great coaching hires, great program image and great NIL relationships is a stretch, IMHO.

He’s done some good and positive things. He should get credit where it is due. He’s done a few glaringly bad things (MtnTV deal, blame fans for WVB racism, for example)

BYU would have been invited to the B12 with Ronald McDonald in the AD chair.

If he’s responsible for the 2024 FB team, he is responsible for the 2023 team too. He let poor coaching persist on the FB team for WAY too long.

His role with NIL stuff is difficult to parse. The main credit goes to the BYU-fan billionaires, who have been champing at the bit to help for years. Maybe Tom helped overcome the internal obstacles?

The KY hire after losing Pope looks like a home run so far. Credit Tom. But also credit Ryan Smith & Danny Ainge, who each loved BYU before Holmoe showed up. I’d bet on a ham sandwich teamed with Smith and Ainge.

Great program image is mostly due to what BYU is. Tom has helped and external people seem to like him. That’s great. But he’s also given BYU some unearned black eyes (e.g., Duke WVB blaming).

A lot of Tom’s national prestige is because of who he is. Some of it is reflected light from a very strong and virtuous institution behind him.

[And yes. We all know everybody in the AD’s office has a CB account and has implemented an immediate response protocol when anything perceived as a threat to the office is posted. That’s fine.]