Friday, Sept. 17, 2004 | 10:10 a.m.
Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-2324.
Norm Chow returns to LaVell Edwards Stadium Saturday night to coach for the first time since he got the word he was going to be passed over as Edwards' successor despite promises made by some administrators to the contrary.
The man who coached the school's lone Heisman Trophy winner, Ty Detmer, and was a co-offensive coordinator for the school's 1984 national championship team will instead be up in the press box calling the plays for No. 1-ranked USC.
It will be interesting to see what kind of response the fans in Provo give him.
After all, Chow played a key role in tutoring almost all of the great quarterbacks who played at BYU in the '80s and '90s, from Detmer to Robbie Bosco to Steve Young and Jim McMahon. The Cougars never had a losing season when he was around and routinely won the WAC championship and ranked among the top five passing teams in the nation.
That isn't the case at BYU these days, where the Cougars are trying to avoid a third consecutive losing season and the man who was chosen instead of Chow to replace Edwards, Gary Crowton, is hanging onto his job by his fingernails.
Chow, meanwhile, is the nation's highest paid assistant coach at about $500,000 per year, has a place on the beach in sunny Southern California, and has a 2003 national championship ring to go along with another Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Carson Palmer, on his resume. And if the Trojans make another run at a title, there's a chance Matt Leinart could also take home a Heisman later this year.
But don't look for Chow, who still owns a home in Utah -- it's up for sale -- to be sticking his chest out and telling anybody who would listen, "I told you so."
"What's happening (at BYU) is really sad," Chow told Salt Lake Tribune columnist Gordon Monson this week. "Especially the attitude there."
Hard to believe now but Chow seemed to have worn out his welcome at the end of the Edwards' regime. Fans and media criticized his decisions and he was often the topic of boos and sports-talk radio venom.
Chow's name has come up in some circles as a possible candidate to replace Crowton should the latter get fired at the end of the season. However, chances of that happening are slim.
"We've moved on," Chow told Monson. "There are different things on the horizon. We've been there, done that."
Expect an inspired effort from the Trojans on Saturday, especially on offense.
"It's his house," Leinart told the Los Angeles Daily News. "We want to win for him."
Naughty, naughty
USC quarterback Matt Leinart touched off a mild controversy last weekend when he appeared at halftime on ABC's nationally televised Miami-Florida State game wearing a T-shirt printed with "(Expletive) the BCS".
Leinart's shirt was no doubt a reference to USC not playing in the Sugar Bowl last season. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the shirt was visible enough on TV for several fans to complain, and Leinart has since apologized on a USC-run Web site promoting his Heisman campaign.
"I'll wear it. I just won't in interviews," Leinart said of the shirt designed for him by a USC student. "I didn't realize what happened. I apologized. I just wore what I wear to school. I wasn't aware of the interview. It's inappropriate and I want to be a role model."
Actually, I can think of some coaches and players in places like Salt Lake City, Boise and Fresno who no doubt wouldn't mind wearing Leinart's T-shirt.
Once around the MWC
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