Outside, the thermometer was working its way toward another warm Louisiana day, but Green Bay Packers offensive line coach Tom Lovat wasn't thinking about that, or even the cold he left in Green Bay. He was thinking about back home, up Bingham Canyon, and whether the winter winds would be kicking up.
"I've been through some winters in Bingham that were just as bad as Green Bay," he said.It has been decades since Lovat was a youth in Utah. Back then there was the town and the high school and the copper mine; a different world altogether than the one he found himself in this week as he and the Packers prepare for Super Bowl XXXI.
"Actually, Green Bay is a lot like my home town," he said. "The people there are blue collar, good people. That's my kind of people, no question."
Lovat could be excused if he forgot Utah entirely. Although it is his home, it is also the scene of his greatest disappointment. When he was head coach of the Universityof Utah football team (1974-76), the Utes weren't just bad, they were wretched. They lost 51-20 to BYU, 40-7 to Tennessee, 31-7 to Indiana, 40-14 to Arizona State. They didn't win many games, but they were a popular choice as a homecoming opponent. Booking the Utes was like buying U.S. Savings Bonds - money in the bank. People were lining up to schedule them but for all the wrong reasons.
"That seems like a long time ago," said Lovat.
In three years as Utah's head coach, his teams went 5-28, including back-to-back 1-10 seasons. "We were at the apex of the drought," he added.
Lovat's win-loss percentage wasn't just bad, it was the worst in school history (.151). Only someone known only as "Mr. Cummings," who coached Utah to a 1-5 record (.160) in 1897, and someone mysteriously referred to as "Unknown," who coached Utah to a 2-6 mark in 1892-95 (.250), were even close.
"But it's not a hard place to recruit to," Lovat said. "Guys come in and are impressed with the campus, the skiing. There's a lot to sell."
The problem at Utah wasn't selling the place. It was selling the facilities. The school was only a step beyond wooden goalposts and leather helmets. Although the field had artificial turf - the wave of the future back then - the stadium was aging and there was little or no money apportioned to upgrade. An indoor practice facility or even a new weight room weren't even a consideration. It was simply a matter of getting by with what you had.
Lovat accepted what he was given, but the Utes were unable to compete. All five wins Utah collected while Lovat was head coach were against WAC opponents. Three came against teams as dismal as Utah: New Mexico (twice) and UTEP. When a study was conducted comparing Utah's football budget with the other WAC schools, Utah's was near or at the bottom.
"We were always trying to break even," he said.
After being fired, Lovat moved on as an assistant at Stanford, then to Green Bay as an assistant, then St. Louis. He spent four years in Indianapolis and two more in Phoenix before joining up with Holmgren five seasons ago, becoming the quintessential career assistant coach in the process. After two stays in Green Bay and at least in part raising his family there, that is now his home.
"Well, yeah, Utah is still home," he said, but added, "but I don't have any relatives of my own there."
Being a career assistant, of course, isn't a bad assignment. The head coach takes most of the heat and there are a limited number of interviews to deal with. Assistant coaches sometimes get to play good guy with their unit while the head coach is the heavy. All in all an enjoyable job.
There are, however, inherent drawbacks. Assistants came sometimes became an easy scapegoat when things go wrong. Early this year, the Packers' offensive line was considered the weak link on perhaps the NFL's best team. It was inexperienced in some places, unsettled in others and considered not aggressive enough to run-block well. Lovat, however, addressed that problem and the result was that the Packers are in Sunday's Super Bowl and heavily favored. The Packers became not only a feared passing team but a respected rushing team, as well.
The last six games, the Packers' offensive line provided the means for an average of 152.2 rushing yards a game. It also successfully protected the Franchise, quarterback Brett Favre, from being folded, spindled or mutilated.
All of which went a long way toward keeping the O-line coach's job.
So two decades after coaching his last play at Utah, Lovat has found another home. And while the University of Utah football program has gone on to better days, it could be argued that so has Lovat. In the process, he's proven a theory he developed more than two decades ago: That even though a place can be cold, it can also have a lot to sell.