LaVell Edwards

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LaVell Edwards

Born October 11, 1930 (1930-10-11) (age 77)
Place of birth Orem, Utah
Career highlights
Overall 257-101-3
Bowls 7-13-1
Coaching stats
College Football DataWarehouse
Championships
1984 National championship
Awards
1979 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award
1984 AFCA (Kodak) Coach of the Year Award
2003 Amos Alonzo Stagg Award
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1972-2000 Brigham Young
College Football Hall of Fame, 2004 (Bio)

LaVell Edwards (born October 11, 1930 in Orem, Utah) is a former American football coach of Brigham Young University (BYU). In 1984, Edwards' BYU Cougars went 13-0 and won the national championship. He is considered the founder of the spread formation passing attack, and one of the most influential and innovative minds in college football history.[citation needed]

Edwards played football for Utah State University and earned a Masters degree at the University of Utah prior to coaching at BYU. While head football coach at BYU Edwards also earned a doctorate. He and his wife served an 18-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New York City during 2002-2003.[1]

Lavell serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND,a Humanitarian Alliance. This non-profit organization plans expeditions to African and South American countries to provide life skills mentoring with sustainable solutions in education, enterprise, health and simple technology.[2]

Contents

[edit] Coaching career

Edwards was BYU's head football coach from 1972 to 2000. His offensive scheme was passing-dominated. He started coaching in an era when college football offenses were dominated by strong running attacks. His quarterbacks threw over 11,000 passes for more than 100,000 yards and 635 touchdowns. He got the idea to switch to a pass oriented team by looking at BYU's past history. The BYU football program had been a dismal failure before Lavell with the notable exception of one conference championship that resulted from the aerial attack of Virgil Carter. This past success encouraged Lavell to open up the BYU offense.

Edwards coached prominent quarterbacks such as Gary Scheide, Gifford Nielsen, Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Robbie Bosco, Ty Detmer, Steve Sarkisian, and Brandon Doman.

Awards won by his players include a Heisman Trophy, a Doak Walker Award, a Maxwell Award, two Outland Trophies, four Davey O'Brien Awards, seven Sammy Baugh Awards, and 31 All-America citations, including 11 Consensus All-Americans. In 1984, he was named National Coach of the Year after BYU finished the season 13-0 and won the National Champimonship. Edwards retired after the 2000 season with a 258-101-3 record, a .722 winning percentage.

Prior to Edwards' final game, the football stadium at Brigham Young University was renamed LaVell Edwards Stadium in his honor. At the time of his retirement, he ranked sixth in all-time victories. Edwards received the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award, presented by the American Football Coaches Association, in 2003.

Edwards was a prominent leader and speaker for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which is affiliated with BYU. In the 1980 Holiday Bowl, BYU rallied from a 45-25 deficit with less than 3 minutes to play to defeat Southern Methodist University (SMU). Trailing 45-39 with seconds to go, Quarterback Jim McMahon (of the Catholic faith) completed a game winning touchdown pass to Clay Brown (also a Catholic). Many joked to Edwards that the "Catholics had won the game for the Mormons." Edwards wittily responded by saying (paraphrased) "Nope, those Catholics only tied it (at 45); we didn't win it until our Mormon placekicker (Kurt Gunther) made the extra-point."

Following the 1984 national championship, Edwards was offered the head coaching positions with the Detroit Lions as well as the University of Texas at Austin.[citation needed]

[edit] Head coaching record

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl Coaches# AP°
Brigham Young Cougars (Western Athletic Conference) (1972 – 1998)
1972 Brigham Young 7–4 T–2nd
1973 Brigham Young 5–6 T–4th
1974 Brigham Young 7–4–1 1st L Fiesta Bowl
1975 Brigham Young 6–5 T–4th
1976 Brigham Young 9–3 T–1st L Tangerine Bowl
1977 Brigham Young 9–2 T–1st 16 20
1978 Brigham Young 9–4 5–1 1st L Holiday Bowl
1979 Brigham Young 11–1 7–0 1st L Holiday Bowl 12 13
1980 Brigham Young 12–1 6–1 1st W Holiday Bowl 11 12
1981 Brigham Young 11–2 1st W Holiday Bowl 11 13
1982 Brigham Young 8–4 1st L Holiday Bowl
1983 Brigham Young 11–1 1st W Holiday Bowl 7 7
1984 Brigham Young 13–0 1st W Holiday Bowl 1 1
1985 Brigham Young 11–3 1st L Florida Citrus Bowl 17 16
1986 Brigham Young 8–5 6–2 2nd L Freedom Bowl
1987 Brigham Young 9–4 7–1 2nd L All-American Bowl
1988 Brigham Young 9–4 5–3 T–3rd W Freedom Bowl
1989 Brigham Young 10–3 7–1 1st L Holiday Bowl 18 22
1990 Brigham Young 10–3 7–1 1st L Holiday Bowl 17 22
1991 Brigham Young 8–3–2 7–0–1 1st T Holiday Bowl 23 23
1992 Brigham Young 8–5 T–1st L Aloha Bowl
1993 Brigham Young 6–6 T–1st
1994 Brigham Young 10–3 T–2nd W Copper Bowl 10 18
1995 Brigham Young 7–4 T–1st
1996 Brigham Young 14–1 1st W Cotton Bowl 5 5
1997 Brigham Young 6–5 4th
1998 Brigham Young 9–5 7–2 2nd L Liberty Bowl
Brigham Young: 243–91–3
Brigham Young Cougars (Mountain West Conference) (1999 – 2000)
1999 Brigham Young 8–4 5–2 T–1st L Motor City Bowl
2000 Brigham Young 6–6 T–3rd
Brigham Young: 14–10
Total: 257–101–3
      National Championship         Conference Title         Conference Division Title
Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season.
°Rankings from final AP Poll of the season.

[edit] Accomplishments

  • 6th on NCAA all-time list for coaching victories (258)
  • Member of the College Football Hall of Fame
  • Coached 6 all-American quarterbacks
  • His teams led the nation in passing offense 8 times
  • His teams led the nation in total offense 5 times
  • His teams led the nation in scoring offense 3 times

[edit] Coaching Tree

  • Dick Felt Former BYU Assistant Athletic Director/Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backfield Coach (BYU Defensive Back/Running Back/Punter)
  • Norm Chow UCLA Offensive Coordinator (BYU offensive coordinator)
  • Dave Kragthorpe Former Oregon State Head Coach (BYU Offensive Line Coach)
  • Robert Anae BYU Offensive Coordinator (BYU Offensive Lineman)
  • Brian Billick former NFL Head Coach (BYU tight end/graduate assistant)
  • Ted Tollner former USC Head Coach (BYU Offensive Coordinator)
  • Doug Scovil former SDSU Head Coach (BYU Offensive Coordinator)
  • Tom Holmoe Former Cal Head Coach (BYU Defensive Back)
  • Andy Reid Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach (BYU Lineman/ graduate assistant)
  • Charlie Stubbs Louisville Offensive Coordinator (BYU graduate assistant}

[edit] References

  1. ^ A Legend in the Making
  2. ^ “Lavell Edwards, His influence is felt across the World,” Shulte, Scott; Davis County Clipper, November 2006. http://www.clippertoday.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=140&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=17891&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1005&hn=clippertoday&he=.com

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Tommy Hudspeth
Brigham Young University Head Coach
1972-2000
Succeeded by
Gary Crowton
Preceded by
Howard Schnellenberger
Paul "Bear" Bryant Award
1984
Succeeded by
Fisher DeBerry