Tom Holmoe’s Coaching Hires At BYU Put Him Among Best Non-Power 5 ADs Nationally
Jun 25, 2020, 10:54 AM | Updated: 11:14 am
PROVO, Utah – Outside of the Power 5 conferences, BYU Athletics Director Tom Holmoe is among the best in college sports according to Stadium.
Stadium’s Brett McMurphy and Jeff Goodman ranked the best Non-Power 5 Athletic Directors and Holmoe was ranked number three on the list. Here’s what the two college insiders had to say about Holmoe’s tenure at BYU that dates back to 2005.
BYU AD Tom Holmoe made two monster hires in his first year in Bronco Mendenhall and Dave Rose. After three consecutive losing seasons (2002-04) under football coach Gary Crowton, Holmoe promoted defensive coordinator Bronco Mendenhall. Before BYU went independent, Mendenhall won two Mountain West titles in six years. Overall in Mendenhall’s 11 seasons, he went to 11 bowl games and had five double-digit win seasons before leaving for Virginia after the 2015 season. Rose, in 14 seasons, made eight NCAA Tournaments and won four Mountain West titles.
During Holmoe’s tenure as BYU Athletics Director, he has helped BYU transition from the Mountain West Conference to Football Independence and an affiliation with the West Coast Conference.
How would you grade Tom Holmoe's coaching hires during his time as #BYU's AD since 2005? @kslsports https://t.co/vvJmwUQfnY
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) June 25, 2020
One of the longest-tenured ADs in college athletics, Holmoe’s athletic department had unprecedented success during the 2019-20 academic year until the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down.
BYU finished fifth in the final fall rankings for the Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup Standings, highlighted by a National Championship in Men’s Cross Country. The first National Championship during Holmoe’s tenure as Athletics Director.
The most recent hires made by Holmoe in the two major sports are Kalani Sitake in football and Mark Pope in basketball. Sitake has posted a 27-25 record through four years leading the BYU Football program. After one season, the decision to hire Mark Pope by Holmoe and Associate Athletic Director Brian Santiago is paying off immediately as Pope led the Cougars to a 24-8 record in his first year as head coach.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
