LaVell Edwards

LaVell Edwards
Born	October 11, 1930 (1930-10-11) (age 79)
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]

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 Championship. 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 only 4 minutes to play to defeat Southern Methodist University (SMU). Trailing 45–39 with seconds to go, Quarterback Jim McMahon, completed a game winning touchdown pass to Clay Brown.

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]}

Head coaching record

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

Coaching tree

• Dick Felt, former BYU assistant athletic director/assistant head coach/defensive coordinator/defensive backfield coach (BYU defensive back/running back/punter)
• Mike Holmgren, former Seattle Seahawks Coach (BYU quarterbacks coach)
• Steve Sarkisian, University of Washington head coach (BYU quarterback)
• Hal Mumme, New Mexico State coach
• Norm Chow, UCLA offensive coordinator (BYU offensive coordinator)
• Dave Kragthorpe, cormer Oregon State head coach (BYU offensive line coach)
• Kyle Whittingham, Utah head coach (BYU linebacker)
• Fred Whittingham, longtime NFL and college assistant coach (BYU Defensive Coordinator)
• 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)
• Brandon Doman, BYU Quarterbacks Coach (BYU quarterback)
• 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}

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

See also

• Legends Poll
• List of presidents of the American Football Coaches Association

External links

• LaVell Edwards' BYU Cougars 1984 National Champions Football Pennant