This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, I wrote a column in partnership with JoAnn Jacobsen-Wells called Rolly & Wells.

I went solo when JoAnn retired in 2004, but in our heyday we looked for crazy things to chronicle, got into some zany predicaments and usually had a good time.

Among the best of those memories were the several times we went to lunch with legendary Brigham Young University football coach LaVell Edwards.

JoAnn was the one who reached out to him, and he readily agreed to meet with us periodically and stuff us with anecdotes, along with our pasta and salad, that we would sprinkle in our columns during the next several months.

His stories were funny, sometimes laced with irony and often inspiring.

So when I learned of Edwards' death Thursday at age 86, a flood of memories came pouring back.

"I know you," he said during our first lunch together. "You're the U. of U. guy who hates BYU."

Then he laughed.

"I love your column," he continued. "People in Provo need to not take themselves so seriously."

He was referring to the many jibes I would hurl at BYU and its faithful, acknowledging my Ute fanaticism and lifelong loathing of the Cougars.

He never resented that. In fact, he embraced it as part of living in the Beehive State. Utah vs. BYU represented not only a sports rivalry but also a cultural divide, one some dubbed a Holy War between Gentile and Mormon schools.

As intense and competitive as Edwards was on the field, he could be just as engaging and inclusive off it — to friend and foe.

His affection for Utah coach Ron McBride was a testament to his good nature. The soft-spoken Mormon leader of the Cougars and the jovial Catholic headmaster of the Utes became best friends.

They made joint appearances, often at charity fundraisers, that brought revelry to the rivalry. Both had self-deprecating charm that made their partnership as entertaining as it was motivational.

The two appeared together before the Utah Legislature one year and their Abbott and Costello-type routine had the often-stoic lawmakers buckling over with laughter.

JoAnn wrote a book about McBride titled "Mac Attack" and had long interviews with Edwards.

The two coaches made television commercials together for Bank One that poked fun at the rivalry. One spot featured Edwards having nightmares over the numbers 34-31 after the Utes beat the Cougars by that score two straight years.

As part of the promotion, Bank One had life-size cardboard cutouts of the pair in their branch lobbies. Never too shy, JoAnn asked one of the bank managers when the promotion was over if she could take the cutout. She then brought it to my house during one of my annual BYU-Utah football parties. I put it next to my basement bar. After that, McBride and Edwards were there, together, at all my parties.

I told Edwards about that and, without pause, he asked, "Which one does your guests say is the good-looking one?"

Once, while channel surfing, I happened across a documentary of Edwards and his BYU teams during the golden years when the Cougars consistently ranked among the nation's best.

It was one of those PBS telethons to raise money for KBYU. A certain pledge amount would earn you a DVD of the documentary.

I made the pledge to get the video as a Christmas present for a particular BYU fan. I got the DVD in the mail, along with a packet of information and a certificate telling me I now was an official member of Cougar nation.

When I told Edwards about my unexpected induction into the Cougar family, he could not stop laughing.

When he went on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New York after he retired from football, I mentioned to him that my son lived in Manhattan and I tried to visit there once or twice a year.

Edwards told me to stop by and see him if I came to New York. He promised not to try to convert me.

Unfortunately, I never made it for that visit, but he converted me nonetheless: I forever will be a member of the LaVell Edwards Fan Club.