Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University Athletic Association has earmarked 2022 home football games as tributes to various facets of both the university and the surrounding community. 

Last weekend's Utah game was "Essential Workers Appreciation Night." Later this month, when South Florida comes to town, UF faculty and staff will be recognized. When LSU rolls in come October it will be on "Tom Petty Day," commemorating the five years since the Gainesville-born rocker's passing. The following week, with Missouri on the slate, is homecoming and Hall of Fame weekend, with the November game around Veteran's Day weekend, for years now, having been tabbed "Saluting Those Who Serve." 

This weekend, with UF (1-0) set to face 20th-ranked Kentucky (1-0) to open the Southeastern Conference schedule Saturday night at Spurrier/Florida Field, has been dubbed Championship Reunion Weekend, with a variety of Gators teams invited back to celebrate the 10- or 25-year anniversaries of SEC and/or NCAA titles. That makes track and field coach Mike Holloway the perfect choice to do the honorary "Mr. Two Bits" pregame honors, right?

"Yeah, OK, I'm good with that," he said. 

Holloway, of course, goes by the nickname "Mouse," but he might as well go by "Champ," given the ever-mounting hardware he's amassed in guiding the Gators' men and women since being named head coach in 2003. He won his first men's SEC title in '04 and first women's in '09. He won his first national championship with the men's indoors team in 2010 and repeated the feat the next two years. Trophies became a thing. 

Twelve years later, Florida has 12 national championships in track and field, with 10 by the men and two from the women. The latter, obviously, are looking to make up for lost time, considering they swept both the NCAA indoors and outdoors crowns in 2022. Meanwhile, all the men could muster (cue the sarcasm) was a measly single national championship at the outdoors meet in June.  

How about this stat: UF has 45 all-time national championships and Holloway is responsible for 28.8 percent of them. 
"It was just an incredible year, obviously," said Holloway, 63, who in August was rewarded by Athletic Director Scott Stricklin with a 10-year contract extension that ties him to the Gators through the 2032 athletic season. "I'm blessed to have an incredible staff around me that helps me put this together and blessed to be at a place that allows me to do the things we do. We celebrated at the time, but now we've moved forward and hope to go on to more big things."

Among the 13 teams being recognized for past titles on the field Saturday will be the men's indoors and outdoors NCAA champion of 2012 and the women's indoor squad of that same season. Holloway, no doubt, will cherish a chance to reconnect with some of his former athletes. 

For the record, Holloway will be the third celebrity "Two Bits" with a track background. Former Gator All Americans and Olympic gold medalists Christian Taylor and Kerron Clement tag-teamed the routine before the 2016 game against South Carolina. in 2019, it was eight-time NCAA, two-time SEC Athlete of the Year and world-champion hurdler Grant Holloway who got the call before UF played Tennessee. 

Grant Holloway (no relation to Mouse) ended his cheer by crouching into a mock starting block, then rocketing from midfield over a run of invisible hurdles all the way to the south end zone tunnel. The crowd loved it. 

"He did?" Coach Holloway asked. "Oh boy." 

Mouse demurred when asked if he had of his own something in store. Then again, maybe he'll just stick with what he knows best (like the other Holloway did) and hoist a mock trophy into the air. If nothing else, he can practice for when he does it again next spring or the many springs after. 

"It's a fun thing, the 'Two Bits,' it's tradition now and, for me, it's just so exciting," Holloway said. "When they asked me, I was like, 'Wow!' And after that initial excitement, I was like, 'Heck yeah!' "