Holley isn't a career killer, his bosses put him in places where he can't succeed though.
For some reason they thought that Dale and Holley was the reason why EEI was floundering so they broke up the only show that was worth listening to. Then they shifted Holley to drive time and paired him with aging dinosaur, Glenn Ordway. That went terrible because there wasn't much chemistry and Holley is a very good second man, don't expect him to do the heavy lifting. Of course, Ordway is an older guy and doesn't want to do the heavy lifting, so Ordway was jettisoned. Enter Mike Salk. He was okay, but measured and unremarkable. Holley is measured and unremarkable (and I like Mike Holley a lot, but he doesn't have a ton of "hot sports takes", which I like, but unfortunately in a two-man show someone has to have some HSTs so that the other can chill him out), it's like having a comedy with two straight men. Again, not Holley's fault (and not Salk's fault either).
EEI management has to do a better job of recognizing what their talent's talents are and playing to them.
Holley needs a Michael Felger type in order for his show to be any good. It can't be two guys pretending to be outraged, it can't be two guys being reasonable, and one of these guys has to drive the show. For whatever reason Salk would not drive; I don't know if he felt that Holley should do it since he was there first or if he didn't want to step on Holley's toes. Maybe Salk isn't that type of person, I don't know (and that's not a criticism). When you listened to the Big Show, for better or worse, it was Glenn Ordway's show. When you listen to Felger and Maz, Felger is driving that bus. Toucher and Rich and Dennis and Callahan are a bit different since both shows thrive on an equal partnership (though Minnihane is quickly eclipsing them). Even on Dale and Holley, Dale pretty much set the tone and Holley went along for the ride (as did Neumier before him).
I hate cliches, but you really do need an Alpha Dog. For EEI management not to realize this shows why they are where they are.