BYU football embraces legacy with visit from Patti Edwards, wife of late legend LaVell Edwards
BYU head coach LaVell Edwards and his wife Patti laugh at Rice Eccles Stadium during a pre-game ceremony to honor Edwards before the start of his final game as head coach of BYU 11/24/00. Photo by Robert Johnson
Brigham Young Cougars defensive back D'Angelo Mandell (36) takes the field with his teammates just before a game between Brigham Young University and New Mexico State University held Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018, at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
When the BYU football team stepped onto the field at LaVell Edwards Stadium for Wednesday’s scrimmage, the players and coaches brought something extra with them.
A little perspective.
“We were lucky to have Patti Edwards (wife of late Hall-of-Fame coach LaVell Edwards) come speak to the team this morning,” Cougar head coach Kalani Sitake said. “That was important because we get to play in LaVell Edwards Stadium.”
Sitake grinned as he said he was feeling old because a lot of the guys on the team weren’t even born when he was playing for BYU, but he also realized they might not know all the work that was done by the man who’s name is on the stadium.
“I don’t know if they really know LaVell Edwards and who he was as a person,” Sitake said. “Throughout camp, we’ve been trying to teach them more about LaVell and the impact he had on college football but also the person he was, the father and husband he was, the coach and mentor that he was. Having Patti speak to the team this morning was a really special treat for our players and they were really excited to have her talk. She did an amazing job.”
He believes that when the team takes the field next week under the lights, the tradition and history will be more meaningful.
“Now that they know a little more about LaVell, it can be a little more personal for them when they see that name on the stadium,” Sitake said. “I played for the man and I love him.”
BYU offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes got a chance to know LaVell Edwards when he was the offensive line coach for the Cougars in the mid-2000s but said having Patti Edwards talk about her husband made the history come alive.
“I never heard her speak before and she was incredible,” Grimes said. “She shared a lot of great things with our players. She talked about how LaVell always used to say that the will to prepare is much more important than the will to win. She talked about taking it one game at a time and also about reaching your potential, being willing to give everything you have. She said if you do that, you are a winner. If you don’t do that, you are a cheater because you are cheating yourself out of an opportunity — as well as your teammates, your family and society. I took notes on it and I hope I can convey some of those messages to my players and my children as well.”
It was just another example to Grimes of the importance of the Edwards family to BYU football.
“I have the utmost respect for Coach Edwards,” Grimes said. “When I was here before, he came by my office and I started to explain who I was. He said, ‘I know who you are and you are doing a great job.’ I have a huge amount of respect for him and for Patti. My wife just loves her. She has been amazingly kind to my wife Sheri.”
BYU sophomore quarterback Zach Wilson said he was locked in on every word Patti Edwards said.
“It was awesome,” Wilson said. “It was so cool to hear the stories of Coach Edwards. I stepped back and looked around me — and all the guys had grins on their faces. It was cool to see her belief and confidence in this team and her love for BYU football.”
Wilson also sees value in understanding the tradition that has been set for the program.
“It’s what BYU football is all about,” Wilson said. “It knowing what it takes to be great in this program, how every player needs to give their all. Everyone has to contribute to that. It was cool to have that refresher from her talking about what it takes to be a great football team here.”
The end goal for any Cougar football team is to return to the level of success LaVell Edwards engineered. Sitake believes there is power in knowing about how that came about, although BYU doesn’t need to try to simply replicate it.
“I think it was Mark Twain who said that history doesn’t repeat itself; it rhymes,” Sitake said. “Hopefully we can have what we do rhyme with what LaVell did here.”
The timing of the visit from Patti Edwards coincided with the team’s scrimmage, one that Sitake said went smoothly.
“I thought it went really well for our mock game situation and getting all our guys out there in different situations,” Sitake said. “We decided not to go live today. In the past we’ve gone live with the young guys towards the end but I thought looking back that we had a lot of guys get injured, even on our prep squad. Those guys are very valuable to us in getting us the right look, so today was more of a thud tempo. From what I saw, it was competitive and really good, so I was pleased with what our team did today.”