BYU MOURNING LAVELL EDWARDS
provo, utah» LaVell Edwards, who led BYU to national prominence with his dynamic passing offenses and became one of the most successful coaches in college football history, died Thursday. He was 86.
Edwards coached the Cougars for 29 seasons before retiring in 2000. He had a record of 257-101-3, the seventhmost wins in FBS history. His teams won or shared 19 conference titles and played in 22 bowl games. His 1984 team finished 13-0 and was voted national champion, and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
“LaVell was one of the best friends that I had in the coaching world,” said Tom Osborne, who won three national titles as Nebraska’s coach and whose triple-option offense was the polar opposite of Edwards’ dynamic passing attack. “He had a great sense of humor and was always wellgrounded and fun to be around.
“BYU had a distinct identity under LaVell. They were a passing team before it became stylish, but many did not realize that they had a very good running game as well.”
Edwards became BYU’s coach in 1972, taking over a program that had only 14 winning seasons in 49 years. BYU won 10 consecutive Western Athletic Conference titles from 197685 and played in 17 consecutive bowl games from 1978-94.
Edwards’ star quarterbacks included Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, Steve Young and 1990 Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer, now the Cougars’ offensive coordinator.
“Coach Edwards had an impact on so many lives, and not just as coach but as a person,” said current BYU coach Kalani Sitake, who played for Edwards at BYU. “So many people — players, coaches, fans, the entire BYU family, coaching colleagues and opponents — will tell you they are a better person because of him, and I’m definitely one of them. We all love LaVell and appreciate the amazing legacy he leaves with each of us.”
Edwards was a two-time national coach of the year (1979 and 1984). BYU’s home games are played at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
Serena engaged.
Tennis star Serena Williams is tying the knot.
Williams announced her engagement to Alexis Ohanian, posting a poem on Reddit that she accepted the proposal from the social news website’s co-founder.
Williams’ agent, Jill Smoller, confirmed the engagement in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Weightlifter dies after barbell drop
B ankeny, iowa » A 22-year-old man died after a barbell slipped from his grasp and crushed his neck at a gym in central Iowa. The accident occurred Monday at the Elite Edge Transformation Center in Ankeny, about 10 miles north of Des Moines.
A spokesman for the center, Mark Yontz, said Kyle Thomson was benchpressing 315 pounds when the barbell slipped.
World Cup stadium finished
B st. petersburg, russia » A stadium in St. Petersburg that will host a 2018 World Cup semifinal match has been completed after many construction delays and corruption scandals.
The stadium, provisionally called the Zenit Arena, took almost a decade to build, prompting Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to publicly call it “disgraceful.”
Footnote.
France’s Alexis Pinturault matched French skiing royalty by winning an alpine combined race Thursday in Santa Caterina Valfurva, Italy. Pinturault joined Jean-Claude Killy with a French-record 18th World Cup victory.
Pinturault edged overall World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria by 0.34 seconds in the event, which combined the times from one super-G run and one slalom run.
Pinturault stood third, behind Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Hirscher, after the super-G portion of the race and then had the fastest slalom run.