Nick Holt, a veteran defensive coordinator with more than 30 years of experience at the collegiate level, joined head coach Keith Patterson’s staff in 2022 and enters his fourth season with the Wildcats. He has served as associate head coach, co-defensive coordinator, and defensive line coach. 

Last year, he coached three players – Jerry Lawson, David Oke, and Kaghen Roach – to All-United Athletic Conference honors. Lawson was selected to the first team, while Oke and Roach were each selected to the second team. The Wildcats finished 9-5, won the UAC championship, qualified for the FCS playoffs, and beat Northern Arizona, 24-0, at Wildcat Stadium in program history’s first FCS playoff game.

Before joining the Wildcat coaching staff, Holt spent the 2021 season as an offensive assistant coach at Texas Tech, where he met and worked with Patterson, the Red Raiders’ defensive coordinator. Before going to Tech, he spent the 202- season as the head coach of the Varese Skorpions, a professional team in Italy. From 2017-19, he was the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Purdue, where he helped lead the Boilermarkers to two bowl appearances and memorable wins over No. 2 Ohio State and No. 19 Iowa in 2018.

In the four seasons before, he coached at Western Kentucky as the defensive coordinator, associate head coach, and interim head coach. In December 2016, he was the Hilltoppers’ interim head coach, leading the team to a 51-31 win over Memphis in the Boca Raton Bowl. 

Holt has 19 years of experience as a defensive coordinator at the collegiate level, having worked at Western Kentucky (2013-16), Washington (2009-11), USC (2006-08), and Idaho (1994-97). He was also the defensive coordinator for the Vandals during his two seasons as head coach from 2004-05.

His tenure at Idaho split into two stints at USC. He was the linebackers coach from 2001 to 2003 before returning as the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach in 2006. During his six combined seasons on staff, the Trojans won the 2003 national championship and five Pac-10 titles, resulting in a 63-14 overall record.

Holt has coached in 17 bowl games, including seven BCS bowls. He has additional experience as the defensive line coach at both UNLV (1988-89) and Louisville (1998-2000) and as the recruiting coordinator at Arkansas in 2012.

A native of San Jose, California, Holt was a four-year letterwinner, a two-time captain, and Most Valuable Player as a linebacker at the University of the Pacific. He was named to the Associated Press All-West Coast team in 1984 and 1985 and was an honorable mention All-American in 1985.

Holt graduated from Pacific in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in political economics. He and his wife, Julie, have two adult sons, Nick and Ben. Ben Holt played linebacker under his father at Western Kentucky (2015-16) and then Purdue (2019).


Coach Keith Patterson says...
"Nick Holt brings the intensity. He's a guy who's been doing this for an extremely long time. He is very well respected within the industry. If I had to describe him in one word it is intense."