Some Perspective: Where Was LaVell Edwards in 1978?

Utah 54 - BYU 10. Oh, the pain. It was a rout (ouch)! The last time Utah beat BYU that bad in Provo was almost 50 years ago (1956: Utah 41, BYU 6). The last time Utah beat BYU that bad, period, was in 1922 in Salt Lake City (Utah 49, BYU 0).

Now BYU fans know exactly how Utah felt a lot of the time between 1972 and 1992. A few examples:

1991: BYU 48, Utah 17

1990: BYU 45, Utah, 22

1989: BYU 70, Utah 31

1983: BYU 55, Utah 7

1980: BYU 56, Utah 6 (the largest victory of the rivalry)

From 1972 - 1992 BYU won 19, Utah 2. Ahhh, those were the days. They may be gone, but they are not forgotten (and they help ease the pain on days like today). LaVell Edwards had Utah’s number for many years (and many of those victories were routs)!

Side Note: I have often said to friends that the Utah of today would not be as good as it is now without BYU. All those years of grief Utah took from BYU in the 70's and 80's gave them something to fight for! (Now, its BYU's turn to learn from Utah.)

Today, that pain is felt by BYU and its fans everywhere. One of my personal antidotes for pain is to reflect and so today I reflected. One question I asked myself is this, where was LaVell Edwards at this point in his first years as head coach of BYU as compared to where Bronco Mendenhall is now? Here is a side-by-side comparison of LaVell versus Bronco, the first 6.25 years:

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LaVell Edwards	Age*	W/L	Ranking	Bowls	|Bronco |Mendenhall	Age*	W/L	Ranking	Bowls
1972	42	7-4			| 2005	39	6-6		L
1973	43	5-6			| 2006	40	11-2	16	W
1974	44	7-4-1		L	| 2007	41	11-2	14	W
1975	45	6-5			| 2008	42	10-3	21	L
1976	46	9-3	16	L	| 2009	43	11-2	12	W
1977	47	9-3			| 2010	44	7-6		W
1978	48	2-1			| 2011	45	1-2

*At the beginning of the season

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During those 6.25 years, LaVell beat Utah 6 times (but would lose to them for the first time as head coach later in 1978). Bronco has beat Utah 3 out of 7.

As can be seen, LaVell was consistently winning the first years of his career. One thing to keep in mind is that winning for LaVell was not expected—he took over a losing team. The Utah game provides a great example. At the time he became head coach, the Utah rivalry was all Utah—between 1896 and 1971, BYU won only 8 times with 3 ties (yes, you read that right, only 8 wins in 75 years!). During his 29 years as head coach BYU only lost to Utah 7 times. That is one reason LaVell deserves to be the legend he is. What he did revolutionized the BYU-Utah rivalry, BYU football, and college football in general. He was amazing.

Bronco has also been winning consistently. But, as just mentioned, the big difference is that he is expected to win. While it could be argued he took over a losing program, too, those bad years were much fewer (3 bad years out of 4).

So, in the first 6.25 years of their careers, LaVell was 45-26-1 (.624 in 72 games) and Bronco is 57-23 (.713 in 80 games). Where will Bronco and BYU be after he has had 29 years at the helm of BYU football? Only time will tell.

All I can say is that, despite the pain of yesterday’s loss, the overall picture is very promising for Bronco and BYU football. With huge expectations on his shoulders and at a slightly younger age, Bronco is still finding a way to win. Last year was an incredible comeback for the team and I believe this year could be even better. Bronco has had an amazing start under much more difficult expectations that LaVell faced and I think Bronco will continue to help this team succeed (one of the reasons being Bronco’s Bookshelf--he reads great books! That, however, is the subject for a completely different column).

Starting today, life goes on for all us BYU fans. We can already begin to look forward to next year's game. In the meantime, the big picture, a promising future, and a little "living in the past" sure does help ease the pain. Go Cougars!