LaVell Edwards

Head coach, BYU, 1972 to 2000

College career257-101-3

Titles1national

Program liftNo. 11of 1,290 tenures since 1937

Stats

Big games

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

43-13 against his rivals. Just 1-6 against Terry Donahue.

Rivalry record

43-13

76.8% · 2 rivals

One-score games

67-47-3

57.3% · margin ≤8

Against Blue Bloods or better

5-8

38.5%

Rivalry ledger

Utah22-776%

Utah State21-678%

The toughest matchupNemesis

vs. Terry Donahue1-6

7 meetings, 1983–1995

’83 W’85 L’86 L’91 L’92 L’93 L’95 L

Performance by opponent class

Blue Blood

5-8 38.5%

Power Program

14-25 35.9%

National Program

63-33 65.6%

Regional Program

167-35 82.7%

Building the roster

Two numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.

1Roster ownership
2The NFL pipeline

Roster ownership

This coach's entire tenure (1972-2000) predates 2021, when transfer-portal tracking begins in this database. Portal usage cannot be measured for this tenure at all -- this is not the same as '0% portal'.

“His own” means the player arrived while he was head coach; “inherited” means a predecessor brought him in.

The NFL pipeline

at least54Drafted

players drafted into the NFL off his teams here (a floor — see the note below). None can be traced to who brought them in — there’s no roster record for these players here. 8 went in the first round.

At least 54 — the draft class following his 1987, 1995 seasons are missing from this table entirely; and his 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 seasons predate the modern 7-round draft, so this table’s pre-1994 pick counts are a floor, not a full count, for those seasons.

0 roster-verified · 54 estimated

Most recent picks first

Year	Pick	Player	Pos	NFL team	Note
2001	R7.16	Owen Pochman	Place Kicker	New England Patriots	Estimated
2001	R7.46	Tevita Ofahengaue	Tight End	Arizona Cardinals	Estimated
2000	R1.28	Rob Morris	Linebacker	Indianapolis Colts	Estimated
2000	R3.31	Byron Frisch	Defensive End	Tennessee Titans	Estimated
2000	R5.09	Matt Johnson	Center	Indianapolis Colts	Estimated
1999	R1.14	John Tait	Offensive Tackle	Kansas City Chiefs	Estimated
1999	R6.19	Daren Yancey	Defensive Tackle	Oakland Raiders	Estimated
1999	R7.38	Joe Wong	Offensive Tackle	Miami Dolphins	Estimated

Year	Pick	Player	Pos	NFL team	Note
1998	R5.26	Eric Bateman	Offensive Tackle	New York Jets	Estimated
1998	R6.30	Dustin Johnson	Running Back	New York Jets	Estimated
1998	R7.22	Jason Andersen	Center	New England Patriots	Estimated
1997	R6.11	Itula Mili	Tight End	Seattle Seahawks	Estimated
1995	R3.23	Evan Pilgrim	Offensive Guard	Chicago Bears	Estimated
1995	R4.29	Tim Hanshaw	Tight End	San Francisco 49ers	Estimated
1995	R6.10	Travis Hall	Defensive Tackle	Atlanta Falcons	Estimated
1995	R6.19	Eli Herring	Offensive Tackle	Oakland Raiders	Estimated
1995	R7.05	John Walsh	Quarterback	Cincinnati Bengals	Estimated
1993	R4.08	Derwin Gray	Defensive Back	Indianapolis Colts	Estimated
1991	R6.04	Neal Fort	Offensive Tackle	Los Angeles Rams	Estimated
1991	R7.05	Brian Mitchell	Defensive Back	Atlanta Falcons	Estimated
1990	R3.23	Mohammed Elewonibi	Offensive Guard	Washington Redskins	Estimated
1989	R3.24	John Hunter	Offensive Tackle	Minnesota Vikings	Estimated
1987	R1.11	Shawn Knight	Defensive End	New Orleans Saints	Estimated
1987	R1.17	Jason Buck	Defensive End	Cincinnati Bengals	Estimated
1987	R7.02	Mark Bellini	Wide Receiver	Indianapolis Colts	Estimated
1986	R3.17	Robbie Bosco	Quarterback	Green Bay Packers	Estimated
1986	R5.13	Leon White	Linebacker	Cincinnati Bengals	Estimated
1985	R1.28	Trevor Matich	Center	New England Patriots	Estimated
1985	R4.22	Kyle Morrell	Defensive Back	Minnesota Vikings	Estimated
1985	R5.19	Louis Wong	Offensive Guard	St. Louis Cardinals	Estimated
1985	R5.26	Lee Johnson	Place Kicker	Houston Oilers	Estimated
1985	R7.16	Jim Herrmann	Defensive End	Dallas Cowboys	Estimated
1984	R1.24	Todd Shell	Linebacker	San Francisco 49ers	Estimated
1983	R4.06	Tom Holmoe	Defensive Back	San Francisco 49ers	Estimated
1982	R1.05	Jim McMahon	Quarterback	Chicago Bears	Estimated
1982	R4.23	Dan Plater	Wide Receiver	Denver Broncos	Estimated
1981	R2.14	Clay Brown	Tight End	Denver Broncos	Estimated
1981	R3.25	Glen Titensor	Defensive End	Dallas Cowboys	Estimated
1981	R4.04	Scott Phillips	Wide Receiver	Seattle Seahawks	Estimated
1981	R4.23	Nick Eyre	Offensive Tackle	Houston Oilers	Estimated
1981	R6.28	Glen Redd	Linebacker	New Orleans Saints	Estimated
1980	R1.15	Marc Wilson	Quarterback	Oakland Raiders	Estimated
1980	R2.27	Mat Mendenhall	Defensive End	Washington Redskins	Estimated
1978	R2.28	Todd Christensen	Tight End	Dallas Cowboys	Estimated
1978	R3.17	Gifford Nielsen	Quarterback	Houston Oilers	Estimated
1978	R6.20	Mekeli Ieremia	Defensive End	Chicago Bears	Estimated
1977	R5.24	Dave Hubbard	Offensive Tackle	New Orleans Saints	Estimated
1976	R3.23	Brad Oates	Offensive Tackle	St. Louis Cardinals	Estimated
1976	R6.13	Stan Varner	Defensive Tackle	Atlanta Falcons	Estimated
1975	R3.12	Gary Sheide	Quarterback	Cincinnati Bengals	Estimated
1975	R3.22	Wayne Baker	Defensive Tackle	San Francisco 49ers	Estimated
1975	R4.15	Paul Linford	Defensive Tackle	Baltimore Colts	Estimated
1973	R3.02	Paul Howard	Offensive Guard	Denver Broncos	Estimated
1973	R3.14	Pete Van Valkenburg	Running Back	New Orleans Saints	Estimated

A pick counts toward his tenure when the player’s final college season was one he coached, a checkable rule rather than a claim about who developed the player. A blank note means the player is on a verified roster and arrived on his watch. “Estimated” means no roster record, so the final season is assumed to be the year before the draft.

Career

Coaching career

1 national title

See BYU’s full coaching history →

The arc of his career is on Now.

Transformer raised the program into the sport's top tier, or higher within it

1972–2000

BYU Transformer

Regional Program II → Blue Blood (left at Power Program III)

Closest comparable run: Nick Saban’s Alabama run (2007–2023)

LaVell Edwards took BYU from Regional Program II to Blue Blood.

+39.5 pts over 29 seasons · top 4% of 10+-season tenures (202 in sample)

1st-best BYU tenure of 12 by the numbers.

Followed Tommy Hudspeth (1964–1971) · succeeded by Gary Crowton (2001–2004).

Season	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Record & result
Record	7-4	5-6	7-4-1	6-5	9-3	9-2	9-4	11-1	12-1	11-2	8-4	11-1	13-0	11-3	8-5	9-4	9-4	10-3	10-3	8-3-2	8-5	6-6	10-3	7-4	14-1	6-5	9-5	8-4	6-6
Postseason	—	—	L bowl	—	L bowl	—	L bowl	L bowl	W bowl	W bowl	L bowl	W bowl	W bowl	L bowl	L bowl	L bowl	W bowl	L bowl	L bowl	L bowl	L bowl	L bowl	W bowl	—	W bowl	—	L bowl	L bowl	—
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Defense	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script
1st-down pass%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Red-zone pass%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th-down go%opp. territory	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Postseason detail1974: Lost to Oklahoma State 6-16 Bowl1976: Lost to Oklahoma State 21-49 Bowl1978: Lost to Navy 16-23 Bowl1979: Lost to Indiana 37-38 Bowl1980: Beat SMU 46-45 Bowl1981: Beat Washington State 38-36 Bowl1982: Lost to Ohio State 17-47 Bowl1983: Beat Missouri 21-17 Bowl1984: Beat Michigan 24-17 Bowl1985: Lost to Ohio State 7-10 Bowl1986: Lost to UCLA 10-31 Bowl1987: Lost to Virginia 16-22 Bowl1988: Beat Colorado 20-17 Bowl1989: Lost to Penn State 39-50 Bowl1990: Lost to Texas A&M 14-65 Bowl1991: Tied Iowa 13-13 Bowl1992: Lost to Kansas 20-23 Bowl1993: Lost to Ohio State 21-28 Bowl1994: Beat Oklahoma 31-6 Bowl1996: Beat Wyoming 28-25 Bowl1996: Beat Kansas State 19-15 Bowl1998: Lost to Air Force 13-20 Bowl1998: Lost to Tulane 27-41 Bowl1999: Lost to Marshall 3-21 Bowl

257-101-3

All-time wins

Wins at programs this site tracks, 1936–present — one consistent count for every coach, not each program’s own historically reported total.

6th all-time in FBS wins

Was he good?

Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.

Raised the program

+39.5 pts at BYU · #11 of 1290 · top quarter