Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Tom Holmoe retires as BYU's athletic director after a transformative 20-year tenure.
- Holmoe's leadership led BYU to join the Big 12, revitalizing its football program.
- His personal touch and strategic hires, like Bronco Mendenhall, defined his success.
PROVO — With the heavy lifting over, Tom Holmoe can retire after 20 years as the BYU athletic director with complete contentment.
The former BYU and NFL defensive back oversaw multiple dramatic makeovers during the last two decades, highlighted by joining the Big 12 two years ago. The affiliation breathed life into the football program, which had grown stagnant as an independent since leaving the Mountain West after the 2009-10 academic year.
"This is a really good time to make a smooth and effective and powerful transition," Holmoe said at his retirement press conference. "I sincerely believe that the pieces are in place for us to continue to really thrive. The Big 12 has been a special blessing for all of our teams. We all believe in the Big 12, the leadership of the Big 12."
For all the credit Holmoe deserves in bringing stability to the entire department, it falls short in describing the reason for his success. His personal touch is the difference.
In the end, which comes at the conclusion of Holmoe's contract in August, relationships matter the most. Results on the court and field augments his success.
Take it from BYU legend Steve Young, who posted on social media: "Tom Holmoe built a partnership with every athlete. It was always personal. ... He was the perfect AD and can't thank him enough. To say there are large shoes to fill would be an understatement."
Lack of success for Holmoe on the field led to his journey back to BYU as an athletic administrator. A three-time Super Bowl winner with the San Francisco 49ers, he immediately went into coaching after retiring as a player in 1989.
Working as assistant with the 49ers, Stanford and Cal, Holmoe became the head coach at Cal but resigned in 2001. BYU quickly hired Holmoe as a fundraiser before promoting him to replace Val Hale during a time the football program suffered three consecutive losing seasons and endured multiple off-field scandals.
Needing a disciplined approach to the team, Holmoe advocated for then-defensive coordinator Bronco Mendenhall to replace Gary Crowton as the head coach. The university had intended to hire another assistant coach, going so far as planning to play taped endorsements from former players during the news conference before flipping to Mendenhall.
The decision was bold on several levels, notably that Mendenhall had no head coaching experience and was not a "BYU guy." He neither played for the Cougars nor had ties to the program until Crowton hired him away from New Mexico two years earlier.
With a no-nonsense approach, Mendenhall got the Cougars to achieve bowl eligibility in his first season and became a Mountain West powerhouse the following four years. He left to become Virginia's head coach in 2016, replaced by current coach Kalani Sitake.
Angling for several years to join the Big 12, BYU finally got the lifeline in 2021. Needing one season to adjust, the Cougars went 11-2 this year and have a two-game winning streak against Utah.
Holmoe also has made successful hires in the men's basketball program, starting with Dave Rose in 2005. Rose won four Mountain West regular-season championships, guiding the team to its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1981.
Forced to join the West Coast Conference, as did most BYU sports when football became an independent, the program plateaued in recent seasons. After Rose retired in 2019, Holmoe hired Mark Pope and then plucked Kevin Young from the ranks of the NBA last April.
Along the way, Holmoe successfully navigated the levels of bureaucracy to help the department stay with the times. BYU has made significant financial investments in coaching salaries and competes well in the NIL area.
Another highlight came during the 2020 football season, which has played during the COVID-impacted year. While several conferences erroneously chose to play only a handful of games, Holmoe created an 11-game regular-season schedule on the fly. The Cougars went 11-1, winning the Boca Raton Bowl.
