Coach of Champions DL Holmes Story with Keith Wunderlich

James talks with the co author and Grandson of DL Holmes! Over 100 years ago, Coach David L. Holmes started all the sports programs at what was then called Detroit Junior College. He coached Track & Field and was Athletic Director for Wayne from 1917 to 1958. He used the hallways of Old Main for practice and track meets because he had no other indoor athletic facilities. His outdoor track was equally poor, not having enough space for a full 440-yard track. And, of course, synthetic tracks weren't even a dream back then. They ran on dirt and later upgraded to cinders. During the years Coach Holmes worked at Wayne, overt racism and antisemitism were common. Many athletes could not attend the college of their choice because they were Black or Jewish. Holmes welcomed everyone. When they traveled out-of-state for track meets, Holmes would not allow his team to be split up. They ate together and slept in the same hotels. If a restaurant wouldn't serve one of the team members, everybody left and went somewhere that would. The first Black captain of any Wayne team was John Lewis, a sprinter, in 1929. After graduation, Leroy Dues, a shot putter, became the first Black athletic director in the State of Michigan in 1944. Coach of Champions is a book about those athletes whose footsteps can still be heard running through the halls of Old Main. Mostly, it's a book about people, and how a coach brought out the most in them athletically and personally. It's a cool untold story of some early athletes that everyone should know.