Special from KDQN News:
DE QUEEN – In addition to covering the current season through the Leopard Pride Football Program, we at KDQN like to take the opportunity to highlight the history of Leopards football and the many great people behind De Queen’s program – Leopards who stood out on the gridiron, those who give back to their community and those who embody the spirit of Leopard Pride each and every day.
In our next edition, we spotlight a member of the Leopard family who can claim all of those achievements: De Queen Junior High Principal Jeff Holcombe.
Like many other boys in those easier times in De Queen, Holcombe started playing football just about as soon as he could. Hanging around with his Blackwood and Dykes buddies as a kid, and developing an early admiration for the Dallas Cowboys, he knew athletics be a lifelong passion.
Holcombe played for the Leopards throughout high school as a defensive and offensive tackle.
“You could say I had the right build for it,” Holcombe laughed.
The 1986 season saw Holcombe, now a senior, take the field for his final year. The season, he said, wasn’t a memorable one in the annals of Leopards football.
“Let’s just say it was very competitive.”
The Leopards ended the season 2-8. But the fall of 1986 included one triumph De Queen can always be proud of.
“We beat Nashville and you just can’t help but be happy when that happens.”
Holcombe’s prowess on the field was so apparent he received that year’s Rotary Cup. He admits it was a huge surprise.
“It was awesome,” he said. “That was usually awarded to the quarterback or running back, not a lineman.”
Holcombe praised his coaches for helping shape him and his fellow teammates into men. Those coaches included familiar names like Phillip Miller, Bobby Miller, Murray Neely and Lee Hammond.
“They made us run so many springs we’d lose count,” he said, laughing. “But they made us tough. Even in our bad seasons they showed us that sports is about faith and resilience, dedication, leadership and sheer willpower.”
After graduation Holcombe went on to achieve his degree in kinesiology from Southern Arkansas University. After some soul-searching and a few dozen applications, he decided to earn his Master’s degree and pursue a career in education. He enjoyed a couple of years working for the Cove School District. In 1997 he fulfilled his goal of making it back to De Queen.
“I always eventually wanted to make it back to De Queen,” said Holcombe. “And thanks to Superintendent Bill Blackwood I finally had that opportunity. There was and still is something about De Queen and, like I said earlier, our faith and our resiliency.”
Holcombe’s addition to De Queen Public Schools highlighted an interesting personal note: his father, Bobby, taught high school English in De Queen for 27 years. His mother, JoAnn, was De Queen’s first school nurse.
“I took my dad’s class once and decided pretty quickly that I was going to be a fly on the wall,” he laughed.
Holcombe’s career with De Queen Public Schools began, like his father, as a teacher. Not long after he became an elementary counselor and then at the high school level. He credits that experience for an instinctual ability to interact with his students on a one-to-one basis.
“As a counselor you learn how to deal with a lot of emotion, how to help with a lot of difficult moments in a student’s life,” he explained. “You learn how to help kids shape their goals, their plans. It was tremendously rewarding.”
Holcombe eventually became assistant principal for De Queen Junior High. The next big change came in time for the current school year. This past summer, Holcombe officially tookover as junior high principal from retiring Bill Huddleston. After nearly three decades with De Queen Public Schools, Holcombe said he couldn’t be prouder to have this opportunity.
“I couldn’t ask for a better way for things to turn out,” he explained. “We have an amazing school system with an amazing administration and a great school board. Most schools aren’t that lucky. A huge part of our school’s success is our teachers. The work our teachers do is so important, so greatly appreciated . I’m honored to be able to have a part in helping them continue their success in the classroom.”
From the gridiron to the principal’s office, Holcombe continues to champion the spirit of Leopard Pride each and every day.
Holcombe and his wife, Sheila, have an 11-year-old son, Joshua, in addition to Brock, 19, and Blake, who is 30. They also welcomed their grandson, Ollie, earlier this year.