News comes as no surprise to Robinson

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Aug. 18, 2000 | 10:37 a.m.

UNLV head coach John Robinson said he wasn't surprised by the news Thursday that this would be LaVell Edwards' final year as head coach at BYU.

"I had an inkling that this was coming after talking with LaVell at (Mountain West Conference) Media Day," Robinson said Thursday night. "They were squeezing him there, pain-in-the-ass type of people who were saying things like, 'Is LaVell too old?' and building their cases for their candidate to replace him. Now he'll have this year where he can kind of relax and have kind of a farewell tour. That's the way it's supposed to be."

Robinson, who will coach his final game against Edwards on Sept. 23 in Provo, said BYU officials shouldn't spare any expense in honoring the man who put the Cougar football program on the map nationally.

"The first thing they ought to do at BYU is build a huge statue of him ... 12 stories high," Robinson said with a smile.

"For me as a coach, I really believe in this business. When there's a guy like that who has done it for years and does it the right way, it makes you feel good. He, Bo Schembechler, Joe Paterno ... they make you say, 'Gosh, I'm in the right business.' "