Rich Rodriguez has never coached at LaVell Edwards Stadium — but he’s quite familiar with its namesake.
In fact, Rodriguez is one of the only current FBS coaches to have faced the famed Edwards, besting his BYU squad in the 1998 Liberty Bowl as Tulane’s interim head coach.
But now in his second stint at the helm of his alma mater West Virginia, Rodriguez will make his second-ever trip to Provo Friday as his Mountaineers face No. 23 BYU.
His first visit to Cougar country was more than a quarter century ago, when he was invited by Edwards and his longtime assistant Norm Chow to spend time with them following the aforementioned Liberty Bowl.
“We played BYU in the Liberty Bowl ... and I was kind of the interim coach for the bowl game,” Rodriguez told reporters Tuesday. “Norm Chow, who’s a friend of mine, was their offensive coordinator and LaVell Edwards was (their) head coach. They invited me to come out and talk some ball with them. And so a few weeks after the bowl game, I went out to Provo and spent two or three days with them.
“I wanted to learn from them, too. You know, LaVell was a guru on the passing game and so was Norm Chow. So we kind of traded some ideas, and that was a really neat trip.”
Edwards and Chow were reportedly interested to learn more about the shotgun offense Rodriguez had implemented at Tulane. In BYU’s next game, 1999’s season opener against Washington, the Cougars unleashed a similar shotgun strategy, which resulted in 501 passing yards from Kevin Feterik in a 35-28 win. Perhaps Rodriguez deserves some credit for the victory.
In the years following his visit with Edwards and Chow, Rodriguez became the head coach at West Virginia and went 60-26 from 2001-07 with four Big East championships, becoming one of the sport’s most innovative and respected coaching minds in the process.
He eventually took over at Arizona in 2012, where he crossed paths with BYU again in 2016. Though Edwards was no longer leading the program, Rodriguez was still quite familiar with the Cougars’ new coach — he had started at fullback for BYU in that ‘98 Liberty Bowl.
Yes, Kalani Sitake’s head coaching debut for the Cougars came against Rodriguez, with Jake Oldroyd’s iconic game-winning field goal clinching the 18-16 BYU victory at the Arizona Cardinals’ stadium in Glendale.
Between the Liberty Bowl and ‘Oldroyd game,’ Sitake and Rodriguez had previously battled in the Pac-12, as Sitake served as defensive coordinator for Utah and Oregon State against Rodriguez’s Wildcats.
“He’s a great guy. He’s a really good football coach, but everyone in the profession really respects him,” Rodriguez said of Sitake. “He’s what the football profession really can look for as a role model for younger coaches.
“He’s done a great job there. They have invested in their program, they have a passionate fan base like we do. The last couple of years they have been really good.”
For Sitake, the feeling is mutual.
“I admire him. I’ve been around him and have competed against him quite a bit and I know he’ll have his guys ready,” Sitake said of Rodriguez earlier this week. “Anyone who knows anything about college football saw what Rich Rod was doing back in the day. He’s been a head coach for a long time and he had things rolling for quite a long time, especially there at West Virginia.
“He’s an innovative and creative coach. ... The guy makes his mark anywhere he goes and finds his way to get things going.”
Sitake’s Cougars and Rodriguez’s Mountaineers will kick off Friday at 8:30 p.m. MDT in Provo.
