BYU’s Tom Holmoe Earns Prestigious Athletic Director Award
Nov 8, 2023, 11:13 AM
BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe will receive the John L. Toner Award in Las Vegas. (Megan Nielsen, Deseret News)
(Megan Nielsen, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe will be honored with one of the top awards for an athletic director in college athletics.
On Tuesday, the National Football Foundation announced that Holmoe will receive the John L. Toner Award. It’s an award given to ADs who have demonstrated superior administrative abilities and shown outstanding dedication to college athletics and particularly college football.
Congratulations @TomHolmoe!
Named 2023 recipient of NFF John L. Toner Award for excellence in athletics administration today, Holmoe has led @BYUCougars with a singular passion for helping student-athletes pursue their dreams!https://t.co/GV82ChLlum pic.twitter.com/CAu9zAJbYa
— National Football Foundation (@NFFNetwork) November 8, 2023
The award is named in honor of John L. Toner, a former athletics director and football coach at UConn.
Tom Holmoe to receive John L. Toner Award
Tom Holmoe has been in the athletic director chair at BYU since March 1, 2005. His crowning achievement was landing BYU into the Big 12 Conference. The Cougars are competing in their first-ever Big 12 season this fall.
“I’m humbled and honored to be recognized for what I’ve given to the sport of football when I feel so blessed for what football has given me,” said Tom Holmoe. “For the last 53 years, I have always been part of a football team whether as a player, coach or AD. Leading up to each and every game, my heart still beats faster in anticipation of The Game. I’m grateful to all my coaches and teammates who taught me the game of football from Pop Warner and high school to college and the NFL, and I thank the NFF for promoting the greatest sport on earth.”
Along with being an athletic director at BYU, Holmoe has made other contributions to college football as a former safety for BYU in the late 70s and early 80s. Then, he was the head coach at Cal Berkeley.
“For nearly 20 years, Tom Holmoe has led BYU athletics with a singular passion for helping student-athletes pursue their dreams in one of the top educational environments in the country,” said National Football Foundation President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “As a former safety at BYU and then a head coach at Cal, he knows firsthand the keys to success at the college level, and his thoughtful and methodical approach has allowed him to become one of the most influential athletics administrators in the country. We are thrilled to honor him as the 2023 Toner Award recipient.”
Holmoe will be officially honored on December 5 at the 65th annual NFF Awards Dinner. It will take place in Las Vegas at the ARIA Resort & Casino.
Athletic Directors who have received the NFF John L. Toner Award
2023 – Tom Holmoe (BYU)
2022 – Mitch Barnhart (Oregon State, Kentucky)
2020 – Jack Swarbrick (Notre Dame)
2019 – Deborah Yow (Saint Louis, Maryland, NC State)
2018 – Thomas Beckett (Yale)
2018 – Bob Scalise (Harvard)
2017 – Dan Guerrero (Cal State Dominguez Hills, UC Irvine, UCLA)
2016 – Chet Gladchuk (Tulane, Boston College, Houston, Navy)
2015 – Mark Hollis (Michigan State)
2014 – Kevin White (Main, Tulane, Arizona State, Notre Dame, Duke)
2013 – Joe Castiglione (Missouri, Oklahoma)
2012 – Mal Moore (Alabama)
2010 – Robert E. Mulcahy III (Rutgers)
2009 – Jim Weaver (UNLV, Western Michigan, Virginia Tech)
2008 – Gene Smith (Eastern Michigan, Iowa State, Arizona State, Ohio State)
2007 – Jeremy Foley (Florida)
2006 – DeLoss Dodds (Kansas State, Texas)
2005 – Jack Lengyel (Fresno State, Missouri, Navy)
2004 – Vince Dooley (Georgia)
2003 – John Clune (Air Force)
2003 – Andy Geiger (Brown, Penn, Stanford, Maryland, Ohio State)
2002 – Bill Byrne (Oregon, Nebraska, Texas A&M)
2001 – Milo R. “Mike” Lunde (Kent State, Washington, Auburn)
2000 – Frank Broyles (Arkansas)
1999 – Jake Crouthamel (Syracuse)
1999 – David M. Nelson (Delaware)
1998 – Doug Dickey (Tennessee)
1997 – John L. Toner (UConn)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X and Threads: @Mitch_Harper.
