PROVO — Even before BYU coach LaVell Edwards announced his retirement plans, his players weren't lacking incentives for the 2000 season.
As if facing Florida State on national television; tackling the toughest schedule in school history; being picked to finish third in the Mountain West Conference; and wanting to make amends for a lousy finish in 1999 weren't enough, the Cougars discovered another giant motivating factor Thursday.
That's when Edwards, who has produced an assembly line of record-setting quarterbacks and lifted the program from the dregs of mediocrity and into national prominence, made public that he will resign at the end of the season.
First came disbelief. "I was extremely shocked," said safety Jared Lee.
Edwards told Lee and the team's other three captains, Setema Gali, Margin Hooks and Kalani Sitake, of his decision prior to a general team meeting Thursday morning. "It's not what I was expecting," Lee said. "A lot of jaws dropped. It's an end of an era when you think of BYU football. We may be the team he remembers the most."
In the team meeting, "the first thing he brought up was that this would be his final season," Sitake said. "When he said that, the whole room went silent. It was quiet from then on. Then he explained to us why. There was some tears."
Many players turned that initial shock of Edwards' imminent retirement into a rallying point. "We're using this as a motivator," Sitake added. "I can't imagine BYU football without Coach Edwards. This being his final season, he deserves the best. The best is to win every game, so we want to go out and make sure we're ready to play. This is an honor for us as seniors to go out at the same time as Coach Edwards. We're going to make things happen for him. He deserves it. This isn't our team, it's his team. We're going to do everything we can to make sure he has a good season."
"I'll be proud to say that I was able to play his last season, and my last season, here," Gali said. "We want to send him out on a high note. You hear a lot of stories about how people are inspired by a better cause. I think we have the best cause of all in Coach Edwards."
During a Thursday afternoon press conference in the Cougar Room at Cougar Stadium, the coach revealed that he had originally decided to retire in January, weeks after the Cougars lost to Marshall in the Motor City Bowl, and talked to President Merrill J. Bateman about it. Athletic director Val Hale scheduled a press conference for a day in February.
But Edwards experienced a change of heart and decided to return for one more season. At the top of his list of reasons for coming back was his players. "This is a great group of young men we have on this team," said Edwards. "I'm excited about the season."
For Edwards, 69, the most difficult issue was when to make the announcement. "He debated all summer on it," Hale said. "We got the date on Monday."
Edwards had always believed he would finish his last season and then announce his retirement, not the other way around. However, according to some reports, recruits and current players had been asking him if he would still be at the helm beyond 2000, and he told them no. It was only a matter of time before this information would be publicized and he had already grown weary of the speculation on his future and wanted to eliminate distractions this brought to his program.
"Honestly, I had never, ever in my wildest dreams believed I would ever do this," he said as he unintentionally launched his farewell tour. "All I wanted to do was to play it out and when it was time to go hang it up, take off and sail into the sunset somewhere."
Instead, Edwards decided Sunday to call a press conference. He will begin his 29th and final campaign in eight days in Jacksonville, Fla., where BYU takes on defending national champion Florida State in the Pigskin Classic.
"I do know this, that I'm finally a little bit more relieved than I've been for some time," Edwards said. "(His wife) Patti and I have talked about it a lot and came to that conclusion (to retire). I had a feeling of serenity, if you will. In fact, I was feeling so serene that I put in a film of Florida State, and that got me out of that mood in a hurry."
Now that the secret he kept for months is out, he simply wants to return to coaching his football team. "I don't want to reminisce," Edwards said. "We've got a whole season ahead of us. . . . I want the focus back on the team."
It's not likely that fans, the school, opposing schools, the media or his players will ignore the fact that the NCAA's third-winningest active coach and a man whom USA Today called a "national coaching treasure" will soon resign. "We don't want it to be a distraction, but at the same time we want to pay tribute to him," Hale said. "Now is the opportunity for our fans to rally behind him, to come out to the games and to send him with the pat on the back that he deserves."
Asked if the ultimate tribute — changing the name of Cougar Stadium to LaVell Edwards Stadium — will happen, Hale said, "It's probably being discussed somewhere. The topic will come up."
Edwards expressed surprise at the large number of people who attended the press conference. Bateman called the occasion "an historic day in the history of Brigham Young University. This is an historic day in the history of American football."
Following the 2000 season, which Edwards hopes will conclude with his 23rd bowl appearance, the coach will work with the President's Office, assisting in various projects, including the raising of funds for an indoor practice facility.
Edwards' assistant coaches, whose job security could be in question depending on who the next head coach is, seemed less surprised than the players by the coach's decision to step down. "No question it was going to happen," said quarterbacks coach Robbie Bosco, who, as BYU's quarterback in 1984, guided the Cougars to a national championship. "I'm sure LaVell has thought about this for a while. I give him credit for making the decision now."
"I had an inclination this was going to be his last year," said defensive coordinator and assistant head coach Ken Schmidt. "We've been here a long time. We knew it was inevitable. We've got to put this behind us and go to work."
Which echoes Edwards' sentiments exactly. Right now is no time to reflect and relax. But the finality of his career is beginning to sink in. "I just feel like you reach a point when it's time to move on and let someone else take a run at it," he said. "It's turned out a whole lot better than I ever, ever dreamed."
E-MAIL: jeffc@desnews.com