Ready to hand off the baton: BYU AD sheds light on decision to retire
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- BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe, right, and school President Shane Reese address questions in a news conference about his pending retirement at the BYU Broadcasting Building on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
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- BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe, right, hugs his wife, Lori, after a news conference at the BYU Broadcasting Building on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
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- BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe addresses questions about his pending retirement in a news conference at the BYU Broadcasting Building on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
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- BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe, right, and school president Shane Reese address questions in a news conference about his pending retirement at the BYU Broadcasting Building on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
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- BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe poses for a photo with his grandchildren after a news conference at the BYU Broadcasting Building on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
On Tuesday night, BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe was doing what he loves most about his job: Cheering on one of the Cougar athletic teams, this time men’s basketball in Morgantown, West Virginia.
On Wednesday morning, Holmoe was fighting back tears as he explained his decision to retire at the end of the 2024-25 athletic year.
‘I really believe I have the best job in the world,” Holmoe said in a news conference at the BYU Broadcasting Building. “I always go down the tunnel (after games) and to see Kevin (Young) running towards the locker room, and just to embrace a coach that just fought like crazy to win a game, that’s my bliss.”
The school announced Tuesday that Holmoe, who has worked in the athletic department at BYU for 23 years, 20 as the director of athletics, was going to retire. His legacy includes the hiring of Young, the NBA’s top assistant, last spring, as well as others such as football coach Kalani Sitake and former Cougar coaches Bronco Mendenhall, Dave Rose and Mark Pope, just to name a few. Holmoe helped the athletic program navigate through independence in football, the move to the Big 12 in all sports, the transfer portal and name, image and likeness issues.
Holmoe said he and his wife, Lori, had been saying, “One more year” for a while. In July, they finally agreed it was time.
“I just believe that this is a really good time to make a smooth and effective and powerful transition,” Holmoe said. “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, that the leadership of the Big 12.”
Holmoe told BYU President Shane Reese a couple of weeks after the end of the football season that he was going to retire.
“I told president right off the bat that I did sign up for another year, which was through August,” Holmoe said. “So if you needed me until that day, I’m in. But it’s probably better for everyone to get it sooner than later, and that’s a good thing. So if it takes a week or a month or whatever time it is, when the AD comes in and asks for the keys to my office, I’ll give ’em to them and then maybe I’ll be selling nachos at the Smith Fieldhouse for the rest of the time.”
There were tough times, but Holmoe said the strength of his management team and a strong alumni base got him through.
“In about my fifth or sixth year, I came home one day and said, ‘I can’t do this job. This is just way to hard. I’m not sure I’m really built for this job.'” he said.
He leaned on current Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, and former Cougar greats like Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid and Jazz executive Danny Ainge during difficult times.
“We just have this team of talent in our alums that is seemingly endless,” Holmoe said. “They don’t just call and say, ‘Good luck.’ They’re in it all the way. There are going to be difficulties every day and we like taking them on. It’s hard when it happens, but we’re always reminded when you get through it, it will be sweet.”
Reese said the search for Holmoe’s replacement has already begun.
“The formal search will focus on an individual who absolutely loves BYU, someone who bleeds blue,” Reese said. “It will also focus on our distinct mission of both athletic excellence and spiritual development. In President Spencer W. Kimball’s prophetic address about BYU’s second century, He said, ‘Until we have climbed the hill just before us, we are not apt to be given a glimpse of what lies beyond. The hills ahead are higher than we think.’ Tom has climbed some remarkable hills, I would suggest ‘mountains’ during his time as athletic director.”
Holmoe, who never signed a multi-year contract during his tenure, was surrounded by family, friends and coaches at the news conference and seemed at peace with his decision.
“I can only say BYU has blessed my life immensely,” he said. “I was passed the baton to play the role of BYU athletic director in 2005. I knew at the time it would not be my duty to finish the race or to break the tape, but instead to run a good race and be prepared to pass that baton to the next BYU AD at the right time.
“I believe strongly in our athletic future. I believe in the leaders that are in place right now the next few years will be very important decision-making times. Key strategies for the future that don’t even exist today will need to be made by a team and a leader that can guide beyond this present day. I don’t want to hold on too long or in any way diminish that greatness which lies ahead from BYU athletics.”
