Columnist Steve Guiremand: Edwards: Biggest loss for MWC

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Sept. 22, 2000 | 9:31 a.m.

Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. His Around Campus column appears Friday during the football season.

Sun football writer Steve Guiremand will be with the UNLV football team in Provo, Utah, on Saturday as the Rebels try to stamp themselves as a MWC contender by upsetting BYU. Point your browser to www.lasvegassun.com for continuing weekend coverage.

So far this has been a year to forget for the Mountain West Conference.

Consider:

But the biggest loss for the MWC so far has occurred off the field.

When BYU's LaVell Edwards announced his retirement on Aug. 17, the conference lost its biggest name, its most recognizable face.

And Edwards, whose granite-jawed face looks like it was chistled out of Mt. Rushmore, has done it the right way. He's not some showboating sideline clown who seems almost as concerned about how he looks on camera as winning -- hello Bob Davie -- but instead is a quiet, stoic figure who usually has his arms crossed and displays all the emotion of someone playing chess.

My favorite LaVell Edwards moment came on Sept. 8, 1990, while I was a reporter for the old Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. I went to Provo to do a story on a talented junior quarterback named Ty Detmer and cover the Cougars' game against the team that was the biggest and baddest in college football during that era, defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Miami.

Dennis Erickson's Hurricanes, loaded with future NFL players such as Russell Maryland and Craig Erickson, were big favorites. But thanks to a gutty performance by Detmer, who overcame an 11-stitch cut in his chin, BYU rallied for a 28-21 win.

In the post-game press conference, Detmer, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy in large part because of that game, was at the podium answering questions about perhaps the biggest win in Cougar Stadium history. Not wanting to hog time from the local reporters who had a much bigger story to write, I decided to sit near the back.

A few minutes later, Edwards quietly walked in, sat down next to me, opened a brown paper bag and calmly ate a sandwich and an apple while listening to Detmer speak.

He wasn't soaked in Gatorade. He wasn't running around high-fiving players. He didn't steal the spotlight from his star player.

By not saying anything, he said a whole lot about LaVell Edwards the coach.

Good luck to the man who tries to replace him next year.

Once around the nation

Once around the MWC