What KSL Sports Hosts Are Saying About Tom Holmoe Retirement
Feb 11, 2025, 6:30 PM | Updated: Feb 12, 2025, 12:09 pm
PROVO, Utah- After 20 years as the Director of Athletics for the BYU Cougars, Tom Holmoe will retire following the current athletic calendar, which will come to an end in the Summer of 2025.
Holmoe’s retirement became the topic of conversation across the Wasatch Front, with KSL Sports’ hosts getting in on the discussion.
Thank You, Tom.
After 20 years of service as BYU’s director of athletics, Tom Holmoe has announced that he will retire at the end of the 2024-25 athletic season.
Tom lifted BYU to unprecedented heights during his tenure, leaving an undeniable legacy that will last forever. pic.twitter.com/65Okewta7K
— BYU Cougars (@BYUCougars) February 11, 2025
KSL Sports Hosts React To The Tom Holmoe Retirement News
Sam Farnsworth, KSL Sports Anchor: “All great things eventually come to an end. For 20 years Tom Holmoe captained the BYU ship through some tumultuous times as well as through some of the greatest successes in BYU athletics history. Holmoe was the right man at the right time to be BYU’s AD. And just when BYU was reaching summits never before seen in Provo, it came to an end.
I’d bet my first reaction is similar to most of Cougar Nation. “Who’s next?” Holmoe did so much in a time of rapid evolution and now he leaves enormous shoes to fill with even bigger goals and responsibilities on the horizon for whoever takes over. For the hiring committee, the pressure is on. They can’t mess this one up.
No matter what is next for Holmoe, I still expect to see a Halloween costume on social media each year. Happy Retirement, Tom.”
Jeremiah Jensen, KSL Sports Anchor: “We look back on the last 20 years and the difficult and treacherous waters that had to be navigated for that BYU athletic program, and for it now to be a Power Four school, Tom Holmoe deserves so much credit for what he was able to accomplish at BYU as the athletics director.”
Jake Scott, Co-host of Jake and Ben: “Tom Holmoe is one of the great colligate athletic directors if all time. He rebuilt a once great football program, he built a sweet 16 basketball program, he boldly led the university through a once-in-a-hundred-year pandemic, and led BYU into the Big 12.
Tom was my first big interview, as a 23-year-old reporter, when he was a candidate for the job he is retiring from now, he treated me with respect and kindness from day one. Good luck Tom in your next phase, you deserve it.”
Ben Anderson, Utah Jazz Insider, Co-host of Jake and Ben: “During his tenure, Tom Holmoe helped BYU navigate a nearly impossible era of football independence back to the forefront of the sport in the Big 12.
Holmoe’s optimism about the athletic department helped the school persevere through rough waters for years on end, and has now pushed BYU to the cutting edge of the college landscape.
More simply, Holmoe is leaving BYU a much better place than he found it.”
Hans Olsen, Co-host of Hans and Scotty G.: “He’s just a beast. He’s a complete animal. He’s driven by wins, driven by winning periods. Whether it’s the four Super Bowls he won with the 49ers, or putting together Big 12 scheduling and getting BYU into the Big 12, he’s just a winner. He’s been an amazing part of what’s made BYU great over the past 20 seasons… Tom Holmoe did some amazing things at BYU.”
Scott Garrard, Co-host of Hans and Scotty G.: “You can’t tell the story of BYU athletics, especially BYU in the Big 12, without Tom Holmoe’s name attached to it… There was a moment there where it was either going to be Tom Holmoe or Peter Pilling were going to be the Athletic Director… and ultimately Tom gets the job, Bronco Mendenhall becomes his coach… [BYU] needed a real hard, sharp correction to try to get their name back and established as someplace that does not get caught up in the weeds… Tom led them through that.”
Patrick Kinahan, Co-host of DJ and PK: “[Tom Holmoe] was the face of the athletic program, and he needed to be there through the transition that they had, obviously independence in football… and then move them into the Big 12… The people above him loved the fact that he played on Super Bowl-winning teams… he knew how to speak to people, and tell them stories, and bring them in a little bit on the inside.”
