After 20 years with Tom A. Holmoe (BS ’83, MS ’95) at the helm of BYU athletics, BYU fans and athletes will bid farewell to the beloved athletic director in August 2025. Holmoe’s tenure is marked by memorable victories, conference changes, and his navigation through the changing NCAA landscape. Here are some of the highlights:
King of Halloween: Voldemort, Phantom, Rafiki, Jafar—Holmoe’s Hollywood-worthy costumes wowed on campus and off. Does retirement mark the end of the fun? “You never know,” Holmoe told BYUtv’s Sports Nation. “I might drop in one Halloween when you least expect it.”
Declaring Independence: Holmoe led BYU football from the Mountain West Conference to independence in 2010, setting the team up for national exposure and a résumé worthy of a Power 5 invitation.
Jimmermania: The winter of 2010–11 was a great time to be a BYU fan as senior guard Jimmer T. Fredette (BA ’16) led the nation in scoring and was named National Player of the Year. The Cougars racked up memorable victories, including taking down top-5 San Diego State—twice—and made it to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time since 1981.
Champions: Under Holmoe BYU claimed four team NCAA national championships and 133 conference championships. More than 350 athletes were crowned All-Americans.
Running Away with It: All four team national championships, plus many individual titles, were claimed by BYU distance runners. Under the leadership of Coaches Edward D. Eyestone (BS ’85, MS ’90) and Diljeet Taylor, BYU has churned out track and cross-country stars, including steeplechaser Kenneth Rooks (BS ’25), the NCAA and US champion who took silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Coaching Hires: Eyestone and Taylor were two of many Holmoe coaching hires, along with football’s Kalani F. Sitake (BA ’00) and volleyball’s Heather Olmstead, plus the 2024 signing of NBA assistant coach Kevin Young to replace Mark Pope.
In the Game: When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down college sports nationwide, Holmoe hustled to craft a full season of play for BYU football—a feat that helped him earn the 2020–21 NACDA Athletic Director of the Year.
New Era for NIL: When a 2021 US Supreme Court ruling changed the game for college athletes looking to market their popularity, Holmoe guided BYU through the challenges and opportunities of transfer portals and NIL deals.
Big Leagues: On Sept. 10, 2021—the day before BYU football snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Utah Utes—Holmoe announced BYU’s entrance to the Big 12. BYU officially joined the conference in July 2023, launching a new era for Cougar sports.
