This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I had many chances to interview former BYU football coach LaVell Edwards back in the early- to mid-1980s, and he was always unfailingly kind and generous. Never moreso than when he kept me waiting for more than half an hour.

I had scheduled an interview with the coach as spring practice was about to begin in 1984. But LaVell's previous appointment ran long.

(He was interviewing former Utah State quarterback Mike "Chico" Canales for a graduate assistant position.)

I wasn't in a hurry, and I wasn't going to complain. I was in my early 20s; Edwards was already a coaching legend; and I was hugely intimidated to begin with.

Eventually, Canales left and I was ushered into the coach's office. Edwards motioned me to sit opposite him, and as we sat down he pushed a button on his desk and the door closed.

Hey, it was 1984 — that was cool.

We were only scheduled for 15 minutes, but the coach spent more than half an hour with me. It was part interview, part chat. We talked football, and he asked me about my job and my family.

It's the first thing I thought of when the news came that the former coach — a truly great man — passed away at the age of 86.

That and one other thing. Back in the good ol' days of the Western Athletic Conference, Edwards would often talk about how tough the competition was. Which prompted me to look up scores, do some math and write something that indicated otherwise.

We ran a story — complete with charts and graphs — showing that, over the previous decade, while BYU had lost some games to WAC opponents, the average margin of victory had steadily increased. So … that competition was not so tough.

That ran on a Friday. The following day, BYU had to rally to beat WAC foe Wyoming, 41-38.

In his post-game press conference, Edwards talked about how — despite what some people thought — it was tough it was to win in the WAC. And he was looking me straight in the eye when he said it.

The coach did, however, offer a rare smile before he moved on to other topics.

And Edwards was a brave man. It's almost impossible to believe in the current media age in which we live, but the coach took calls from listeners on KSL radio after every game. Win or lose.

There were a lot of decent questions, but a lot of them were terrible. Two come immediately to mind — one caller who was confused by the yellow first-down line she saw on her TV; she wanted Edwards to explain how they got that on the field. (It was in the early days of those TV graphics.)

And another caller who wanted to know if players wore their temple garments under their football uniforms.

I never heard Edwards react angrily. I never heard him make fun of a question. The man had incredible patience.

Reviewing a "LaVell Edwards: The Spirit of Cougar Football" back in 2001, I wrote that it was "a personal profile of a man who did indeed rise above all expectations and become a football legend while remaining a humble guy who can be held up as an example of what sports — and life — should be all about." It was true then; it's true now.

I saw BYU win a lot of games while LaVell Edwards was coaching the Cougars. But mostly I remember him for his kindness.

He'll be missed ...