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Spotlight on Former Athlete: Dr. Johnny Mack Hollier Track & Field 1969-71, Band 1969-71Spotlight on Former Athlete: Dr. Johnny Mack Hollier Track & Field 1969-71, Band 1969-71 Bruce Brown Music, track, dentistry Hollier’s worksheet
Music has always been there for Johnny Mack Hollier.
Track and field competition took talent and hard work.
A 31-year career in dentistry took persistence and dedication.
But music has been there from the start.
Hollier was a sprinter with the UL track and field program of coach Bob Cole from 1969-71, and also played trumpet in the Cajun band _ all while carrying a heavy academic load as a pre-medicine major.
When the Cajuns hosted their first home football game at newly-constructed Cajun Field in 1971, it was Hollier who provided a trumpet jazz solo during the halftime show.
"I had a big advantage in music because my dad was a professional musician,” Hollier said. “He had played with the Stan Kenton Band and had a lot of contacts. He played everything – strings, woodwinds, keyboards – except brass."
"I played piano and trumpet. I remember playing a piano concert when I was 5. When we would visit places, if they had a piano, I would play. I’d go on gigs with my dad when I was a teenager. It (music) was easy for me."
"Dad knew all the standards and Big Band tunes. I learned to play by ear. My favorites were Al Hirt and Doc Severinsen.”
Hollier played for the band at Woodlawn High in Shreveport, ranking 13 of 15 at the position, but auditioned for the All-State Band and was selected for that honor.
He also excelled as a sprinter at WHS, among other sports.
"I remember watching the 1960 Rome Olympics and thinking I wanted to run track,” Hollier said. “I was always a fast kid.
“There were a lot of good athletes at Woodlawn. We were coached by A.L.Williams. I was there the day Terry Bradshaw threw the javelin 244-11, a national high school record. We didn’t think it would ever come down.”
“Joe Ferguson lived down the block from us, and he was good with me. I was a skinny kid who had to develop.”
Skinny or not, Hollier was swift enough to finish second in the LHSAA State Meet in the 100-yard dash as a junior at Woodlawn.
He was part of a young school that quickly developed a reputation for athletics. Some 150 sophomores tried out for football at the school of 2,500 students.
But Hollier’s parents divorced in his senior year, and he moved to Opelousas with his mother to finish at Opelousas High. That school was also loaded with track talent.
“(Future Cajun) Reggie Dupre was a hurdler for us,” Hollier recalled. “We ran a 42-second 4×110 relay and a 1:27 in the 880 relay that was top 6 in the nation.
“They had just poured a new track when I got there, and it was a really fast track.”
Hollier had high school bests of 9.5 at 100 yards and a 21-flat 220, and was a state champion in the 100 as a senior. He also won the high school division of the 100 at UL’s prestigious Southwestern Relays, and soon signed with Cole’s Cajun squad.
“Bob Cole was a tough guy.” Hollier said. “He taught us a lot. You just don’t quit. He was a great recruiter, but when he got you there, he didn’t coddle you. It was a tough transition. He was a typical 1950’s type of coach.
“He was well-liked, though. When he died in 2006, most of us were at the funeral.”
Hollier found keen competition at UL, with high-stakes battles for any positions.
“It was an honor just to make a relay team,” Hollier said. “We had a well-balanced team. We were strong in the sprints with people like Aaron Tompson and Galen LaBauve, and had a good distance corps with runners like Arthur Botterill of Australia.
“I ran on our national indoor mile relay team. Once I got to college, they found I was better in the 220 and 440 and mile relay. I had a lot of injuries, a lot of muscle pulls, (maybe) because I didn’t work as hard as the others.”
Hollier was carrying 20 hours a semester in a three-year pre-med program, trying the go to dental school, and staying at peak form in track was a big challenge. But he enjoyed the “great comraderie” on the team during his three years.
Studying from 1973-77 at LSU Medical Center, Hollier continued running as a member of the LSU Track Club. He ran a personal-best 20.58 200 meters at the 1976 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. In later years, he won sprint medals in Masters competition at World Games in Eugene, Ore., and Melbourne, Australia.
“Some sprinters aren’t going to push it; they need a coach,” Hollier said. “I was always self-motivated. There were a lot of tracks around New Orleans, and I found a lot of guys to train with.
“I found that training relieves anxiety. Track becomes an oasis. In dental school, if you flunk one course, you have to take the whole year over. We lost 10 of 100 (students) in the first six months.
“Running and training was a big help for me.”
Hollier, who had volunteered at medical facilities as a teen in Shreveport, knew medicine was his calling. And the didactic courses went well. But hands-on course work requiring hand-eye coordination proved difficult.
“It did not come natural to me,” he said. “I could memorize well, but working in three dimensions required a lot of skill.
Others were really good with their hands. If I was going to do it right, I had to do it slower. It was pretty demanding.”
During a 31-year dental career, Hollier made time to use his skills on mission trips to Central America, providing care for those less privileged.
Now, though, the focus has returned to his first love, music.
Hollier, who lives on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, is a regular performer with the New Orleans Chamber Orchestra.
He also has his own band, the Doc Holliday Band, which features – what else? – Big Band selections.
“I still play every day, and I rehearse three or four times a week,” Hollier said. “It’s fun; it’s not work at all. I play trumpet and piano, do lounge work. I play classical, weddings, there’s always something.
“In New Orleans, no matter your style, there’s an audience for it. It’s amazing. There are so many venues there are to play. You take gigs, and hope for the best.
“A bad day of music is better than any day as a dentist. I remember when my dad would practice, sometimes he would go into a dream state.
“I’m 61 now. I think I’ll play a while longer.”
Bruce Brown
Written for The Athletic Network Please click here for pictures and information on The Doc Holliday Band at Gigmasters.
Please click here for the AN profile of Dr. Johnny Mack Hollier.
 1971 Relay Team Members. Front Row L-R: Ron Breaux, Bob Burnett, Richard Landry; Johnny Hollier, Darryll Bizette. 
Click on www.athleticnetwork.net , Photo Gallery, Miscellaneous, scroll down for more pictures of Dr. Johnny Mack Hollier. Our rich athletic traditions were entrusted to the vision, hope, loyalty, and dedication of those former athletes and we will forever owe them a debt of sincere gratitude. May God bless each of them and their families. Anyone with information, materials, pictures, memorabilia, etc., of the university’s former athletic program participants is requested to contact Ed Dugas at athleticnetwork@louisiana.edu Thank you. The Photo Gallery Link located on the left side of the home page at www.athleticnetwork.net contains over 10,000 pictures of former and current athletes and support groups. Just click on photo gallery and when the menu appears, click on the sport or support group you wish to view. The years of pictures posted for that team or group will appear and you may click on the year you wish to view. One click on a thumbnail picture or narrative and it is enlarged; a click on the enlarged photo and it reverts back to the thumbnail. The Athletic Network seeks to post pictures of each team and support group for each year they represented the university. The stories of the 2009, 2010 and 2011 honorees featured in the Spotlight on Former Athletes are still included in the News Page and may be viewed by clicking on "more news" at the bottom right of the News Box, scrolling down, clicking on the title of the story. Those spotlight features which are no longer shown in the News Page, have been moved to the Lagniappe Link of the "History of UL Athletics" located on the left side of the home page. The Spotlight on Former Athletes announcement has also been placed in the profile of each honoree, excluding the pictures. 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
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