Brad Holmes (born July 29, 1979) is an American football executive who is the general manager and executive vice president for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

of the National Football League (NFL). Holmes previously served with the St. Louis /

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

in various executive roles from 2003 to 2020.

Education and playing career

Holmes attended George D. Chamberlain High School in Tampa, Florida, where he was captain of the football team, and was also elected

homecoming king Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

. Holmes graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

from

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Mass Communications, and was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

for the Aggies at

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

under head coach Bill Hayes. In 1999, he was voted team captain and helped A&T win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Black college football national championship. While visiting home after the 1999 season, Holmes was involved in a car accident that left him in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

for a week. After making a full recovery, he was cleared to play his final season of college football in 2001.

Executive career

Early career

Following his playing career, Holmes obtained a job with

Enterprise Rent A Car Enterprise Rent-A-Car is an American car rental agency headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. Enterprise is the flagship brand of Enterprise Holdings, which also owns other agencies including Alamo Rent a Car and National C ...

while attempting to begin a career in professional sports. He soon obtained a public relations internship with the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 2002, which he parlayed into a public relations internship with the St. Louis Rams of the NFL in 2003.

St. Louis / Los Angeles Rams

In 2003, Holmes was hired by the St. Louis Rams as a public relations intern. While in St. Louis, Holmes struck up a friendship with Wilbert Montgomery, a two-time All-Pro running back and the Rams running backs coach from 1997 to 2005. At the conclusion of the public relations internship, Montgomery assisted Holmes in securing a position in the Rams player personnel department. From 2003 to 2012, Holmes served in a number of front office positions with the Rams, including scout, area scout, national

Combine Combine may refer to: Machinery * Combine harvester, or combine, a machine to harvest grain crops * Combine seeder, or combine, a machine to plant seeds Company structure * Corporate group, an industrial business group in Western democracie ...

scout, and scouting assistant. Since joining the Rams in 2003, Holmes worked under Rams front office executives Charley Armey, Jay Zygmunt, Billy Devaney, and Les Snead. In 2013, Holmes was named the Rams Director of College Scouting. In this role, Holmes was integral in the acquisition of Rams " Mob Squad" Pro Bowlers Aaron Donald,

Jared Goff Jared Thomas Goff (born October 14, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at California, where he set the Pac-12 Conference season records for passing ...

Todd Gurley Todd Jerome Gurley II (born August 3, 1994) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football at Georgia, where he recei ...

, Cooper Kupp,

Pharoh Cooper Pharoh Cooper (born March 7, 1995) is an American football wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at South Carolina, and was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the fourth rou ...

, and

Cory Littleton Cory Littleton (born November 18, 1993) is an American football linebacker for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washington. He signed with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agen ...

Detroit Lions

On January 14, 2021, Holmes was named the executive vice president and general manager of the

. Holmes signed a five-year contract, succeeding prior general manager Bob Quinn. Holmes' first transaction as general manager was trading longtime franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford to the

in exchange for two first round picks, a third round pick, and quarterback

Personal life

Holmes is the son of

Melvin Holmes Melvin Holmes (January 22, 1950 – December 24, 2015) was an American football player with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1971 to 1973. He is the father of Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes. Early life Holmes was born in Miami, Flor ...

, who played offensive line for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

from 1971 to 1973. He is also the nephew of former

defensive back

Luther Bradley Luther Alexander Bradley (born May 7, 1955) is a former professional American football player who played four seasons for the Detroit Lions. He later played with the Chicago Blitz, Arizona Wranglers and Houston Gamblers of the USFL. He is the USF ...

, a 1978 first-round draft pick. Holmes cousin, Alex Barron, was a first-round pick of the Rams in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. Holmes is married to his wife, Lisa, and together they have a son, B.J., and a daughter, Lola.

References

External links

Detroit Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Brad 1979 births Living people Detroit Lions executives St. Louis Rams scouts Los Angeles Rams scouts People from Tampa, Florida North Carolina A&T State University alumni North Carolina A&T Aggies football players Detroit Lions currentteam parameter articles National Football League general managers All Wikipedia articles written in American English Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism African-American sports executives and administrators African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople