Tom Holmoe On Decision To Retire As BYU’s AD, What’s Next
Feb 12, 2025, 4:39 PM | Updated: Feb 13, 2025, 10:33 am
PROVO, Utah— Hours after returning home from a cross-country flight in Morgantown, West Virginia, to watch BYU men’s basketball defeat the Mountaineers, Tom Holmoe spoke for the first time on Wednesday about his decision to retire after 20 years as the BYU athletic director.
BYU’s prominent athletic department figures attended to watch Holmoe and President Shane Reese discuss the end of an era in Cougar athletics.
Tom Holmoe, along with BYU President Reese, at his official retirement announcement pic.twitter.com/VccvjoDGyc
— Patrick Kinahan (@PKKinahan) February 12, 2025
Those individuals included BYU football coach Kalani Sitake, men’s basketball coach Kevin Young, Deputy AD Brian Santiago, Associate AD Chad Lewis, and prominent alumni Danny Ainge and Ryan Smith.
Tom Holmoe knew 2024-25 would be his last year
Many people’s questions entering Wednesday’s news conference were: Why now for Holmoe, who was a prominent figure in guiding BYU athletics to the Big 12 Conference?
BYU AD Tom Holmoe said that last July is when he decided the 2024-25 athletic year would be his last.
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 12, 2025
That was the first question asked during the 21-minute Q&A session for the media. Holmoe said he knew in July that the 2024-25 athletic year would be his last.
“I made the decision in July of this year. The last couple of years I’ve had to seriously contemplate, and my wife and I made the decision for a couple of years that, ‘Let’s go one more. Let’s go one more. Let’s go another.’ Sometime this summer, I’m not sure about the exact date; I just had a really strong impression that it was time. I talked to some people through long years, and they would say, you’ll know when the time is right. And it was in July.
“I think my bosses wanted me to give them a little bit more time, like a year, and I just didn’t feel that I could do that. Sorry, President (Reese). So at that time, my wife and I talked about it, and I went to her, and we talked it out, had a little debate, threw a few things at each other, and decided, finally, after a week, that we’re on the same page. At that point in time, I told my children, and they said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ And I said, ‘Look, whether we go 0-12 or 12-0 in football, this is my last season, but we’re not going to go 0-12.’ I knew it.”
What’s next?
Holmoe will work until August, if needed when his current one-year contract expires. BYU’s press release said he would remain athletic director until the end of the athletic year. The current athletic year ends in May.
When asked what’s next for him, Holmoe joked he might be “selling nachos at the Smith Field House” soon. But he did note that he plans to remain a supporter of BYU athletics.
“… I’ll be in the stands with some of our donors and sponsors and friends and Cougar Nation, and I’ll have plenty of opinions that I can state in the stands that I can’t really state right as the AD.”
Holmoe plans to help in any way he can with the search for BYU’s next athletic director. President Shane Reese said that BYU will conduct a national search that will feature a “broad net” of candidates who are “passionate” and “bleed blue” for BYU athletics.
Could Brian Santiago be the next BYU Athletic Director?
The 20-year athletic director potentially indirectly endorsed who he might want to see in his chair next that’s Brian Santiago.
Tom Holmoe mentioned he’s given a lot of strength and power to Deputy AD Brian Santiago.
“…my right hand man, wing man, B. Santiago, and I’ve been giving him a lot of strength.” pic.twitter.com/P1CTf5cSBB
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 12, 2025
“I have in the last year and maybe even two, subconsciously knowing that this was going to come to an end soon, I’ve been turning over a lot of strength and power to my team. And I have a right-hand man, a wingman, B. Santiago, and I’ve been giving him a lot of strength,” Holmoe said when asked how much BYU’s NIL and Revenue Sharing aspects are in place for the department.
“In this NIL, and House (v. NCAA case), and these things, we are working every single day to plan for the future,” Holmoe added. “So it’s not like we’re going to start from scratch. We’re down the road quite a bit. They will make adjustments when I’m not here because I’ll be gone, and that’s a good thing to be able to have people look at things in a different way. I’m totally confident that the shifts and the moves and how it changes will happen naturally and in a normal way, and we got this.”
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.
