Stu Holt set to join Tech’s staff as special teams coordinator/offensive assistant

BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech Football head coach Brent Pry announced Friday that Stu Holt has joined his staff and will serve as special teams coordinator/offensive assistant. 
 
Holt has spent the past three seasons working as the special teams coordinator/tight ends coach at Louisville. In 2021, Holt helped TE Marshon Ford earn third-team All-ACC honors after leading the team in receiving with 47 catches for 530 yards with two touchdowns. Ford also finished second among ACC tight ends with six touchdowns in 2020 after leading the conference's tight ends with seven TD catches in 2019. 
 
During the 2020 season Holt mentored former walk-on K James Turner who earned All-ACC honorable mention honors after converting 86.7 percent (13 of 15) of his field goals. In his first season at Louisville in 2019, the Cardinals averaged 27.4 yards per kickoff return to rank fifth in the nation. Louisville also racked up 1,091 punt return yards that season to rank 18th in the country. 
 
Prior to his time in Louisville, Holt served as special teams coordinator/running backs coach at Appalachian State (2015-18). With Holt's help, the Mountaineers won three straight Sun Belt championships and made four consecutive bowl appearances. Appalachian State boasted an individual 1,000-yard rusher all four of those seasons, ranking in the FBS top 25 each of those years. The Mountaineers ranked sixth in the nation in rushing in 2015 (271.5 ypg), while coming in 10th in 2016 (250.9 ypg). During that four-year span, Appalachian State averaged 246.6 rushing ypg, the eighth-best total in the country over that stretch. 
 
In 2018, RB Darrynton Evans racked up 1,187 rushing yards with seven TDs to earn first-team All-Sun Belt honors. Evans also received third-team All-Sun Belt accolades as an all-purpose player. Holt's special teams unit was responsible for four touchdowns in 2018, tying for the FBS lead with three punt return TDs. The Mountaineers' kickoff return unit ranked second in the country (28.8 avg.) and also scored a touchdown.  
 
During the 2017 campaign RB Jalin Moore boasted his second consecutive 1,000-yard season as he rushed for 1,037 yards with 12 touchdowns. Holt and the Mountaineers boasted two 1,000-yard rushers in 2016 as Moore rushed for 1,402 yards en route to Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year honors and RB Marcus Cox racked up 1,015 rushing yards. Cox rushed for 1,423 yards with nine TDs under Holt's tutelage in 2015. 
 
Holt owns the distinction of coaching three different players who at one time have held the all-time leading rushing record at their respective schools. Cox remains the all-time leading rusher in Appalachian State history with 5,103 career yards. He also coached RB Lerron Moore who racked up 4,396 career rushing yards at Western Kentucky from 2003-06. That mark was later surpassed by another Holt pupil, RB Bobby Rainey, who holds the current mark for the Hilltoppers with 4,542 career rushing yards.
 
Holt was originally hired as director of player personnel at South Florida in 2013 before adding special teams coordinator duties to his responsibilities. He then served as special teams coordinator/tight ends coach for the Bulls in 2014. During the 2014 campaign P Mattias Ciabatti set a single-season school record with a 44.4-yard punting average. The first-team all-conference selection also led the American Athletic Conference with 22 punts downed inside the 20 and 18 punts of 50+ yards.
 
In 2013, Holt was nominated for the Broyles Award as the national assistant coach of the year. South Florida's special teams improved in nearly every statistical category despite having to replace its kicker and punter from the previous season. Under Holt's guidance, USF's special teams were ranked No. 3 nationally by ESPN Stats & Info. The Bulls led the American Athletic Conference and ranked ninth nationally in punt returns (14.4 avg.), while first-year K Marvin Kloss was one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Award presented annually to the nation's top kicker. 
 
Prior to his arrival at South Florida, Holt spent eight seasons at Western Kentucky (2004-09, 2011-12) and one season at Tennessee State (2010). As running backs coach for the Hilltoppers from 2004-09, he guided a unit that ranked 14th in FCS, averaging 226.2 rushing ypg in 2004. In 2005, RB Lerron Moore racked up 1,037 rushing yards and 10 TDs. In his final three seasons with Holt as his position coach, Moore accumulated 555 carries for 2,906 yards with 30 touchdowns. RB Tyrell Hayden also enjoyed a 1,000-yard season with Holt as his position coach, posting 1,134 rushing yards with 10 TDs in 2007. Holt also coordinated the Hilltoppers' special teams in 2005 and 2009. 
 
Tennessee State ranked 24th in rushing (190.0 ypg) among FCS squads with Holt coaching running backs in 2010. He then returned to Western Kentucky to coach offensive tackles/tight ends in 2011-12. 
 
Holt's collegiate coaching experience also includes stints at Bethune-Cookman (2001) and Cumberland (2000). His association with Pry began when he worked as a graduate assistant at Western Carolina (1998-99) and Pry served as the team's defensive line coach. He also coached at Norwich (1996), and has three years of high school coaching experience, including two years as head coach at New Smyrna Beach H.S. in New Smyrna Beach, Florida (2002-03).
 
Holt served as a long snapper at North Carolina (1992-95) and was part of four teams that earned bowl berths. He graduated from UNC with a degree in English in 1995 and later obtained his master's degree in education from Western Carolina in 2000.

He attended high school at Starmount High School and played for his father, B.W. Holt, the fourth-winningest coach in North Carolina high school football history.

The Hamptonville, North Carolina native and his wife, Kim, are the parents to three daughters – Payton, Maggie and Ann Wallace. 
 
HOLT'S COACHING CAREER

BOWL GAMES COACHED

BOWL GAMES PLAYED

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