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Memorable BYU Athletics Moments During Tom Holmoe Era

Feb 11, 2025, 6:38 PM | Updated: Feb 12, 2025, 12:10 pm

PROVO, Utah – BYU athletics have experienced many highs during the Tom Holmoe era.

Holmoe, who was the athletic director for 20 years at BYU, announced that he would be retiring at the end of the 2024-25 athletic year.

Here’s a look at the memorable moments during Holmoe’s tenure as BYU’s athletic director.

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.

April 2005: Dave Rose hired as Men’s Basketball Coach

Steve Cleveland departed to take the head coach position at Fresno State. BYU stayed on Cleveland’s bench to hire the next men’s basketball coach, elevating assistant Dave Rose as the new headman.

Rose was the head coach from 2005 to 2019, posting a record of 348-135.

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.

September 1, 2010: BYU declares football independence, joins WCC in Olympic sports

BYU athletics took the road less traveled. BYU declared its football independence after being left out of the Pac-12 and Big 12 conference expansion.

BYU researched this move for a handful of years, but it quickly became a reality after rival Utah was invited to the PAC-12 Conference.

While football was set to carve out its own road as an FBS Independent, the Olympic sports would initially join the WAC. That plan was blown up after the MWC invited Fresno State, Nevada, and other WAC members to join. BYU then had all of its Olympic sports join the West Coast Conference.

March 2011: BYU men’s basketball reaches Sweet 16

Jimmer Fredette was the nation’s best player, and the nation couldn’t get enough. Even without star Brandon Davies in the post, Fredette led the Cougars to their first Sweet 16 since 1981.

2014: BYU women’s volleyball reaches National Championship Game

Behind All-American Jennifer Hamson, BYU women’s volleyball reached the National Championship Game before falling to Penn State in the title.

December 4, 2015: Bronco Mendenhall takes the head coach position at Virginia

After 11 seasons as BYU football head coach, Bronco Mendenhall left to take the same position at the University of Virginia. As BYU’s head coach, Mendenhall won 99 games and two conference championships.

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.

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.

December 2016: Marriott Center Annex completed

BYU basketball head coach Dave Rose dreamed of having a practice facility designed for only the men’s and women’s basketball teams. That dream came to fruition in December 2016 when BYU completed construction on the Marriott Center Annex that was connected to the Marriott Center.

April 2017: NCAA Office of Inclusion visits BYU

Amy Wilson from the NCAA’s Office of Inclusion visited BYU in 2017. The visit was centered around sparking thoughts about diversity and inclusion.

2019: Dave Rose retires / Mark Pope hired as BYU basketball coach

Dave Rose announced his retirement after 14 seasons as the BYU men’s basketball head coach. BYU filled the shoes left behind by Rose with former Utah Valley head coach Mark Pope.

2019: Men’s Cross Country wins National Championship

BYU defeated cross country rival Northern Arizona for the 2019 NCAA National Championship.

2020: BYU football puts together an 11-1 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 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.

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.

2021: BYU Women’s Soccer Reaches First College Cup

After years of making deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, BYU women’s soccer finally broke through and reached the College Cup.

The 2021 squad reached the National Championship Game before falling to Florida State on penalty kicks.

2023-2024: Year one in Big 12

On July 1, 2023, BYU officially joined the Big 12 Conference. The school hosted a midnight celebration, a fan fest, and other activities to ring in the new era of BYU athletics.

April 2024: BYU basketball hires Kevin Young as head coach

After five seasons leading BYU men’s basketball, Mark Pope left for the head coach position at his alma mater, Kentucky.

BYU administrators acted quickly to hire Pope’s replacement, and they landed Phoenix Suns assistant coach Kevin Young as the next head coach.

2024: Men’s & Women’s Outdoor Cross Country National Championships

Last November, it was a clean sweep as BYU men’s and women’s outdoor cross country teams won National Championships.

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 he would retire at the end of the 2024-25 athletic year.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.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.

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