Quick Thought on Lavell Edwards Passing…

I had a lump-in-the-throat moment Thursday upon hearing the news that legendary BYU head coach LaVell Edwards had passed away. In the late 1980’s I came up with a show concept called “This Week in the Western Athletic Conference.”  The radio station I worked at carried San Diego State football and had a signal that stretched from the Mexican border to Santa Barbara during the day, and even greater at night. I called each head coach directly about the idea and all of them were on board. Coach Edwards didn’t know me from a hole in the wall and yet each week when I would call him, he’d want to have a conversation, BYU v Air Force  could wait. There was something very fatherly and caring about the man. Most of the coaches would give me their 5 mins. and move on to the next item, but Coach Edwards wanted to know how the show was going, how was I doing, so on and so forth. When I accepted the job at KTAR in 1993, I remember telling Coach Edwards that the show would be ending. He was very happy for me. I did that show for three years, and fondly remember what a pleasure it was for a kid in his early 20’s  to be treated so well by a great coach.