This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Provo • Reno Mahe will be wearing pink shoes on the sidelines of Qualcomm Stadium during the Poinsettia Bowl to honor daughter Elsie, the BYU running backs coach said Monday.
Pink was the favorite color of the 3-year-old child who died on Nov. 29 after becoming entangled in window blind cords the previous Tuesday at the family's Lehi home.
"As far as honoring her, it is one of those things as a dad where you are trying to live a good life and honor her in that way," Mahe said, speaking to reporters for the first time since the accident. "I got a bunch of other rugrats running around at my house, and I will hug them a little more, spend a little more time with them."
Speaking of time, Mahe said head coach Kalani Sitake and BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe told him to take as much time away as he needed, for which he is grateful. He has been at all the team's practices since it began preparing for the game against Wyoming last week, and definitely plans on coaching in the game on Dec. 21.
"Kalani gave me all the time [off] I wanted, and said, 'do what you need to do, whether you need to come [to the office] or whatever. You don't have to do anything,'" Mahe said. "Any time that I've come in, it was more about me needing a little break, me needing a little normalcy. … Kalani and Ty [Detmer] have been great about it."
In his first year of coaching at the college level, the former BYU and Philadelphia Eagles player said Sitake worked out a way all season for his coaches to be home with their families at dinner time. He is grateful that "when something like this happens, we did spend time" at home during the season.
Mahe said he was touched through the ordeal by the support he received not just from BYU coaches, players, fans and boosters, but also from University of Utah, Southern Utah, Weber State and Utah State coaches, players and fans.
He said he had several long talks in the lobby of Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City with former Utah safety Steve Tate, whose 20-month-old son Hayes died of brain cancer five days after Elsie Mahe. Reno Mahe said his older brother, Sione Mahe, a former Utah player, put a U. hat on Elsie's casket at the funeral on Saturday before his sister replaced it with a BYU hat.
"So, if it is something that brings the fan bases closer together and brings a little more civility to it, great," Reno Mahe said.
Fred Warner expected to return
The best underclassman on BYU's roster is arguably linebacker Fred Warner, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound junior from San Marcos, Calif. Warner said last week he expects to return to BYU for his senior season.
"Yeah, right now I am fully committed to coming back," Warner said. "I think our coaches have talked about [his NFL prospects] here and there, but I am almost positive I am coming back."
Warner has made 76 tackles and intercepted three passes this season, one of which he returned for a touchdown against Boise State.
Brown ready for bowl
Fullback Algernon Brown did not get any carries in the season-ending UMass and Utah State games due to a bone bruise on his right leg, but says he is 100 percent recovered and expects to play in the Poinsettia Bowl.
"It was mostly a matter of how much I could tolerate the pain, so I mostly played through it," said Brown, who had 16 carries for 43 yards in 2016 after leading the Cougars in rushing in 2015 with 709 yards.
Twitter: @drewjay —
Poinsettia Bowl
P At Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
BYU (8-4) vs. Wyoming (8-5)
Dec. 21, 7 p.m. MST
TV • ESPN