Kajiya Hollawayne has ‘come a long way’ in his journey to Temple, where he’s the leading receiver

When K.C. Keeler was hired by Temple last Dec. 1, there was one question swirling in wide receiver Kajiya Hollawayne’s mind: Should he leave?

In fact, he’d pondered that thought since former coach Stan Drayton was fired. He wouldn’t have been the first, as nearly 20 players entered the transfer portal after Drayton’s dismissal.

However, this wasn’t Hollawayne’s first experience with a coaching change.

His primary recruiter at UCLA, quarterbacks coach Dana Bible, retired before his first practice as a freshman in 2021. Hollawayne bounced between programs, including Grambling State and Riverside Community College, but left for greener pastures. This time, he decided he wanted to stick out the challenge at Temple.

“I just thought it’s time to stop running from the struggles that I have got going,” Hollawayne said. “Every school I’ve been at has had coaching changes. So I was like, ‘Let me stop running and see the other side, see how the grass is on this side.’ So when I stayed, I just knew to put my head down and grind, because a lot of times, coaching staff that come in, it’s not better for us. It’s like whoever comes in has a better hand on things like that, so I was just thinking about trying to get on their radar.”

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The redshirt senior climbed Temple’s depth chart amid the offseason departures. Hollawayne talked to Keeler and new offensive coordinator Tyler Walker, who knew they could mold the receiver into the Owls’ system. The result: Hollawayne is the team’s best receiver this season. He leads the Owls (5-5, 3-3 American Conference) with 445 receiving yards and six touchdowns entering Saturday’s matchup against Tulane (8-2, 5-1) at Lincoln Financial Field (3:45 p.m., ESPNU).

“It’s been a steady process since January,” Walker said. “He’s come a long way. And he’s definitely earned a reputation as a guy that we can throw the football to in critical moments, and we feel confident that he’s going to go get the football.”

Before arriving at Temple, Hollawayne was a three-star quarterback out of San Jacinto (Calif.) High School, where he was ranked 34th in the state. He committed to UCLA under then-coach Chip Kelly, who also coached the Eagles from 2013 to 2015 and now is the Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator, but only lasted a season at UCLA.

He spent the 2021 season backing up Bruins starter Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Hollawayne, then 18, didn’t want to wait on the sidelines for another year. So he left.

He landed at Grambling State, which then was coached by Hue Jackson, but another setback occurred. Hollawayne suffered a severe strain on his rotator cuff that dated back to pitching while he was in high school. If he were to continue playing quarterback, he would need to have surgery.

Not wanting to lose another year of eligibility, Hollawayne asked his coach how he could get on the field, which led to a position switch from quarterback to wide receiver.

“It was kind of easy, because growing up, everybody played wideout,” Hollawayne said. “The hard part was learning how to block and stuff like that. There’s little things to block that you can get beat on.”

At Grambling State, he bonded with Tyron Carrier, the wide receivers coach. Even after Hollawayne left for Riverside Community College, they remained in touch. Eventually Carrier was hired at Temple and recruited Hollawayne.

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While Hollawayne followed suit, he didn’t hit the ground running. He was behind wide receivers Dante Wright, Ashton Allen, John Adams, and Antonio Jones on the depth chart. While he finished with 120 receiving yards in 2024, Hollawayne used the opportunity to learn behind those older receivers.

“I was behind Dante in the slot, and he was a great player, just paying attention to him, seeing how he works the game, how he plays the game,” Hollawayne said. “Also just working because I haven’t been playing wide receiver for a long time. I’m looking at different wide receivers in our group, seeing what I can take from their game, put into my game. Also looking online and seeing what you can do better, like hand work.”

He also formed a connection with quarterback Evan Simon, who transferred to Temple from Rutgers that offseason.

When Hollawayne transferred to Temple from Riverside, he didn’t have a dorm room for the first month. Jones, who was roommates with Simon, asked if Hollawayne could crash on their couch. Simon obliged, and, before long, they were tossing passes together.

“[Antonio] is like, ‘Is it cool if Kajiya Hollawayne lives with us for a little bit?’ Absolutely,” Simon said. “Then next thing, we’re throwing on our own, him and I. We’d be out here throwing after whatever. He’d wait out there for me to get the gate because he couldn’t get in.”

Simon and Hollawayne’s extra work has paid off this season.

“I think some of it definitely was him trusting in his ability, and him seeing the results, and then him understanding that we have confidence in him to throw the ball in key moments,” Walker said. “Then when he makes those plays, it just builds confidence. I think a lot of it was that he always had the athletic ability, that was never an issue. It was just getting him to fine tune his ability and get him to do some things that naturally take some time, and he’s done a great job.”

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For Hollawayne, his development on the field comes from his journey, which has had many twists and turns.

“I think that freshman year helped me a lot,” Hollawayne said. “I think if I would have played my freshman year, I wouldn’t be the man I am right now, because that actually humbled me a lot.”