Nicholas Holt V
Spokesman-Review
'' - Washington State Employee Salaries - Assistant football coach employees - Univ. of Washington - 2010 compensation - accessed December 31, 2011 (born October 15, 1962) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach who is currently the assistant head coach and co-

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

at Abilene Christian. He was previously head coach of Skorpions Varese of the Federazione Italiana di American Football in 2020 and an offensive analyst for

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

in 2021. Previously he was co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

for three seasons from 2017 to 2019. Before that he was the defensive coordinator at

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

from 2013 to 2016. Earlier in his career, Holt was defensive coordinator and assistant head coach of the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

, defensive coordinator and

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

coach of the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

, and

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the

Idaho Vandals The Idaho Vandals are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of Idaho, located in Moscow, Idaho. The Vandals compete at the NCAA Division I level as a member of the Big Sky Conference. The Idaho Vandals football, footbal ...

from 2004 to 2005.

Education

Holt attended

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Bellarmine College Preparatory Bellarmine College Preparatory is an all-boys, Jesuit, private secondary school located in San Jose, California. Founded on May 8, 1851, it is the oldest Jesuit secondary school in California and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River. ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, where he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and graduated in 1981. He enrolled at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, where he played

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

and lettered for four years for the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

, redshirting in 1982 due to injury. In his senior season of 1985, Holt was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honorable mention, Pacific's MVP and a team captain. During the 1983 season, Pacific's offensive coordinator and assistant head coach was alumnus

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as head coach for the NCAA's ...

, whom Holt later worked under at

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

. Holt graduated from UOP in 1986 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in political economics.

Coaching career

In 1986, Holt served as defensive coordinator at St. Mary's High School in Stockton. In 1987, he moved to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

to coach

s at

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

, serving as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

during the first season. In 1990 Holt moved north to serve as the defensive line coach at

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

under head coach John L. Smith, then Chris Tormey. After eight seasons in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, he moved east in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

to coach the defensive line under Smith again. After three seasons with the Cardinals, Holt returned west in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to coach the linebackers at

under Carroll, where he stayed for three seasons.

Idaho

Following the 2003 season,

Tom Cable Thomas Lee Cable Jr. (born November 26, 1964) is an American football coach for the Houston Roughnecks of the United Football League (UFL). He served with four National Football League (NFL) franchises between the 2006 and 2021 seasons. Cable ...

was fired after four seasons at

, the first Vandals

in 22 years to be dismissed. Holt returned to the

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of North Central Idaho, north central Idaho, southeastern Washington (part of eastern Washington), and by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. ...

and was hired as the head coach, signing a four-year contract at $205,000 per year. The Vandals went 3–9 in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

in their last season in the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

and 2–9 in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, their first season in the WAC. During his short tenure at Idaho, a game was scheduled between the Vandals and his former Trojans for September 1,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

.Gary Klein
Opener against Idaho is Holt's legacy
''Los Angeles Times'', August 27, 2007. Holt decided to take the game because it offered an opportunity to increase visibility to recruits in the region as well earn Idaho $600,000 for the appearance.Matt Baney
About to renew acquaintances
, ''Lewiston Tribune'', August 29, 2007. However, despite a contract that ran through 2008, Holt departed after two seasons to return to USC, 19 months before the game was played.

USC

When former Idaho quarterback and alumnus

Scott Linehan Scott Thomas Linehan (born September 17, 1963) is an American football coach who serves as a senior offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He recently was an offensive analyst at Montana. He was the ...

became head coach of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

in January

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, he offered Holt a position as his defensive line coach. The two had coached together under Smith at both Idaho and Louisville. Deciding to make a move before his children entered high school, Holt resigned as head coach from Idaho on February 6,

, to take the position with the Rams. This occurred just five days after signing 20 new players to Idaho on

national letter of intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

day. After hearing the news, USC head coach

offered his former assistant more money and the position of

. A day later, Holt declined the offer from the Rams (estimated at $320,000 annually, he had not signed a contract) to return to USC, and took over defensive coordinator responsibilities from Carroll. Holt signed a three-year contract exceeding $1.4 million. His second tour at USC also lasted three seasons, while the Trojans posted a 34–5 record ().

Washington

In December 2008,

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

and colleague

Steve Sarkisian Stephen Sarkisian (; born March 8, 1974)Stephens, Ken. – "QB Genealogy – Steve Sarkisian is latest in long line of talented BYU quarterbacks". – ''Dallas Morning News''– December 31, 1996. is an American football coach and former player ...

was hired as the head coach of the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. Sarkisian and Holt coached their final game with the Trojans, the Rose Bowl, on January 1, 2009. On January 5, 2009, Holt accepted the position of

at Washington, taking over for Ed Donatell, who was not retained by Sarkisian. Holt signed a three-year contract valued at $2.1 million. At the end of Holt's second season at UW in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, the Husky defense appeared improved as the team went on a three-game winning streak to finish the regular season and become bowl-eligible, capped with a 19–7 victory over

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

in the

Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in San Diego, California. Operating since 1978, its current conference tie-ins are with the Pac-12 Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The bowl is held at Snapdragon S ...

2011 season

While

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

saw the emergence of sophomore quarterback Keith Price and improvement on offense, the Huskies were ranked near the bottom in the conference and nationally on defense (of 120 FBS teams: 106th in yards allowed, 108th in points allowed, 116th in passing yards allowed). Washington broke to an early 5–1 record and was bowl-eligible in October, but lost three straight in November before winning the

Apple Cup The Apple Cup is an American college football rivalry game between the University of Washington Huskies and Washington State University Cougars, the two largest universities in the state of Washington. Both were members of the Pac-12 Conferen ...

to finish the regular season at 7–5. The five losses were not close games, with copious points and yardage yielded on defense, including 65 points at

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, with most of the damage coming from the Cardinal running game, not quarterback

Andrew Luck Andrew Austen Luck (born September 12, 1989) is an American football executive and former professional quarterback who is the general manager of the Stanford Cardinal. He previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons ...

. At the

Alamo Bowl The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Since 2010 it matches the second choice team from the Pac-12 Conference and the second ...

, the Huskies faced Baylor, with

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

winner

Robert Griffin III Robert Lee Griffin III (born February 12, 1990), nicknamed RGIII or RG3, is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, most notably with the Washington Redskins. He ...

at quarterback. Similar to the Stanford game, the Huskies generally contained the high-profile quarterback, but were soundly beaten by the rest of the offense. Despite scoring eight touchdowns on offense, the Huskies gave up 67 points and 777 yards on defense, and lost by 11 points. Holt was fired two days later, as were linebackers coach Mike Cox and safeties coach Jeff Mills. All three coaches had contracts through the 2012 season, totaling over $1 million.
Seattle Times
' - All UW assistants signed through 2012 season (or about to be) - Husky blog - April 6, 2011 Cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin left the staff two weeks earlier for

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

under new head coach Jim Mora.
Seattle Times
' - Huskies lose cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin to UCLA - Husky blog - December 14, 2011 Johnny Nansen, defensive line and special teams, was the only defensive coach remaining on the UW staff at the end of 2011. The three released coaches were given lump sum payments for the 2012 season: Holt ($650,004), Cox ($220,008), Mills ($155,004). Cox went to

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

as the linebackers coach and Mills to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

as defensive coordinator.

Arkansas

In August

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, Holt was named the on-campus recruiting coordinator at

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, under new head coach John L. Smith. The position was previously held by Jessica Dorrell, the mistress of fired head coach

Bobby Petrino Robert Patrick Petrino (born March 10, 1961) is an American college football coach who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Arkansas. He served as the head football coach at Missouri State from 2020 to 2022. P ...

, at a salary of $55,735 per year. Holt was scheduled to receive similar compensation.

Western Kentucky

On January 2,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, Holt was named defensive coordinator at

, under new head coach Bobby Petrino, hired by WKU after

Willie Taggart Willie Author Taggart (born August 27, 1976) is an American football coach who is the running backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He has held the head coach position at five NCAA Division I Football Bowl ...

left for

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

. Holt and Petrino served together on Smith's staff at Idaho in 1990 and 1991 and again at Louisville in

. After Petrino left following the 2013 season, Holt turned down the offer to follow Petrino to Louisville, and served the next three seasons at WKU under

Jeff Brohm Jeffrey Scott Brohm (born April 24, 1971) is an American college football coach and former professional quarterback. He is the head football coach at his alma mater, the University of Louisville, a position he has held since the 2023 season. Bro ...

. When Brohm was hired by

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

in December 2016, Holt was promoted to interim head coach for the Boca Raton Bowl, and the Hilltoppers defeated the

Memphis Tigers The Memphis Tigers are the athletic teams that represent the University of Memphis, located in Memphis, Tennessee. The teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the American Athletic C ...

51–31. He was considered a candidate for the full-time head coaching job, but Western Kentucky hired Mike Sanford Jr.

Purdue

Holt followed Brohm to

and was hired as defensive coordinator on January 2,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. After three seasons, he was fired on December 9,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Skorpions Varese

On October 16, 2020, Skorpions Varese hired Holt as their head coach for the upcoming 2021 season.

Texas Tech

On August 3, 2021, Holt was hired as an offensive analyst at

Personal life

Born October 15, 1962, Holt and his wife, Julie Hickey Holt (the latter former women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

program

at Nevada-Reno, Pacific, Gonzaga, Idaho, and Los Angeles Harbor Junior College), have 2 sons, Nick VI and Ben. Holt's maternal grandfather was

Buster Crabbe Clarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe II (; February 7, 1908 – April 23, 1983) was an American two-time Olympic swimmer and film and television actor. He won the 1932 Olympic gold medal for 400-meter freestyle swimming event, which launched his c ...

(1908–83), an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n swimmer at USC and gold medalist in the 400 m freestyle at the 1932 Olympics who later starred in films such as ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

'', ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' ...

'', and ''

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily American newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, b ...

''.

Head coaching record

College

‡ Interim head coach for bowl, replacing

References

External links

USC profile

Western Kentucky profile

Purdue profile

Texas Tech profile

Abilene Christian profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, Nick Place of birth missing (living people) 1962 births Living people Abilene Christian Wildcats football coaches American football linebackers Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Idaho Vandals football coaches Louisville Cardinals football coaches Pacific Tigers football players Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches UNLV Rebels football coaches USC Trojans football coaches Washington Huskies football coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football coaches High school football coaches in California Players of American football from San Jose, California Bellarmine College Preparatory alumni