Legendary BYU Coach to Step Down

P R O V O, Utah, Aug. 18, 2000 -- LaVell Edwards, who won a national title andbuilt one of the most prolific passing offenses in college footballhistory, is retiring as coach at BYU after this season.

Under Edwards, who will be 70 in October, the Cougars won the1984 national championship with a 13-0 record, and he was selectedthe national coach of the year.

“You reach a point where it’s time to move on and let someoneelse take a run at it,” Edwards said Thursday. “It’s turned out awhole lot better than I ever, ever, ever dreamed.”

Produced Star Quarterbacks

Edwards’ teams won 20 conference titles and played in 22 bowlgames. BYU also claimed a Heisman Trophy winner, Ty Detmer in 1990,and produced a string of other star quarterbacks including SteveYoung and Jim McMahon.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno called Edwards “one of the giantsof our profession. There isn’t anyone I respect more in coachingthan LaVell.”

Athletic director Val Hale said a search for a successor willbegin “at some point where the timing is better.”

“We’re going to put the focus on this season,” Hale said.

Decided in January

Edwards said he made the decision to retire in January and knewin spring practice this would be his last season.

He told his players of his decision during a team meetingThursday morning.

“It was really silent in that room and I even felt a littleteary-eyed,” said defensive end and team captain Setema Gnali.“You could feel a happy kind of sadness. We’re happy for him, butit’s sad because everyone thinks of coach Edwards and BYU as thesame thing.”

Edwards’ prolific quarterbacks grew into some of the biggestpassers in NCAA history, including four Davey O’Brien Trophywinners.

The string started with Gary Scheide and Gifford Nielsen in the1970s and continued with McMahon, Young, Detmer and others.

Nearly 57 Miles of Passing

BYU quarterbacks under Edwards have passed for more than 100,000yards, about 57 miles. The Cougars haven’t been shut out for anNCAA-record 312 consecutive games.

BYU led the nation in passing seven times under Edwards, whoseprogram also produced Outland Trophy winners in Jason Buck (1986)and Mo Elewonibi (1989).

Edwards was BYU’s defensive coordinator when he was promoted in1972 to succeed Tom Hudspeth. Edwards said he modeled his offenseafter the Stanford team that Jim Plunkett led to the Rose Bowl thatyear.

“I remember thinking that being a private school, with thelimitations we had, I knew we were going to have to throw,”Edwards said.

He was mocked when he installed a passing offense at a time whenschools such as Oklahoma and Alabama were running the ball onvirtually every down and winning national titles.

Edwards spoke to about 100 administrators, players andreporters. Seated in the front row was his wife, Patti, and adaughter, Ann.

Ranks Seventh in Wins

Edwards enters his 29th season with a record of 251-95-3,ranking seventh in career Division I victories. He needs fourvictories this season to pass Tom Osborne for sixth place.

He ranks third among active coaches, behind Joe Paterno andBobby Bowden.

Before Edwards was hired, BYU had won 43 percent of its games in47 seasons.

The little-known Mormon Church school in Utah eventuallyproduced victories over national programs like Oklahoma, NotreDame, Texas A&M, Penn State and Michigan.

Edwards also oversaw the 1982 expansion of Cougar Stadium to65,000 seats and BYU has led the old Western Athletic Conferenceand the Mountain West for years in attendance.