Moving quickly to fill the vacancy left by Steve Mariucci's departure for the San Francisco 49ers, California promoted his defensive coordinator, Tom Holmoe, to head coach on Saturday.
Holmoe, 36, a former Brigham Young and NFL defensive back who played on three Super Bowl-winning teams with the 49ers, is Cal's fourth coach in six years. It is his first head coaching assignment.Mariucci resigned Thursday after leading the Golden Bears to 6-6 record in his only season at the school before moving to the 49ers, replacing George Seifert.
Before leaving, Mariucci endorsed Holmoe as his successor.
Holmoe signed a five-year contract which will extend through the 2001 season. He said he'll continue running the West Coast offense that Mariucci installed with great success at Cal last season.
Holmoe did come in for some criticism as coordinator of a defense that gave up 5,063 yards, ranking 105th (out of 111 Division I-A programs) in the nation before surrendering 42 points and 646 yards to Navy in the Aloha Bowl.
Holmoe, BYU's starting cornerback from 1980 to 1982, was a fourth-round pick of the 49ers in 1983 and went on to play seven years for San Francisco. He was a member of Super Bowl winning teams in 1984, '88 and '89.
He returned to BYU to work as a graduate assistant coach under LaVell Edwards in 1990 and two years later moved to Stanford, where he coached the secondary under his former 49ers coach, Bill Walsh.
Said Edwards: "He's very competitive. He knows the game. He's great with people, whether it be players, coaches administrators or alumni, and he's very meticulous."