Nick Holt
Nick Holt went 6–18 as a head coach, 2004–2016, at Idaho and Western Kentucky. Share
One season our game records don’t credit to him comes from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2016 at Western Kentucky. It’s marked in the table.
- Record
- 6–18 career
- Seasons
- 3
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 2004 3–9
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Idaho | 3–9 | T–7th | |||
| 2005 | Idaho | 2–9 | T–6th | |||
| 2006–15: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2016 | Western Kentucky * | 1–0 | T–1st (East) | Boca Raton W | ||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| Conference games | 15 | 4–11 | 27% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 7 | 2–5 | 29% |
| At home | 8 | 3–5 | 38% |
| On the road | 15 | 2–13 | 13% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 21 | 4–17 | 19% |
His own 23 games on file, 2004–2005, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Utah Stateseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| Hawai’iseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| Boise Stateseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| Washington Stateseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| New Mexico Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Louisianaseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Arkansas Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Eastern Michiganseries | 1 | 1–0 |
National title staffs
Every title staff- Won a national title on USC’s 2003 staff (linebackers) · the staff · source
The champions’ staffs from 1990 on, as the schools listed them that season: Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages. Roles as the source words them.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | St. Mary’s HS (CA) high school | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1987 | UNLV | Graduate assistant | |
| 1988–89 | UNLV | Defensive line coach | |
| 1990–93 | Idaho | Defensive line coach | |
| 1994 | Idaho | Defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | |
| 1995–97 | Idaho | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 1998–2000 | Louisville | Defensive line coach | |
| 2001–03 | USC | Linebackers coach | |
| 2004–05 | Idaho | Head coach | |
| 2006–08 | USC | Defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | |
| 2009–11 | Washington | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| 2012 | Arkansas | Recruiting coordinator | |
| 2013 | Western Kentucky | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2014–16 | Western Kentucky | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| 2016 | Western Kentucky | Interim head coach | |
| 2017–19 | Purdue | Co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 2020 | Skorpions Varese | Head coach | |
| 2021 | Texas Tech | Offensive analyst | |
| 2025–present | Abilene Christian | Assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Wayne NunnelyUNLV
- John SmithIdaho, Louisville, Arkansas
- Chris TormeyIdaho
- Pete CarrollUSC
- Steve SarkisianWashington
- Bobby PetrinoWestern Kentucky
- Jeff BrohmWestern Kentucky, Purdue
- Nick HoltWestern Kentucky
- Sonny CumbieTexas Tech
- Matt WellsTexas Tech
- Keith PattersonAbilene Christian
Assistants who became head coaches
- Jason EckNew Mexico, Idaho
- Jeff MillsNew Mexico Highlands
- Jonathan SmithOregon State, Michigan State
Worked under (11)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne Nunnely | UNLV | 1987–89 | 1987: graduate assistant; 1988–89: defensive line coach | |
| John Smith | Idaho | 1990–94 | 1990–93: defensive line coach; 1994: defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | |
| Chris Tormey | Idaho | 1995–97 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| John Smith | Louisville | 1998–2000 | Defensive line coach | |
| Pete Carroll | USC | 2001–08 | 2001–03: linebackers coach; 2006–08: defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | |
| Steve Sarkisian | Washington | 2009–11 | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| John Smith | Arkansas | 2012 | Recruiting coordinator | |
| Bobby Petrino | Western Kentucky | 2013 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Jeff Brohm | Western Kentucky | 2014–16 | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| Nick Holt | Western Kentucky | 2016 | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| Jeff Brohm | Purdue | 2017–19 | Co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Sonny Cumbie | Texas Tech | 2021 | Offensive analyst | |
| Matt Wells | Texas Tech | 2021 | Offensive analyst | |
| Keith Patterson | Abilene Christian | 2025–26 | Assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (3)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Eck | Idaho, 2004–05: offensive line coach | New Mexico, Idaho | |
| Jeff Mills | Idaho, 2004–05: assistant head coach and safeties coach | New Mexico Highlands | |
| Jonathan Smith | Idaho, 2004–05: quarterbacks coach | Oregon State, Michigan State |
Other assistants under him (4)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Joel Thomas | Idaho, 2004–05: co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach | |
| Johnny Nansen | Idaho, 2004–05: special teams and linebackers coach | |
| Nate Kaczor | Idaho, 2004–05: co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| Chris Kiffin | Idaho, 2005: assistant coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Purdue | co-defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $235,000 | $500,000 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Western Kentucky | defensive coordinator | $303,000 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Western Kentucky | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $50,000 | $305,000 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Western Kentucky | defensive coordinator | $303,000 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Holt’s teams went for it on 12% of fourth downs and on 22% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 55% of plays and took 24.8 seconds a play, 2004–2005.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 2 g | 4 of 20 20% | 38% | 54% | 21.9 | −0.24 | |
| 2005 3 g | 2 of 29 7% | 13% | 55% | 26.6 | −0.09 | |
| All 5 g | 6 of 49 12% | 22% | 55% | 24.8 | −0.15 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.