LaVell Edwards

To BYU, Reuben LaVell Edwards was much more than just a football coach. What he meant to the football program, the university, his players, and the fans transcended what he accomplished as a coach, which was staggering in and of itself.

It's amazing to consider what might have happened had BYU passed on hiring the defensive coordinator with no collegiate head coaching experience in 1972. It took a group of BYU players showing up at the home of school president Dallin H. Oaks to help convince him the school should hire longtime assistant LaVell Edwards, who had never been a head coach at the college level and had been a part of only a few winning seasons in his coaching career to that point. Edwards had grown up on a dairy farm in nearby Orem as the eighth of 14 children. He played football at Utah State. Even in Provo, he wasn't exactly a household name.

Hiring Edwards was risky, but of course it proved to be a stroke of pure genius; it altered the trajectory of the BYU football program's future forever. Prior to Edwards, BYU had only had two coaches with winning records, and the program was, if not perennially downtrodden, mired in mediocrity. Edwards guided the Cougars to heights never dreamed of previously. During 29 seasons at the helm, he logged 257 wins — which ranks sixth in Division I history — 22 bowl appearances, 19 conference championships, one unlikely national championship, two National Coach of the Year honors, and a 2004 induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. That is just a fraction of his legacy.

Edwards helped revolutionize the sport in the late 1970s and 1980s. While most schools were running the football, he installed and unleashed an unconventional, relentless passing attack that produced a string of All-America quarterbacks. Edwards became universally respected not only for winning and changing college football by emphasizing the forward pass but also because of the way he coached. Like an effective CEO, he surrounded himself with talented, driven people on his coaching staff. He delegated responsibilities and he let his assistants coach. Unlike most other coaches, he didn't wear a headset and he didn't micromanage. USA Today once called him "a national coaching treasure."

Without Edwards, there probably would be no 63,000-seat stadium, and BYU would probably just be known as some religious school in Provo surrounded by large mountains. Edwards, in many ways, was a visionary man. "Brigham Young arrived in the desert 149 years ago, on the banks of a sea made of salt, and saw what hadn't been seen: a place to build a home," wrote Berry Tramel of the Daily Oklahoman in 1996. "We don't think much about Brigham Young when it comes to American pioneers, but we should; he was more at home on the frontier than Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. LaVell Edwards arrived as a college head coach in 1972, on the campus named for the Father of Utah, and saw what hadn't been seen: a place to throw the football. We don't think much about LaVell Edwards when it comes to American football coaches, but we should; Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno have nothing on him when it comes to building programs. Brigham Young put Utah on the map. Then along came Edwards to do the same for Young's university."

In 2000 Edwards retired, leaving players and fans with a lifetime of memories. Among many other things, he'll be remembered for his stoic sideline demeanor. He'll also be remembered for his courtesy, humor, and love for his players and for his family. He and his wife, Patti, who celebrated their 65 wedding anniversary in 2016, had three children: Ann Cannon (a writer), John (a doctor), and Jim (a lawyer). Edwards was not only synonymous with BYU football, he was a man for all seasons. To his family he was a devoted father and loving husband. To the players he coached, he was a father figure.

It was his style and personality that set him apart. Edwards was never consumed by football, nor was his perspective clouded by an obsession with winning. He didn't have the big contract with the big ego to...