Former BYU AD Tom Holmoe Honored At Football Game Against Stanford
Sep 6, 2025, 8:25 PM
Former BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe served as the "Y Lighter" before BYU football's game against the Stanford Cardinal. (Isaac Hale, Deseret News)
(Isaac Hale, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – Former BYU Athletics Director Tom Holmoe is being honored by the school on Saturday night as he serves as the “Y Lighter” for tonight’s game against Stanford.
BYU is hosting the Stanford Cardinal at LaVell Edwards Stadium for the second time in program history on Saturday, September 6.
BYU vs. Stanford: Live Updates, Analysis, And More From Provo
Former BYU AD Tom Holmoe is tonight’s “Y Lighter.” pic.twitter.com/bZXQwmPc6R
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 7, 2025
Holmoe retired at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.
March 1, 2005: Tom Holmoe hired as Athletic Director
After four years as an associate athletic director of Development, Tom Holmoe was appointed BYU’s athletic director. BYU’s men’s and women’s teams were under one athletic director for the first time.
2006: First MWC Championship for BYU football under Bronco Mendenhall
BYU football wins a Mountain West Conference championship for the first time in five years. It was the first conference title under head coach Bronco Mendenhall.
2007: Last conference championship for BYU football
BYU won back-to-back Mountain West Conference championships in 2007. It remains the last conference championship for the football program.
December 19, 2015: Kalani Sitake hired as BYU football head coach
After BYU lost to rival Utah at the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl, BYU announced former fullback Kalani Sitake would be the program’s new head coach.
Thank You Tom 💙 pic.twitter.com/QGxgxVTede
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) September 7, 2025
Summer 2016: Big 12 explores expansion
Former Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and Oklahoma President David Boren announced that the 10-team league would explore expansion.
The league ultimately resisted expansion. However, during the process, schools like BYU were able to present to Big 12 administrators in Irving, Texas.
Those presentations proved valuable years later when the Big 12 needed to add schools to stabilize the league.
2020: BYU football puts together an 11-1 record amidst the COVID-19 pandemic
A global pandemic created one of the memorable moments in Tom Holmoe’s tenure as BYU athletic director.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 decided to suspend their football seasons due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. As an Independent, BYU never considered suspending its season despite having matchups against Pac-12 and Big Ten programs on the schedule.
BYU pushed through and played a 12-game season that featured Tom Holmoe lining up scheduling agreements throughout the season.
The Cougars finished 11-1 and dominated many of their opponents. Despite the dominating performances, the College Football Playoff committee was not impressed with BYU’s weak strength of schedule. But they didn’t factor in that no conference was willing to schedule the Cougars.
In an effort to play in a New Year’s Six bowl game, BYU stepped in for Liberty, who had a COVID-19 outbreak, in a College Gameday matchup against Coastal Carolina. The decision to play Coastal Carolina was 72 hours before kickoff.
BYU’s lone loss in 2020 was against Coastal. Despite the loss, it is one of the most memorable seasons in BYU football history.
December 2024: Kalani Sitake signs “long-term” extension
BYU football head coach Kalani Sitake signed a long-term contract extension that would keep him as the leader of Cougar football into the heart of their tenure in the Big 12 Conference.
February 11, 2025: Tom Holmoe announces retirement
After 20 years as the BYU athletic director, Tom Holmoe announced his retirement at the end of the 2024-25 athletic year.
September 10, 2021: BYU officially invited to Big 12 Conference
Texas and Oklahoma shocked the sports world by leaving the Big 12 and declaring their intention to move to the SEC.
Suddenly, the Big 12 needed to expand.
Former Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby immediately made a call to Tom Holmoe and BYU.
BYU was one of four new additions to the power conference, joining the league alongside UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston.
BYU Cougars 2025 Schedule (1-0, 0-0)
- Portland State Vikings @ BYU Cougars | 69-0
- Saturday, September 6 – Stanford Cardinal @ BYU Cougars |
- BYE
- Saturday, September 20 – BYU Cougars @ East Carolina Pirates | Kickoff TBA
- Saturday, September 27 – BYU Cougars @ Colorado Buffaloes | Kickoff 8:15 p.m. MT
- Friday, October 3 – West Virginia Mountaineers @ BYU Cougars | Kickoff 8:30 p.m. MT
- Saturday, October 11 – BYU Cougars @ Arizona Wildcats | Kickoff TBA
- Saturday, October 18 – Utah Utes @ BYU Cougars | Kickoff TBA
- Saturday, October 25 – BYU Cougars @ Iowa State Cyclones | Kickoff TBA
- BYE
- Saturday, November 8 – BYU Cougars @ Texas Tech Red Raiders | Kickoff TBA
- Saturday, November 15 – TCU Horned Frogs @ BYU Cougars | Kickoff TBA
- Saturday, November 22 – BYU Cougars @ Cincinnati Bearcats | Kickoff TBA
- Saturday, November 29 – UCF Knights @ BYU Cougars | Kickoff TBA
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Find BYU’s entire 2025 football schedule here.
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.
Follow the BYU Cougars with KSL Sports here.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X, Instagram, and BlueSky at @bpreece24.
