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Less than a month after undergoing open-heart surgery, former BYU football coach LaVell Edwards was in Houston on Thursday and received the Paul "Bear" Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award.

The honor recognizes the career accomplishment of some of college football's finest coaches.

Past recipients of the award, which was initiated in 2000, include some of the biggest names in college football coaching: Iowa's Hayden Fry, Florida State's Bobby Bowden, Georgia's Vince Dooley and Nebraska's Tom Osborne.

Edwards was BYU's head coach for 29 years and ranks seventh on the all-time wins list, with a record of 257-101-3. He guided the Cougars to the national championship in 1984, 19 conference championships and 21 bowl games. He was twice honored as the national coach of the year.