By Karen Painter
kg53@email.byu.edu
Despite the roaring football rivalry between the University of Utah and BYU, the coaches behind these two brawling teams are friends.
Head Utah football coach Ron McBride said he enjoys spending time with BYU coach LaVell Edwards.
'He is a good man with a good sense of humor,' McBride said. 'Any time I get to spend with him is always a great time.'
McBride said he first met Edwards in 1976 when he went to work as the offensive coordinator for the U.
'BYU had control of the whole state with recruiting, games - everything as far as football was concerned,' McBride said. 'Even though he was so revered and was supposed to be such an outstanding football coach, to me he was just a regular guy.'
Edwards and McBride have spent time together on the golf course, at Mountain West Conference meetings and at charity events.
'We have done a lot of fundraising together,' Edwards said. 'We did a few things for the Kidney Foundation and for the Food Bank. We also did some things for a few childrens' charities.'
McBride and Edwards both said that when they are together, they never talk about football - especially the Utah-BYU game.
'We never get into the business when we are together,' McBride said. 'We don't want to talk about football.'
Edwards said it is not uncommon for coaches to avoid talking about football when they are off the field.
'It is a time for escape,' he said. 'Sometimes it (football) is so terribly encompassing. It is always on your mind. You get tired of it and you want an escape.'
Edwards said he never wanted to come home and talk about football with his wife, Patti, because it wouldn't be fair to her. He also said there have been times when he's played 18 holes of golf with another coach and football never even came up.
Since 1922, BYU and Utah have met on the football field every year except for 1943-45, when many players throughout the country put on a new uniform for the defense team of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Utah has the all-time record of the rivalry, winning 45 and losing 26 games to BYU. The two teams have tied on four different occasions.
BYU has had the advantage over Utah since Edwards was appointed head coach in 1972, winning 18 of the next 20 games between the two schools.
McBride says this advantage has changed in the 1990s. The teams are now even with five winning games each.
'When we won down in Provo in 1993, we had our first huge step forward for the Ute football program against BYU,' McBride said.
Edwards said the BYU-Utah game is always one of the best of the season.
It might seem that playing under such heated conditions may cause hard feelings between the two coaches, but McBride said the rivalry has never affected his relationship with Edwards.
'LaVell is sincere in what he says,' McBride said. 'There are no falsities about him. I don't know anyone in college football who doesn't like LaVell. They may not like BYU, but you never hear them criticize LaVell.'
McBride said it is great that Edwards is going to retire and that he has done that on his own.
'He has earned that right,' the Utah football coach said. 'That guy is one of the top four college football coaches in the United States. He has been at the same school for 20 million years and has 20 million wins, which are both unheard of. BYU is spoiled to have him.'
McBride said he thinks Edwards has the same fame as Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the LDS Church, because he has been such a positive representative of the school.
Edwards said he didn't know if he agreed with McBride's opinion of him.
'It's always easy to say nice things about someone when you know that you won't have to deal with them anymore,' Edwards said with a chuckle.
Edwards said he enjoys being around McBride and respects him as a coach and an individual. He said his favorite experience with McBride was when the two coaches made commercials for a bank.
'It was a lot of fun,' Edwards said. 'It was a big affair and I remember that I had to coach Coach McBride with his lines.'
McBride said he doesn't know how the Cougars will perform after Edwards retires, but that the coach has laid a foundation for the team that will last for decades.
'BYU will still have the inbreed recruiting base and other foundations left by LaVell regardless of who the new coach will be,' McBride concluded.