Tom Holmoe

Tom Holmoe

Date of birth:	March 7, 1960 (1960-03-07) (age 49)
Place of birth:	Los Angeles, California
Career information
Position(s):	Safety
College:	Brigham Young University
NFL Draft:	1983 / Round: 4/ Pick 90
Organizations
As player:
1983-1989	San Francisco 49ers
Playing stats at DatabaseFootball.com

Thomas Allen Holmoe (born March 7, 1960 in Los Angeles, California) is a former college and professional American football defensive back and coach. He is the current athletic director at Brigham Young University.

College

After graduating from Crescenta Valley High School in La Crescenta, Calif. Holmoe played as a cornerback and safety at Brigham Young University from 1978-1982. As a sophomore in 1980, he led the Western Athletic Conference with seven interceptions. Holmoe went on to earn all-WAC honors as a senior in 1982. During his four years with the Cougars, BYU won four straight WAC titles.

Professional

Holmoe was drafted in the fourth round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. He played seven seasons for the 49ers, winning Super Bowls with the team in 1984, 1988 and 1989, before retiring due to a knee injury.

Coaching

After retiring from pro football, Holmoe entered the coaching ranks, having been urged by LaVell Edwards to return to BYU as a graduate assistant. In 1992, Holmoe accepted an offer from Bill Walsh to join his staff at Stanford University as the defensive backs coach. Holmoe remained at Stanford for two seasons, helping the Cardinal become the Pac-10 co-conference champions in 1992 with a 10-3 overall record, including a win over Penn State in the Blockbuster Bowl.

Holmoe then returned to the 49ers, serving as George Seifert's defensive backfield coach for two seasons, where he coached such superstars as Deion Sanders, Merton Hanks, and Eric Davis. As defensive backfield coach, he won a fourth Super Bowl in 1994. Two years later in 1996, Holmoe joined the University of California, Berkeley staff as defensive coordinator under Steve Mariucci.

Following Mariucci's departure to the NFL, Holmoe assumed duties as head coach of the Golden Bears' football program from 1997. He was, by his own admission, an unsuccessful coach.^[1] During his five year tenure at Cal, he compiled a 16-39 record, including a 9-31 record in Pac-10 play and a 1-10 season in 2001, the worst in the Golden Bears' history. Holmoe went 0-5 against archrival Stanford and failed to reach a bowl game as head coach. In addition, the NCAA banned Cal from postseason play in 2002, took away nine scholarships over four years, forced Cal to forfeit its four victories from the 1999 season due to ineligible players, and placed the program on five years of probation due to violations during Holmoe's reign. When Jeff Tedford led the Bears to a 7-5 record in 2002, they were not allowed to play in a bowl game.

Coaching record

*Cal finished 4-7 (3-5 in conference), but later forfeited the wins due to use of ineligible players

Athletic Administration

After resigning from Cal, Holmoe returned to Brigham Young to serve as Associate Athletic Director. In March 2005, he was appointed the 12th Athletic Director of the University, and the first to oversee both men's and women's athletics. Under his leadership, the Cougars have achieved enormous success, winning 14 conference championships in the 2006-2007 academic year alone. Holmoe has had particular success with his two most conspicuous coaching hires, BYU head football coach Bronco Mendenhall, who has led BYU's football team back to national prominence, and head men's basketball coach Dave Rose, who has returned BYU's men's basketball team to consistent Mountain West Conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances.

Personal

Holmoe is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He lives in Provo, Utah, with his wife Lori and their four children. His brother, Steve Holmoe, was a strong safety at UCLA before sustaining a career-ending injury. Steve Holmoe now resides in Glendale, California, as a physical education teacher and assistant football coach at Glendale High School.

Notes