Hollis (00:28:27):
whereas a lot of, a lot of guys think differently. They think they’re, they’re, they’re, they’re striving so hard to get the NFL and they’re working on the wrong stuff and they wonder why they haven’t made it there yet. but again, that’s what I’m teaching with the, with the style of coaching we’re doing and the technique and things like that. We have mastered the abilities to get kids to be the best that they can be, regardless of their athletic ability and whatever level. And that’s, that was my stance. I never had a dream of playing in the NFL. When I went to college, my junior college, and went on to Idaho, I was thinking, you know, I was able to play in college. That’s great. You know, I’m going to do the best that I can in college. And I’m going to, I’m going to challenge myself to be the best kicker I can be and whatever level of success I can get that. That’s great. So that’s another way of thinking about things with where we’re at. And again, we have a lot of kids too, and these days and times that, you know, and you’ve probably heard it before where these kids are, you know, they, they won’t consider a division three or division two scholarship offers. They won’t even look at it. [inaudible]
Mike Hollis (00:29:33):
and they’re very prideful and maybe they have reasons to be, maybe they don’t. the parents are really proud of their kids. The coaches are influencing these kids to like, oh yeah. You’re Done Done. So all they’re hearing is D one this whole time. Well, maybe they’re not division one level, you know, caliper kid. So they’re passing up on all these free education scholarships, call it what you want it at other schools that are just as good academically, sometimes better than a lot of the division one schools, you know, just as good, uh, athletically and there, in their sports programs as some of the, uh, division one schools out there. But these kids want that division one label. And they’re going to end up sitting on the bench, riding the pine for two or three years at that division one school that they had to walk onto.
Mike Hollis (00:30:16):
So, which one would you rather do? Would you rather go to a division two or three universities of Idaho is division one AA? Was I too prideful for that? Heck no. I was honored to have an opportunity to get a division one AA scholarship, and I did, and that was great, you know, but some kids, think differently. They, they, they, they, and unfortunately it could be coming from different tons of different directions. Like I said before, the parents, uh, their, their peers, their own, their own friends, telling them how great they are. there is a, there is a sense of humbleness you’ve gotta have to, to be able to kind of be realistic about yourself and where you think you can get and how good you are at what levels you can play. and you don’t want to, last thing you want to do is miss out on an opportunity for a free scholarship. So again, I think that’s, the mindset of these kids sometimes gets in the way. but as long as you’re focused on getting yourself to the best, you can just let the cards fall where they may and, and be happy with the work that you put in to do that. And that’s, that’s really something that, that people need to think about.
Zach Colman (00:31:17):
I think that’s interesting that you say that because one thing that I always tell, college kids and people that are thinking about either going to college or they think they just want to go on and start opening their own business, or you’re a lot of people out there saying you don’t need to go to college to, you know, to make millions of millions of dollars to open your own business. And in my sense, I always said, Hey, colleges, aren’t there for you too, I mean, it’s, I think it goes the same for grades. Everyone goes, oh, I’m just striving for that day. I’m just striving for that aid and reality leverage college too. They’re really trying to teach you to teach yourself. That’s really what colleges are trying to do. So as you grow older, you can go, oh, I need to learn this.
Zach Colman (00:31:59):
I can learn this and you can push it on yourself to learn it. And I think what you just said is a golden opportunity for student-athletes to look at and say, Hey, I can go to the D one school and, and there, their mindset is, oh, I’m going to be done. I’m really good. I, you know, can, uh, the S the, the sponsors and the co the agents will find me easier if I’m at [inaudible] reality. It’s like, what you should be doing is if you have a D two school or D three, that’s going to actually put you on the field where you can actually be, you know, a starter has more time in front of the fans that are watching you kick and be able to build that. Cause you said, you see a lot of these tickers come in. And, and the ones that I think flop are the ones, that, as you said, put too much pressure on themselves.
Zach Colman (00:32:47):
And a lot of that comes through, they didn’t teach themselves to, like you said, to really be able to handle themselves and stuff like that. So that’s, that’s some good advice is, you know, try to look at it more as, Hey, I’m really here to my goal is really to teach myself to be better. I’m not, you know, people that make it to the NFL, or, you know, to the Canadian or to, you know, maybe it’s just, you know, arena or something like that. It’s, it’s the whole aspect of, Hey, they didn’t, they didn’t just stop at high school and just say, being done for the next five years until I get in the NFL, they kept learning and improving and growing. So I think that that’s, that’s some good advice is, is, you know, look at your opportunities and, and, and try to think about it in more of a way of how am I going to continue growing as I try to reach my goal. So, so with that said, with that transition and, and going a little bit further past the college aspect, what makes you think that you being an athlete yourself and going through that transition and us talking a little bit about how, how the athletics side relates to the business side a little bit, how do you, why do you think athletes, in general, make potential good business owners?
Mike Hollis (00:34:10):
Well, I think, the first and probably the most important answer I would give you is as us, as our, our drive for perfection. I mean, if I’m a business owner, I want, I want it to be top-notch. I want it to be as good as I can get it. And as far as work ethic is concerned, you know, you, you have to understand guys that get to NFL level. Like we talked about before, it’s not something they just woke up one day and now they’re an NFL player. They worked their butts off to be there. And I did as well clearly, but, you know, being, getting to that level, the the road to getting to the NFL and, and then maintaining that as well is, is very, very challenging. And it’s rewarding because you know, how much work you’ve put in there, uh, to get to that level and then to maintain that level as long as you could possibly do.
Mike Hollis (00:35:02):
Of course. so I think that that is, is it, it boils right back down into the real world mentality where, I, I, you know, again, I, I catch myself being a little, biased in a sense that, you know, I like to do things on my own because not that I don’t trust when other people do it, clearly, there are people that know a lot more about a lot more other stuff than I do. And I’m not gonna, I’m not going to be the one that to try to overrule them. And I’m, I’m definitely, you know, I know where I stand when it comes to certain professions and expertise, I’m not going to challenge anybody when they’re experts at they do. but there are certain things in life that if you want to be done yourself, you know, you’re gonna do it good because you know that you’ve done it yourself.
Mike Hollis (00:35:45):
And with business in general, I think that even like employers, I think that they would, would, would, would really prefer, or, or would be ecstatic if they had a former professional football player applying for their position, whatever that might be, because clearly the mindset, the work ethic and, and, and the responsibility, I think is, is something that, that stands out in, in guys, because we know what it took to get to that level. And I’ve told people this too, and it’s hard to say because I don’t want people to think differently about me, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for people sometimes. And especially these days, because there’s a, there’s this mindset of entitlement maybe, and, and kind of things that should be coming easier to people and things like that. And nothing came easy to me, nothing, nothing ever came easy to me.
Mike Hollis (00:36:36):
I worked very hard for everything that I’ve gotten. And I, that’s why I don’t feel sorry for people who complain about certain things. It’s like, you know, if you knew how important it was, you know, for you as an individual, if it wasn’t important for you as an individual, you’d work hard and you, you’d be prideful in achieving what you’ve done. And that’s the other thing too, I’ll add on as a business owner, being a former athlete as a business owner is the fact that I get a lot of success and, and, and, and, and, and comfort, and knowing that, uh, I’ve done well for other people. And in the business I am in, it’s a service business. I’m, I’m teaching kids how to kick footballs the best that they could possibly do it. And it’s very rewarding. I I’ve, I felt that I’ve succeeded.
Becoming a Better Person
Mike Hollis (00:37:18):
it is, it’s a very comforting feeling to know that I felt people out. And again, it’s because I know how much work it took me to get to a certain level. And these kids are following those same sort of footsteps and, and working hard to achieve whatever they can achieve. And you got to give them a lot of credit for working hard and, and trusting what I’m telling them to do. And, you know, that’s, that’s, the thing too is, is, is as a, as a business owner, regardless of what profession you’re in, you, you got to push your employees, you got to push people in general and, and, and, and get the best out of them. And that’s, that’s not for your benefit. It’s for their benefit. You want them to know how good they can be. And I’m telling you, get that.
Mike Hollis (00:37:59):
I was talking about the human brain is much more powerful than you think that’s true. Human brain is much more powerful than you think. You, you, you are so much more, uh, you have so many more abilities than you can possibly imagine. but, it takes that person to challenge those abilities, to understand that they can actually do them. If you’re not going to challenge yourself, in certain abilities or whatever it is you’re doing, you’ll never know how good you’re going to be. So take risks, and have failures. It’s okay. We all have them. It’s going to happen as part of life.
Zach Colman (00:38:29):
Yeah, it’s, it’s in, uh, I, it’s funny in this day of social media, I, I’m a millennial and I do social media for my, for my players and for all my clients and stuff like that. But it’s funny, cause I’m kind of, I’m a millennial, I’m at the very beginning of a millennial as Garney five, but I’ve never taken a selfie in my life. I’ve never been one to, you know, have that mentality of, uh, I think I was, I’m an introvert. I was an introvert and I had to push myself to be an extrovert. Once I started growing my business as part of the game and trying to help people. And I, I, I think that it’s really hard with how social media has been pushed to that. Cause I’m very similar to you in that aspect. I, you know, I worked really hard.
Zach Colman (00:39:14):
I, you know, I made it through college and I went into the corporate world for a few years before I finally went out on my own and you get a different mentality when you own a business. And one of the reasons I started working with athletes because I saw some similarities in how, like you were just saying, you’re, you’re trying to help people like in football, your, your goal is to make fans happy at the end of the day. That’s your big goal. And, and yes, there are other things behind it. Well, should we, we don’t have to talk about, but, but it’s the same as business and your, your goal is to make your clients happy. And I forgot where I was kind of going with this a little bit, but, uh, I feel like, like you just said, it’s, it’s it, I I’m that same way when I kind of see certain people, there’s always going to be different people that, you know, they have bad circumstances and it happens, but I think social media has pushed this whole thing where people want gratification for, for things that they’ve done.
Zach Colman (00:40:13):
And, and yes, it’s great that people do that stuff. And I don’t mind giving you praise as long as you’re learning from the positives and the negatives and pushing forward and trying to grow from those situations. And, and I don’t, I don’t talk about this that much, but I used to, you know, I, I was a big partier. I used to drink a lot in college and I got to the 0.1 days where I just said, you know, I’m not drinking anymore. I just don’t. I just don’t want to. And, and, and I, I see it about, that’s been about eight years now. And I see now that, you know, it was my choice to do that. And yes, there are certain things that can lead to depression and certain things that lead to anxiety. But I overcame, I personally overcame a lot and I personally pushed myself through hard hardships.
Zach Colman (00:40:59):
And I think that everyone, it wasn’t until I realized that every human being is different. Everyone goes through hard points and yes, some of those hard points for somebody may seem less. I mean, me growing up, I grew up in it’s funny, my wife is from a smaller town. She grew up in a really good house environment. Mine was fine, was all right. but I went through a lot of hardships when I was in high school and college, a lot of stuff that you don’t see a lot of people going through. And so I learned from those mistakes fast, you know, I learned from them young. And so when I see someone now that is like, you know, 35, 46 and, and you know, something, let’s just say, they had something that I dealt with when I was 15, 16. I don’t look at them and say, and judge them for it.
Zach Colman (00:41:48):
I look at them and I say, Hey, you know what, with their mentality and who they are as a person, that’s hard for them just like me going through something. This is hard for me right now. Yes. It is from different perspectives, mine might seem harder or theirs might seem harder, but that’s why everyone’s different. It’s just the fact of learning from it, growing from it and trying to become a better person and trying to still be part of this huge community. So, uh, I’m getting off subject a little bit here, but I totally agree with you on, I totally agree with you on that. I think that I think that as, as students and as college kids, and even as athletes, they go, when they make that transition into business, are they going to make that transition outside of the game and doing a career from it need to need to learn that and really understand the aspects of it’s hard, it’s a grind, learn from your mistakes and, and just keep going.
Zach Colman (00:42:38):
I mean, with everything that’s happened this year, you know, I think everyone’s had an impact and that’s the, just the thing there. Everyone has had an impact. So I don’t go out and complain about it. I just say you know what, I’m just going to dive in and do the best I can with the situation. I’ve put forth it, you know? And, uh, it’s hard, but I think that we can all learn from that and just kind of try our best to move on and, and, and not move on, but learn from it and grow. as we all go through society together,
Mike Hollis (00:43:11):
Uh, one thing that people don’t realize, and what I’ve found is that you know, what, if you fail that something, what, what, what, what option do you have at that point? You can quit or try harder or try to fix whatever it is, or learn from it or whatever, but it’s, it’s very easy to quit. So I always look at it like whether what other option do I have quitting really is not an option because especially if you’ve committed to something, you know, and, and especially if you have other people that are relying on you for something quitting is clearly not an option. So when you are in these real-life struggles like we are all are today with COVID and everything going on in this world is this whole presidential, you know, uh, going crazy, this nation is becoming divided. And, and you know, you, you have no other option.
Mike Hollis (00:43:58):
We’ve got to make things better. So you know that you know, when people start feeling sorry for themselves or, or things, aren’t going their way. And that’s where I was going to that whole entitlement part is like these entitled individuals. If they do not succeed at something, they are the first ones to give up because they think, well, someone else will take care of it, or someone else will do something I don’t need to do again. It’s like, you are responsible for yourself and believe it or not, you make the world a better place. If you’re a better person, I do the best I can under the circumstances and any situation that I’m in, I want to be, on the high road of things I want, I want to be the guy that opens the door. I don’t want to be the guy that looks at people weird, or I’m not that person.
Mike Hollis (00:44:43):
I’m a happy person. I want people to, you know, love life and have fun with life and learn from some things, whether they’re mistakes or failures or whatever, we’re always learning about stuff. So there’s, there’s, there’s no, there’s nothing different there. You can’t do anything different. You have to learn from things. And you’re either going to learn in a good way or a bad way. And that’s up to them to make that choice. And I’m telling you, the happier people in this world are ones who have learned in a positive way from their mistakes, or learn from failures or learn from whatever. That was a negative thing that they’ve turned into a positive. Those are the happy people, the people that are sad and depressed and entitled and upset and grumpy and angry all the time. Those are the ones that have never really challenged themselves. That’s the opinion I have about people. Wow.
Zach Colman (00:45:29):
I mean, it kind of makes sense. Of my, one of my last podcasts, we were kind of talking a lot about, uh, she was an MMA fighter and she was talking a lot about meditation. And I thought that was, I thought that was a very interesting subject because you think of fighting, you don’t think of meditation, but she uses meditation on a daily and that’s helped her a lot. So I think that that goes back to working on yourself and kind of just, you know, and I, and I think it’s hard too because even with the positive stuff comes, I mean, I’m, I’m guilty of this all the time. You know, you know, I’m trying to be happy. I’m trying to do this. And certain things still get you down sometimes. And you sometimes put too much pressure on yourself when you start, you know, start doing stuff.
Zach Colman (00:46:11):
And that’s always been my downfall, putting too much pressure on myself and my wife already. I feel like, listen, you’re doing great, fine. You have a family. I mean, we’re stable. So remember that stuff is still there. And I’m like, you’re right. I have to look back and I have to think about that stuff. so we talked about some of the greats and I think you kind of answered the next question. What are some of the struggles athletes make as business owners? Do you want to elaborate, maybe elaborate on that a little bit more on more of the, we’ll say that not the negative, but the struggles that athletes may go through as they’re kind of pushing themselves in and into the business world?
Mike Hollis (00:46:52):
Well, the first struggle that I found personally is what is it that I want to do, you know, I think teams are doing better with that. You know, they’re, they’re, uh, player programs, people they’ve kind of, you know, uh, understood that it is a challenge for guys when they retire. So they’re trying to prepare guys better for retirement. We didn’t have a lot of that help back when I was playing, but I think if I was better prepared and knew what it was I wanted to do, it would be, uh, it would have been a much easier transition for me. So I think that’s the first battle a lot of guys have is like, what do I do now? I, I really don’t know what I want to do. What can I do? And, and, and, and when you, of, of, of failures in, in the business rule from, from former athletes, the first thing that comes to my mind is, is their expectations.
Mike Hollis (00:47:38):
And I was kind of a victim of it as well, uh, with regards to what I thought like, Hey, you know, that’s why I came back to Jacksonville. I thought, well, because I grew up in Washington state and I’m like, okay, well, I kinda want y’all was I spent seven years as a Jaguar kicker. I think people would know me. It was, it was a good business decision for me to come back to the area that, that, that people kind of knew of me. Yes. People knew it’d be back in Washington state and everything, but I felt that I had more business opportunities here just because of my name and recognition, that wasn’t necessarily true. It wasn’t. And I was a little surprised, like, wow, you know, it’s like, I feel like, you know, people know me and, you know, they’ll, they’ll come to me because of who I am and that’s, that’s not necessarily the case.
Mike Hollis (00:48:17):
And so I think guys, you know, and, and I, I clearly admitted that I was a victim of it as well. And I think guys get this, this persona and this mentality that, you know, oh, everyone knows me and know they’ll buy my product because of who I am. I learned the hard way. It, is not like that. A lot of times they really don’t care if you’re not playing football anymore is, is, is, is sad. Is this to say, if you’re not playing football anymore and you’re not in the limelight anymore, there are a lot of people out there that it’s okay. It’s cool that you just, you know, okay, you’re an average Joe. Now. So again, it doesn’t, it doesn’t work on that. That’s one thing that, that the expectation level, that former professional athletes might have towards the success of what they think they’re going to have with their business.
Mike Hollis (00:49:00):
Sometimes that can be a negative thing. They can be thrown off guard or surprised kind of like, I wasn’t in a sense that I figured I’d have a lot more business. And I, I really, haven’t not, not to say it was an entitlement move, but it’s kind of like, well, you know, you feel like there should be a little bit of sense of like, I’m going to go with him because, you know, you played this, but again, I’m not, if I’m trying to be a doctor and I walk in a, in an interview and I have nothing on my resume to say that I know anything about being a doctor, clearly, I’m not going to get that job as a doctor. So, you know, there’s, there’s a lot of trust in businesses. And, and, I think that there there’s people out there that, you know, want to trust you as a, as a consumer, whether they’re buying the product, they’re buying a service, whatever they need to trust that what it is you’re offering that they want to believe in. Of course. but I think sometimes players think that because of who they are, they’re going to get what they want. And that’s not always the case.
Zach Colman (00:49:55):
Yeah. And it’s, it’s funny you say that. I think that goes back to one of the original points we kind of talked about when, uh, you kind of brought up, oh, what was I going to say when you kind of brought up the whole, the whole, uh, playing thing and, and, and going out there on the field and trying to have a certain mindset, uh, I kind of try to tell the same thing to my prospects and my clients is, listen, if you go out there and you look at this kind of like a business and not more so a career you’re, you’re able to turn off that mindset of, of certain negative aspects, but think about as more as a leveraging point. So instead of going out there and trying to get, you know, make yourself like, oh, a million fans are following me and it makes me happy.
Zach Colman (00:50:43):
And I always people know who I am. Think about it more as I have all these people following me, which is, which is a great thing, but that gives me, that gives me the ability to leverage this free publicity on getting on the field to give positive insights to this, or become an influencer in this field or do that, but leveraging your in-game timeframe. And so that when you do get out, you do have this fan base that you could still kind of somewhat leverage in a way. And I know when you were playing, you didn’t have social media, so it’s a little bit different, but are still, you know, I was, I tell a lot of, a lot of my clients like there’s social media is only one aspect. I mean, that’s just one, I mean, you have Google search, you have paid search, you have your website, you have your brand identity.
Zach Colman (00:51:31):
So you have all these things that your businesses already have to do. So you’re, you, you still have to do these things. It’s not like you don’t have to do these things if you want to succeed. And so, yeah. Uh, I agree with you on that. It’s, it’s, it’s probably, you know, I never even really thought about it that way. So it’s intriguing that, that you kind of said that a little bit. It gives me a little bit of insight and I appreciate that. I appreciate that. so in regards to, in regards to building the brand, their, their, their brands in general, what, I mean, I think that kind of goes into what you were, what we were kind of just talking about. So what do you think some things athletes can learn in regards to, in regards to that transition and building their brand, and maybe if they’re still in the game now, or if they’ve just retired?
Mike Hollis (00:52:23):
Well, I think that you know, you have to treat it like, you, you kind of are just a normal person at that point and, and, and kind of limit your expectations with regards to what I just was talking about. don’t get, so, you know, complacent thinking that you’re gonna, you know, you’re going to be this successful person, just because of who you are or who you were, there still is a lot of work put into it. And so that’s, that’s that transition, you know? Yes,, I put a lot of work into being a football player and a kicker, and I maintained that I kept working hard day in and day out. Well, why, why would I not work hard in my normal everyday life now, as a, as a business owner that doesn’t make sense. Why do you think I’m just going to come into a, uh, uh, an ownership position in a business and just kind of sit back and let things happen?
Mike Hollis (00:53:09):
It’s, it’s not, it’s not the case. It wasn’t the case in football. I can’t, I couldn’t just coast as a kicker in the NFL, I actually worked harder while I was in the NFL than I did even getting to the NFL. So, that, that, that should transition, which I, I, I think that I’ve done a decent job of transitioning the real role, you know, whatever business owner, whatever business position you have, whatever you’re doing. I think you still have that, that same mentality of working hard, to be successful at the business level. And you kind of tied in both the business and the athlete together in one, and that’s, it’s the same sort of thing. It’s like, I was working hard, to maintain my, my business as a, as a professional kicker. Why would I not want to work hard to maintain my, my success in my business as a chicken coach, you know, or whatever it is I’m doing?
Mike Hollis (00:53:54):
So it’s that same mentality. I think that’s an, uh, another answer to your, one of your original questions, as far as what benefits do foreign players have as business owners is exactly that it’s the work ethic, the understanding that you can’t just coast through life, don’t ever expect things to be handed to you. You’ve always had that, that habit, and that the ability to work hard for what you get. And when you earn, it’s no different in the real world, you want to work hard for what you get and what you deserve, what you earn in the real world as well. And so that’s, I think that’s a misconception for a lot of people that, come into the business as former players that expect things to just kind of fall in their lap. And it might be the case for some, for some people who, you know, big name guys, maybe, but not, not, not someone like me who kind of, you know, a kicker on a, you know, yeah, we were very successful and we were, we were known as, as a, as a really nice, good franchise and very competitive franchise back in the day.
Importance of Winning
Mike Hollis (00:54:49):
And, hopefully, we’ll get back to those winning days again. But, you know, I didn’t have a huge name for myself and I’m not, you know, clearly, I wasn’t expecting people to just give me their money and, you know, you know, things to, you know, fall in my lap and success, you know, right out of the gate, I knew that I was going to have to work for it, and I have no problems doing that. so I think everyone should have that same sort of mindset. If, you know, if you want, you want a successful business and earn a great living and, and, and help people that that’s kind of the primary thing for me at least, is, is helping people as far as the money is concerned. It’s yeah, that’s great. I do need money just five. And I am working, you know, as, as, you know, making a living doing this.
Mike Hollis (00:55:26):
So that is important to me as well, but I get more satisfaction out of helping people and, and, and sharing the information that I, that I, uh, was passed on to me sharing that information to them, to make them, you know, as best as they can be. So, there are a lot of different mindsets when, when people enter the business role after retiring from football on, and if you have that mindset of, of that complacent, like entitled complacency, we’ll put it that way, that you’re going to get burned. It’s not going to work out the way you think, and there’s always, you always have to work hard in life, no matter what it is you’re doing no matter who it is, you are.
Zach Colman (00:56:02):
Yeah. Yeah. It’s, I’d like for people to realize too that it, it doesn’t come easy for the high-end players either. I mean, I’ve, I’ve done a few critiques on some of the high-end like, we’ll just say Tom Brady because he’s the, you know when it comes out of my head, but I’ve seen a lot of stuff come through where it’s just the opposite, spend more money on, on certain things. When in reality, I look at it, I’m like, oh, I can’t believe you spent money on this. You know, so you have to kind of, you have to kind of look at it from both ends, too. There’s, there’s kind of, you know, you need to work hard at, and no matter what, where you are in the, in the position of a professional athlete or semi-pro or anything you’re getting, you really have to work just as hard. There are no handouts, for anyone when it comes to being a player or being a, or being a business owner. So, uh, how can you, how can you particularly help let’s, we’re getting close to the end of the podcast. How can you help other athletes move forward?
Mike Hollis (00:57:04):
That’s a pretty, uh, yeah, it’s, uh, it’s an easy question for me, you know, getting my athletes to, you know, move forward is, is really understanding what it is I’m teaching, understanding that, that, that, you know, where there’s a lot more ability in them that they know I’m trying to really, uh, expose, you know, the greatness is within them. And really that, that, that comes down to, you know, uh, explaining what it is that I’m trying to teach them, showing them at the age of 48, that I can still do what it is I’m trying to teach them. And Stu till two, pretty, pretty well. and that’s, that’s a fortunate thing. I try to stay young and I’m the epitome, of trying to defy the laws of physics when it comes to aging, I want to do the opposite. I want aging to go backward for me, I’m doing really, really a lot of hard work trying to figure that part out.
Mike Hollis (00:57:55):
But, it’s, uh, it’s, it’s rewarding for me to, to know that, you know, I’m helping these kids, you know, succeed in life. Yes. Yeah. We’re, we’re teaching how to kick footballs and, and, and certain things, but, more, more, so, more importantly, it’s about life and about, you know, you know, you know, they talk about the college recruiting process and, and, you know, also they get all bent out of shape about certain schools and things like that. And I said, listen, you’ve got to find a school academically that fits what you want to do because football is going to be a very, very, very small part of your life, your career, and what it is you want to study and do for your life and your career. That’s going to be a heck of a lot longer than your football career for 99.9% of the kids. Right. You know, that, that percentage, that’s a very, very small percentage of kids that actually play in the NFL clearly. But, the biggest thing really is just to help them understand, you know, about life and how things work and, and, and understanding that they really are much more capable than they think. And to just really expose their greatness. It really is.
Zach Colman (00:58:57):
Well, it was great to have you on, I really appreciate it. It was, it was really informing if, let’s end with, fan-related question. So who do you think in the year, 2020, who do you think, and you can’t say Jacksonville, who do you think is going to win the super bowl this year?
Mike Hollis (00:59:18):
Well, they look pretty impressive. I, I’m not going to lie. They, you know, yeah. They were defending super champions, but they don’t look any different than you last year. They were, they were great last year and they still look great this year. I think they’re going to be a, an incredible team, you know, in the, in, in, in, in Baltimore has got a great team as well. So, uh, it’s, it’s, uh, I’m terrible at guessing. So I’m probably going to be
Zach Colman (00:59:45):
A millionaire from Betty, right? So, I mean,
Mike Hollis (00:59:49):
That was the safe bet for me. I might as well go with the defending super bowl champions. I’ve always
Zach Colman (00:59:53):
Been an NSC and NFC side guy. So I always try to
Mike Hollis (00:59:56):
Go for an underdog. Good Seattle looks good this year. It’s
Zach Colman (01:00:00):
Really good. Russell looks really good this year. They’ve always had a, you know, very, and I’ve gotten into this with a, with a couple of other people that have been on, that it’s, it’s all about the structure of the organization. So it comes back to that business aspect and, and you, you just can look at certain teams and the way they, form their inner workings, that a lot of the fans don’t see. And I think that that really plays a really huge part that plays a really huge part and the teamwork and the training and the, in the way, the teams that make it even to the super bowl. It’s not just about recruiting and, on-field aspects. And, and, uh, I have a hard time choosing to, and I’d have to say, you know, sad to say this because my dad’s a huge green bay fan. I grew up with a green bay fan before I, I switched to being a full fledge Atlanta Falcons fan in my, in my teens. But, uh, uh, I’d have to say green bay is looking pretty good, especially with a lot of injuries they have are still rolling. So I am going to have to, I’m going to have to go either Seattle or green bay on this one, but, you know, I see the chiefs being new, I see the chiefs being the new,
Mike Hollis (01:01:12):
Uh, the new Patriots. Yeah.
Interview Outro
Zach Colman (01:01:14):
Which makes me a little bit happy, just because I think just kind of sick of going to another Patriots super bowl. Well, it was great to have you on why don’t you tell everyone a little bit where they can find you and, uh, and how they can contact you if they need to?
Mike Hollis (01:01:30):
Yeah. So my social media handles, so they’re all pro form kicking, you know, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are all pro form ticking. you know, and preform ticking.com is a website. my personal Facebook is Hollis Mike. I’m wide open. I’m a very, very accessible person.
Zach Colman (01:01:49):
All right, beautiful. Again, I appreciate you being on the podcast, and, uh, we’ll stay in touch. Sounds good, Zack. Thanks, buddy. [inaudible].
