Brian Baumgartner was brought onto the field at Snapdragon Stadium on Friday night to give SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee the ceremonial eggnog bath after the Mustangs beat Arizona 24-19 in the Holiday Bowl. The actor who played Kevin Malone on “The Office” is an SMU alum, graduating in 1995 with a BFA in theater, so it made sense for him to handle the honors.
But Baumgartner didn’t actually give Lashlee much of a bath at all. Fox’s Joel Klatt invited Baumgartner to do the eggnog dump, and when the moment came, Baumgartner grabbed the container and looked like he was about to drench the coach.
Instead, he threw the eggnog forward rather than pouring it directly on Lashlee’s head.
SMU’s head coach turned around, expecting more. “That’s all?”
Did Brian Baumgartner just pour eggnog on @SMUFB‘s Rhett Lashlee at the @HolidayBowl?
Yes, yes he did. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/RnHuIfsIVW
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) January 3, 2026
Baumgartner had his reasons for the underwhelming execution. He told reporters afterward that he thought throwing it would make a better picture for the photographers than actually soaking his alma mater’s head coach.
“I get to do what I want,” Baumgartner told reporters afterward. “This is our coach, he thanked me for not hitting him too hard. I thought it’d be a better picture for the photographers to get it.”
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The eggnog bath became a Holiday Bowl tradition after the 2023 game when USC beat Louisville 42-28, and head coach Lincoln Riley got properly doused with a full bucket dumped on his head by defensive end Romello Height. Baumgartner clearly wasn’t interested in recreating that moment for Lashlee.
Congratulations, coach Riley – your reward is the ceremonial #HolidayBowl egg nog! pic.twitter.com/VPOfmiYiCe
— Trust & Will Holiday Bowl (@holidaybowl) December 28, 2023
Lashlee should probably appreciate the gesture, considering what could have been. Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert and his family got drenched in mayonnaise after beating Mississippi State in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl earlier in the night.
As for SMU, the Mustangs finished 9-4 in their second season in the ACC and won their first bowl game since beating Fresno State in the 2012 Hawaii Bowl. The Mustangs had lost five straight bowl games before Friday night, including last year’s College Football Playoff loss to Penn State.
Baumgartner’s ties to SMU run deeper than just being a famous alum who shows up for big games. He was the grand marshal for the Homecoming Parade in 2014 and returned to speak at commencement in 2024. Beyond that, he co-hosts The Games We Play podcast with Kenny Mayne and Cooper Manning.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.