BYU AD Tom Holmoe Discussed Cougars Athletic Success At Education Week

PROVO, Utah – An annual summertime tradition returned on the Brigham Young University campus on Wednesday with BYU AD Tom Holmoe speaking at Education Week.

#BYU Education Week class with AD @TomHolmoe is about to begin.#GoCougs pic.twitter.com/3U0WkMRwh1

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 18, 2021

Holmoe addressed a large gathering of 350 Education Week attendees at the Tanner Building’s J. Earl & Elaine B. Garrett Auditorium. Roughly 80 more than Holmoe usually sees at the Tanner Building.

Here are some of the notable talking points that Holmoe addressed in the slideshow presentation, along with a 10-minute Q&A session with the Education Week attendees.

BYU’s All-In Campaign

Holmoe started things off with the All-In Campaign. BYU athletics announced last year that they were facing a $20 million shortfall. Through donations from BYU fans, alums, and donors, the athletic department raised over $15 million through the campaign.

Holmoe’s slideshow featured a rundown of the states that had the most donors. Here’s the top 10 donating states.

1. Utah – 3,700 (donors)

2. California – 405

3. Idaho – 308

4. Texas – 258

5. Arizona – 245

6. Washington – 185

7. Nevada – 124

8. Colorado – 110

9. Ohio – 82

10. Oregon – 81

#1 Economy in the nation

Holmoe highlights that the state of Utah has the #1 Economy in the nation.

“We bring in kids from all over the country. So this is real for us. …We’re strong and we’re on a trajectory that’s very, very solid.”#BYU @kslsports

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) August 18, 2021

Name, Image, and Likeness – Built 4 Life

Holmoe celebrated BYU’s success with Built 4 Life. A NIL initiative launched with BYU’s football team and will spread throughout the rest of the athletic department.

“We want to have each player on our football team be mentored by a CEO in Utah,” Holmoe said. “Wait a second, you’re trying to tell me we have 123 players on the team, and we can find 123 CEOs to mentor them? Is that what I just said? That’s what we want to do. You might think, ‘you can’t do that.’ We’ll try. We’ll give it a shot and we’ll get a bunch of them. Already, we have a bunch happening.”

Holmoe said BYU football wants to have a CEO (if the student-athlete wants) mentor each player throughout their college careers.#BYU #BYUFootball @kslsports

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) August 18, 2021

Tom Holmoe highlights BYU’s National Champion Teams

Tom Holmoe celebrated the national championships from Women’s Cross Country, men’s athlete Conner Mantz, women’s track & field Anna Camp-Bennett, and the Cougarettes.

#BYU’s National Champion teams from the previous school years are being celebrated by Tom Holmoe.

Cross Country, Track & Field, and the Cougarettes all claimed titles. #GoCougs

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 18, 2021

BYU Football in 2020

Tom Holmoe on #BYU football in 2020: “From my experience, the best football teams are the ones that come together. Everybody coming together. Each player was happy for the success of others.”#BYUFootball #GoCougs

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 18, 2021

Fans back in stadiums

On the slideshow, Tom Holmoe got a bit emotional seeing a picture of LaVell Edwards Stadium that highlighted fans are welcomed back at LES in 2021. Fans applauded when Holmoe said, “we announced it; you’re coming back.”

Holmoe added, “But we all have a responsibility in this. … There are all kinds of difficulties, challenges, and hurdles that face us this year.”

Holmoe on navigating the pandemic this upcoming year: “We’re doing everything we can to make sure that our kids are healthy, and they stay healthy.”#BYU #GoCougs

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 18, 2021

To keep everyone safe, Holmoe noted that teams are wearing masks indoors during team meetings.

BYU Basketball

“One of the greatest recruiting efforts of Mark Pope’s career was getting Alex Barcello back. Terrific leader, great player, terrific BYU student-athlete. Love that kid,” said Holmoe. “He has sacrificed so much for the team, and he does so much for them. It’s going to be a fun year.”

Learfield Cup standings – #17

BYU finished 17th nationally in the Learfield Cup standings as an athletic department. The highest finish since the 2000-2001 academic year. It was the third-highest finish in BYU athletics history.

“I’m so excited about this year. Because of COVID, we were able to bring back a lot of our super seniors. And those are kids that missed a season, and they had a choice to come back. Many BYU student-athletes chose not to come back. Why? Married, graduated, have a job. …Some we’re in situations where they decided they wanted to come back and play. So here they are. We’ve got a number of players back that are going to be really good players. And it should be a good year for all of the Cougars [sports teams].”

End of the slideshow; Attendees Q&A

Holmoe’s slideshow began around 11:10 a.m. (MT) and ran till 11:51 a.m. He then turned to the audience for questions.

Some of the questions consisted of what Holmoe thinks is the official BYU color; navy blue or royal blue? Holmoe replied, “Blue.”

Both Navy and Royal are on BYU’s official color brands.

Another attendee asked Holmoe how he was going to keep Mark Pope at BYU. Holmoe highlighted relationships. Then said, if Pope ever took the Duke job one day, Holmoe would be the happiest guy in the world. Also jokingly said, “But as long as he’s here, we’re gonna ride that pony the best we can.”

An attendee asked Holmoe, “how are you going to keep Mark Pope [at BYU]?”

“If he ever takes a job at Duke someday, I’d be the happiest guy in the world. But as long as he’s here, we’re gonna ride that pony the best we can.”#BYU #BYUHoops

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 18, 2021

Holmoe concluded the class by giving fans 2021 posters featuring schedules of BYU’s athletic teams.

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 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.