Milestones you'd like to reach before retiring? Not really. Because when I began it was never to reach 100 games or reach 200 or to get high on the all-time list or whatever else. Those things are by-products. I want to win another championship, beginning with the conference championship. The thing that was disappointing to me last year was the fact that we did not win the conference championship. I felt like we just let that game (against Air Force in Las Vegas) get away from us.
LaVell EdwardsI went to many coaching clinics, talked to other coaches, read articles, books, etc. Anything I could do that would help me prepare to be the best coach possible. Fortunately, the coaches I had as a player were good men and were excellent role models in setting priorities and relating to the team members and coaching staff.
LaVell EdwardsComing out of BYU's football spring, 1999, practice: We might have a chance to be pretty good.
LaVell EdwardsBYU takes on defending national champion Florida State in the Pigskin Classic in Jacksonville, Fla., eight days after announcing that the 2000 season would be his last before retirement: I do know this, that I'm finally a little bit more relieved than I've been for some time. Patti (his wife) and I have talked about it a lot and came to that conclusion (to retire). I had a feeling of serenity, if you will. In fact, I was feeling so serene that I put in a film of Florida State, and that got me out of that mood in a hurry.
LaVell EdwardsSpeaking as he unintentionally launched his farewell tour by announcing that the 2000 season would be his last before retirement: Honestly, I had never, ever in my wildest dreams believed I would ever do this. All I wanted to do was to play it out and when it was time to go, hang it up, take off and sail into the sunset somewhere.
LaVell EdwardsEven though I did not go into college teaching, I believe the education I did receive helped me to become a better coach.
LaVell EdwardsPotential does not always ensure success. The greatest players have not always been the most endowed. In athletics, we often hear the phrase, "He has the will to win". I think this is wrong. We can have the greatest will to do well. But unless we have prepared, it is of little use. Really, it should be the "will to prepare". Those who succeed have this will, whether it be in athletics, whether it be in school, whether it be in their chosen vocation, whether it be on a mission, or in almost any other phase of their life.
LaVell Edwards