Why trainer's 'mission' is to help Jackson State's CJ Holmes, Warren Newman prepare for NFL Draft
If there's one thing Warren Newman and CJ Holmes won't forget about their time at Jackson State football, it's the work they had to put in to stay there.
Both came to JSU as walk-ons in the same class, from the same city: New Orleans. And they competed against each other fiercely, knowing their spots on the team weren't guaranteed even before the Tigers began bolstering their roster with star recruits and transfers under coach Deion Sanders.
Holmes had solid numbers as a receiver in high school, but he came from a small school and felt he didn't know enough about the recruiting process to get proper exposure. People often told Newman, a 5-foot-8 receiver and return specialist, that he was too small.
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"I got there my freshman year and me and CJ were just outworking everybody," Newman said. "We’d be out there until the sun goes down and it's dark on the field, no lights. We were just steady grinding every day. It was always in the back of my head like should I go back if I don’t get a scholarship? I’ve been working hard and nothing was paying off, but I just kept my head down and kept grinding."
They both earned scholarships after their freshman season and became strong contributors for the Tigers.
And eventually, they caught the eye of Jordan Bush, a performance coach for House of Athlete who invited them to prepare for the NFL Draft there.
A 'mission' to level the playing field
Bush is a Jackson native who grew up watching JSU games. He specializes in getting players ready for their final shot at impressing NFL scouts before the draft.
He's working with a group of 22 players at the state-of-the-art House of Athlete facility in South Florida, designed by company founder and CEO Brandon Marshall, who was a six-time Pro Bowl receiver with the Miami Dolphins.
"We call ourselves the one-stop shop. We have a weight room that comes with a cold tub, hot tub, sauna, steam room," Bush said. "We have a full-time chef that cooks our guys three meals a day. During combine training we do interview prep with them from everything on how to clean up social media to marketing and how to represent yourself. We go through the whole nine to make sure these guys say we taught them everything that they need once they leave."
The kind of experience that House of Athlete provides is one that many HBCU athletes don't get to have, Bush said.
There weren't any HBCU players drafted last year. Since then, the Senior Bowl hosted the first-annual HBCU Combine in Mobile, and HBCU legends Doug Williams and James Harris co-founded the Legacy Bowl, an HBCU postseason all-star game in New Orleans.
Bush said he's determined to help more HBCU players make it to the NFL by including them in his training sessions when he can. Newman and Holmes aren't major draft prospects, but they could be third-day options who sneak into the late rounds or make a camp as an undrafted free agent.
"I made it my mission to get Warren and CJ here. Because I know them and I wanted to look out for them," Bush said. "You look at any other facility, they may have one other HBCU guy. It makes no sense, and it’s unacceptable. I pray that times change and I salute Coach Sanders for what he’s doing to even the playing field. Because it’s not even at all. I’ve seen it."
You would think they're 'brothers'
There are not many times Holmes and Newman are training without one another, Bush said.
"You would think Warren and CJ were blood brothers. They ride to workouts together, they leave from workouts together," Bush said. "If you see one, you see the other. They hold each other accountable. If CJ is lacking, Warren will call him out and it's like OK my brother is telling me I’m slipping. Same goes if Warren is slipping. They push each other."
Their bond was formed on the Jackson State practice field, long before they became roommates, practice partners and friends. Now they're hoping it will push them toward their dreams of playing in the NFL.
"It means everything to me," Holmes said. "Having a brother that understands what I'm going through because we went through the same things. We really came up together and it's a beautiful thing. We know where we started, and all of it is coming right back around. We're just staying positive and hoping for the best."