Who Could Replace Tom Holmoe As BYU’s Athletic Director?
Feb 11, 2025, 8:52 PM | Updated: Feb 12, 2025, 12:11 pm
PROVO, Utah – BYU needs a new athletic director. The faith-based institution hasn’t had to say that in 20 years.
BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe announced on Tuesday, while in Morgantown, West Virginia, with the men’s basketball team, that he would retire at the end of the 2024-25 athletic year.
It concludes an impressive two-decade run that began in the Mountain West Conference and ended in a power league, the Big 12, with 12 years as a football independent.
Over those 20 years, college athletics has changed drastically.
College athletics is about to welcome the revenue-sharing era next fall. The desire to gather as much media rights dollars as possible isn’t slowing down. The same goes for concerns over NIL, the transfer portal, and finding new revenue streams to remain competitive on and off the field.
It’s a big job.
Potential BYU athletic director candidates
What direction does BYU go?
Here are some individuals who might receive a call from BYU President Shane Reese and Advancement VP Keith Vorkink.
Brian Santiago, BYU Deputy Athletic Director
Santiago has been Tom Holmoe’s right-hand man for years. He has been in the athletic department since 2001 and currently oversees men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, tennis, and golf.
Santiago played a key role in the hiring process for BYU basketball to land head coach Kevin Young.
He was also involved in the long-term extension given to BYU football head coach Kalani Sitake. Santiago has more institutional knowledge of the BYU AD role than anyone else. Will that be enough for him to get the job?
Liz Darger, BYU Sr. Associate Athletic Director/SWA
Darger has been involved in BYU’s athletic department since 2015. She is currently the Senior Woman Administrator and regularly attends Big 12 meetings involving school presidents, ADs, and SWAs.
Commissioner Brett Yormark and Women’s Basketball VP Dayne Scherf nominated Darger to represent the league on the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee beginning this season.
Darger is a NCAA Common Ground Leadership Team member, which explores how faith-based and LGBTQ communities can work cohesively in college sports.
The one question about Darger is how she would fare on football-related concerns. Her background is primarily in women’s basketball and Olympic sports.
Chad Lewis, BYU Associate AD – Development
Holmoe’s job before being elevated to Athletic Director twenty years ago was Associate AD for Development. The man currently occupying that role is Chad Lewis.
Lewis is a BYU football great and was a teammate with Kalani Sitake when BYU’s head coach was a freshman in 1994.
The former NFL tight end has been at BYU since 2010. He was inducted into the BYU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007.
Before joining BYU’s athletic department, Lewis was an NFL ambassador in Taiwan, Singapore, and Thailand.
He works closely with BYU’s Cougar Club and brings energy to inspire people to donate to Cougar Athletics.
Jared Sumsion, Utah Valley University Athletic Director
If BYU looks outside its department, it could consider hiring UVU athletic director Dr. Jared Sumsion. Sumsion has been the AD chair at Utah Valley since 2019.
One notable aspect of Sumsion’s candidacy is that he has been a strong fundraiser. Utah Valley is currently building a $28.5 million soccer stadium right off of I-15.
Sumsion was the interim athletic director when UVU hired former men’s basketball coach Mark Madsen. Since Madsen left for Cal, Sumsion hired Todd Phillips, who currently has the Wolverines atop the WAC standings this season.
Marc Hill, University of Kentucky Deputy Athletic Director
Hill has been at the University of Kentucky for 25 years. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During BYU basketball’s head coaching search last April, Hill had a quote post on X replying to BYUtv’s Jarom Jordan that Hill is a member of a Lexington LDS Stake Presidency; he wrote, “Please know this; our family bleeds all versions of blue and white. Love the Cats. Love the Cougs. Wishing you the very best on the search.”
Please know this; our family bleeds all versions of blue and white. Love the Cats. Love the Cougs. Wishing you the very best on the search. https://t.co/xkkZMeuadB
— Marc Hill (@Marcus_D_Hill) April 13, 2024
Hill has been the right-hand man to Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart for the past four years.
Peter Pilling, Columbia Athletic Director
When Tom Holmoe was elevated to BYU’s athletic director post in 2005, Peter Pilling was one of the candidates.
An alum of BYU’s 1984 class, Pilling became the Vice President of IMG College after his time in BYU’s athletic department. Then, in 2015, Pilling was hired as the athletics director at Columbia University in the Ivy League. Pilling remains in that role today.
Business/Media executive
BYU hired oil business executive Rondo Fehlberg as its athletic director thirty years ago. This was an unconventional hire for a school not known for taking risks. Fehlberg was aggressive and forward-thinking.
When you consider college sports today and the money involved with revenue sharing on the horizon, NIL not slowing down, and more media rights money than BYU has ever experienced as they settle into Big 12 life, why not go back to the future and turn to a business executive to run the athletic department?
BYU has always boasted a strong network of alums. Could they use that network to find a successful CEO who is passionate about BYU athletics?
Look around college athletics today. Two of the four Power Conference Commissioners were outside of college athletics before stepping into their positions—case in point: Big 12 Conference Commissioner Brett Yormark.
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.
