PROVO -- Somehow, even at gridiron-crazy Brigham Young University, it seems oddly out of place amid the list of Education Week classes based on themes like religion, family history, human relations, music, parenting and self-improvement.
But every year, offensive coordinator Norm Chow attracts large crowds to his football tutorial called "The Intricacies of the BYU Passing Offense."Two of his knowledgeable and eager students on Wednesday arrived early to make sure they had seats.
"I hope (Chow) talks about the offense," said Linda Watson of Ogden. "BYU has a professional offense, similar to what the (San Francisco) 49ers run," she adds matter-of-factly.
"BYU's offense is more complicated than you think," said Maria Lewis, a friend of Watson's. "We like football."
So much so, that it's not unusual for them to incorporate Monday Night Football in their Family Home Evenings, they say.
Burt Guymon, a retired dentist from Upland, Calif., came for Education Week and now that he's here, he'll be a fixture in Provo throughout the fall, just so he can catch the home games. "I live and breathe BYU football," he said. "I wouldn't miss this class."
Chow's lecture draws a wide range of visitors, mostly consisting of men, of course. But women are well-represented, too. One of those women, who was sitting by Watson and Lewis, had a special motivation for showing up.
"She told us she came, 'So I can talk intelligently to my husband over dinner,' " Watson said.
There are two other classes on football-related topics during Education Week. On Thursday, assistant coach Chris Pella will hold a class about recruiting. On Friday, LaVell Edwards will stage a question-and-answer session.
But Chow's may be the most intriguing. In his 22nd season at BYU, he is the lightning rod of the football program. Whenever things don't go right at Quarterback U., it's Chow who is blamed.
He doesn't enjoy the criticism, but he's used to it.
Last year, he recalled, BYU defeated San Diego State, 13-0, in a driving rainstorm at Cougar Stadium. Because the ball was so slippery, quarterback Kevin Feterik attempted just 17 passes. When Chow returned home that night, he was greeted by his son.
"They're ripping you on the radio, dad," he said.
Chow couldn't believe it. The Cougars had just won a key conference game and the fans were upset? "Someone had called on the radio and said they'd rather pass the football and lose than run and win," Chow said.
But even his staunchest critics would be hard-pressed to prove he doesn't know the passing game. Chow has called every offensive play for BYU since 1982 and has developed All-America quarterbacks Steve Young, Robbie Bosco and Ty Detmer.
In his class, using a projector and a grease pen, Chow draws up offensive formations and diagrams to explain in simple terms the strategies and philosophies behind passing the ball and scoring touchdowns. He throws out a playbook-full of terminology, such as strong flats, weak curls, pre-snap looks, audibles, zone coverage and the shotgun formation.
For the most part, he makes it all sound quite simple. "We're not rocket scientists," he said. "We're dumb football coaches."
Professor Chow spends most of his allotted time fielding a variety of questions about this year's team, from the recent spate of Honor Code suspensions -- "It's tough on us because we get to know the young men in our program and we care about them;" to the quarterbacks -- "You people are too hard on Kevin Feterik;" to the new uniforms -- "I don't know why we changed. . . . (Utah coach) Ron McBride said they look like LaVell must have taken the team to Red Lobster and forgot to take their bibs off."
Chow is gracious, humorous and even charming. At the end, he receives enthusiastic applause. As he leaves, he is asked about the popularity of his class. Chow downplays it. "It's the lunch hour," he said. "There's not any heavy stuff going on."
Plenty of loyal fans would beg to differ. For them, there's a lot of heavy stuff going on at Education Week -- and much of it has to do with strong flats, weak curls, pre-snap looks and the shotgun formation.