Former Brigham Young University head football coach LaVell Edwards’ coaching has had a ripple effect as his former players and staff have gone on to be successful coaches.
The late LaVell Edwards coached the BYU Cougars from 1972-2000, and his impact continues to live on despite his death in 2016. Through the players he coached during those years, he created a coaching tree that has had great success in both college and in the NFL.
Among those players was Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who played offensive line at BYU from 1978-1980. While coaching Reid at BYU, Edwards saw a future for Reid in coaching.
“He not only learned and knew what his assignment was, but also the reasons why and the concept of what you’re trying to do,” Edwards said. “A lot of players didn’t have that concept or ability, but Andy did. He had a feel for it.“
Reid has also been the head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, has won three Super Bowls with the Chiefs and is the winningest active coach in the NFL. Reid credits Edwards for his move into coaching but also admired his character as a human being off the football field.
“[Edwards] was great with people; he was a people person,“ Reid said. “You put all the Xs and Os and put that aside—he was good at that too—but you can put all of that aside. It was the way he handled people that I thought was unbelievable. He was the one that talked me into [coaching]. He called me every week from that day on like he had put me in a bad position or something. He was always checking on me.“
Along with Reid, both coaches of the rivalry game on Nov. 9 between the University of Utah and BYU played under Edwards. Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham played linebacker under Edwards from 1978-1981, while BYU head coach Kalani Sitake played running back in 1994 and 1997-2000.
After his playing career with Edwards, Whittingham joined BYU’s staff as a graduate assistant for the 1985-86 seasons. Whittingham has credited Edwards for his impact on coaching and the lessons he’s carried with him as a head coach.
“[He was a] tremendous person,” Whittingham said last year. “Just a great hirer of staff members. He had great staff down there. Let them do their job, didn’t try to micromanage and really was a guy who made the attitude and the personality of the team very steady and even-keeled.”
As the head coach at Utah, Whittingham has become Utah’s all-time wins leader and won the Bear Bryant award for coach of the year in 2008.
Following his transition to coaching after his playing career, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake has strived to learn from both Edwards and Whittingham, who he coached with at Utah. Sitake worked as Utah’s linebacker coach from 2005-2008 and as the defensive coordinator from 2009-2014 before becoming the head coach at BYU in 2015.
Edwards’ impact has spread throughout both the collegiate and professional levels, but especially at rivals BYU and the University of Utah.
“If it weren’t for Utah, I wouldn’t be here,” Sitake said. “And if it weren’t for BYU, coach Whit wouldn’t be at Utah.”
After playing for Edwards and working with coach Whittingham, Sitake has strived to carry over the same tradition and success that Edwards set a precedent for during his time coaching.
“We talk about love and learn, and that’s the culture that we’re trying to put here at BYU,” Sitake said. “This is what LaVell did for me when I was a player for him. He was such a legend, he did it the right way. So we’re trying to incorporate the same ideas in 2024, you know, decades later.”
Since becoming the head coach at BYU, Sitake has a record of 61-41 and has realized his most success this season following BYU’s addition to the Big 12 Conference. In the first official College Football Playoff Rankings that was released Nov. 5, BYU was ranked 9th with an undefeated 8-0 record.
Edwards himself realized great success during his time coaching, such as winning a National Championship in 1984 and joining the College Football Hall of Fame. His success as a coach, along with his character, continues to influence the game of football through the coaching tree he began.
Edwards’s impact as a coach continues to spread throughout the collegiate and professional levels. As former players of his continue to realize great success and innovate the game, such as Reid, who has become known for his creative plays, Edwards’ legacy lives on.
