BYU Will Conduct National Search For Next Athletics Director
Feb 12, 2025, 5:38 PM | Updated: Feb 13, 2025, 10:32 am
PROVO, Utah – BYU President C. Shane Reese must do something his mentor, Kevin J. Worthen, never had to do: hire an athletic director.
No BYU President has been tasked with that challenge since 2005 when Cecil O. Samuelson was in charge.
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It’s been a while.
A new era of BYU athletics was here once Tom Holmoe made it official to Reese and Advancement VP Keith Vorkink to retire after 20 years of leading the athletic department.
Tom Holmoe’s retirement brings to a close a 20-year era of BYU athletics
Since becoming President of the faith-based university in 2023, Reese has displayed a passion for BYU sports. Now, he must find a successor to 20-year AD Tom Holmoe, who announced his retirement this week.
“We’re grateful that Tom (Holmoe) has agreed to help us during this transition as we work to appoint an athletic director who will build on the legacy of Christ-like leadership that Tom has set,” said President Reese on Wednesday. “We’ve already begun the formal search process for Tom’s replacement. This formal search will focus on an individual who absolutely loves BYU. Someone who bleeds Blue. It will also focus on our distinct mission of athletic excellence and spiritual development.”
Finding Holmoe’s will be no easy task. The former BYU football player, coach, and administrator led the department through football Independence and formed key relationships that helped BYU land a coveted power conference invite into the Big 12.
However, when Holmoe stepped into the AD chair in 2005, he left BYU in a far better place than where he started. He inherited an athletic department that always knew winning despite some losing years. But was able to get the athletic department into a strong place with successful head coaches in place in the revenue-generating sports (football and men’s basketball) and a committed booster base.
The next BYU AD will be viewed as a “successor” in the national search
While Reese noted that they were looking for Tom’s replacement, nobody can replace what Holmoe has accomplished at BYU.
“I don’t think you ever replace a man like Tom Holmoe. I think there’s a successor in this role,” said Reese. “But Tom Holmoe’s an irreplaceable athletic director; I go around and look at Big 12 schools, and that’s a rare individual. Then you look at the path that we’ve trod to get where we are as an athletic department, through independence to entry into the Big 12. It’s a remarkable tribute to an incredible career.”
BYU President Shane Reese said BYU will conduct a national search to find the successor to AD Tom Holmoe. pic.twitter.com/ciXptXJrQE
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 12, 2025
To find that successor, BYU said they would conduct a nationwide search.
“We’re definitely going to conduct a national search. We’re going to cast a broad net with the intent of getting the person who is passionate, who bleeds blue, and is committed to the mission.
“Tom talked about this, this alignment piece, understanding that we’re sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and our connection to our Board of Trustees, and having that alignment from top to bottom is an incredible asset. I would call it our strategic advantage,” Reese said. “I think it’s part of what led to some of the magic we saw with our cross-country teams this year. I think it’s what led to this magical football season that we’ve had. It’s the magic of this athletic program. And I think that alignment matters critically.”
Holmoe is confident that President Reese is ready to find the next AD
Tom Holmoe is expected to conclude his tenure as BYU’s athletic director at the end of the 2024-25 athletics season, which typically occurs in May. However, he did note on Wednesday that he is under contract until August if he needs to continue helping until then.
Holmoe endorsed Reese’s leadership as Reese moves forward in the process to find BYU’s next Athletic Director.
“One of the things that is super encouraging for me is the day that I came to President (Reese) and we talked this out. He did ask me if I wanted to stay, but he knew that I had made my decision. I think it’s important to note that, soon after, I knew … that he had already turned the page and he was ready to go, and that made me feel so good,” Tom Holmoe said. “He can’t wallow in what was. We’re looking ahead right now. This is a really good time to make a transition. Transitions are part of sport. Change is part of sport, and it’s oftentimes very good. It can be tough, but it’s good.
“I love the fact, and I’ll report this to all of our coaches and our staff, is that President is ready to go. We’re going to turn the page. The baton will be handed to a new AD and we’ll hit the ground running. That’s what I wanted. That’s what President wanted, and I think that’s what all of Cougar Nation wants.”
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
