It was an intense meeting in the summer of 1996. A few of BYU’s senior captains had requested a sit-down with legendary head coach LaVell Edwards in the aftermath of a disappointing 7-4 season.
The players took accountability for why BYU missed a bowl game for the first time in 17 years. In an emotional exchange, they promised to do what it took to win.
“We sat in front of LaVell, and we told him, ‘Hey, we want to be national champs and we’re willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen,” Chad Lewis, a tight end on that team, recalled. “And so we told him as players what we were willing to do, or give up.”
By the end of the meeting, everyone — including future NFL players like Lewis, Shay Muirbrook and Tim McTyer — was spent. But before they left, quarterback Steve Sarkisian had one more thing to say.
“I remember Steve asked if we could have a covering over the ramp down to the field from the locker room,” Lewis said. “LaVell was like, ‘Yeah, I can do that.’
“And then Steve’s like, ‘Coach … we’d also like some smoke.”
Everyone cracked up. After how heavy the meeting was, Sarkisian asking for a fog machine to jazz up the team’s entrances was something nobody anticipated. But Sarkisian was always himself, even in the most difficult moments.
“We looked at each other like, are you kidding me?” Lewis said, laughing. “LaVell was not a hype guy. But because he saw our commitment, that as team leaders we were saying we were willing to do whatever it took, [he agreed]. Steve was a major part of that.”
If Sarkisian had an influence on Edwards, it’s safe to say Edwards’ had a major influence on Sarkisian, too.
In college football circles, Sarkisian is a household name as the head coach of No. 7 Texas. His journey from Washington to USC, subsequent struggles with alcohol, and his rebound at Alabama have been well-documented.
But at the foundation of that journey is his time at BYU, leading the Cougars to a 14-1 season and a No. 5 ranking in 1996. He won the Sammy Baugh Trophy for the nation’s best passer and would later use BYU’s offense to climb up the coaching ranks.
“Sark was unbelievable at BYU,” his teammate Kaipo McGuire said. “He’s the man. Everything he’s doing right now is not a surprise.”
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian fist bumps long snapper Lance St. Louis (58) during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)
Kalani’s role in recruiting Sark
Sarkisian wasn’t a typical BYU quarterback. He arrived before the 1995 season from El Camino College, a JUCO in California. He wanted to be a baseball player first, attempting to walk on at USC before playing shortstop at El Camino. Eventually he made the transition to quarterback and threw 41 touchdowns his sophomore year.
When it came time to transfer, he didn’t have strong ties to Provo. The Cougars weren’t even sure if they needed a quarterback. The starter at the time, John Walsh, still had another year of eligibility left.
“The truth of the matter was, if Walsh never left early, then Steve probably wouldn’t have signed at BYU,” McGuire said.
But Walsh threw for 454 yards and four touchdowns against Oklahoma in the Copper Bowl, winning 31-6, and it became clear that some NFL team would take a chance on him.
Walsh happened to know Sarkisian. They were both from Torrance, Calif. And without a clear successor in the quarterback room, he suggested BYU go after the transfer.
Kalani Sitake, then a freshman fullback, was among those who hosted him on his visit.
“I’ve known him when we were nobodies,” Sitake, now BYU’s head coach, said. “...I don’t think he came because of the host. We went, hung out, and played ping pong or whatever.”
The first year was a steep learning curve. On the field, Sarkisian was adapting to a new air raid offense that put plenty of responsibility on the quarterback to check in and out of plays. His first game, BYU traveled to Air Force and got stomped 38-12.
“A 10 a.m. game and we stayed in Denver with an hour drive there” Lewis remembered. “It was weird.”
The second week BYU lost again to UCLA and only scored nine points.
Off the field, too, it was an adjustment. Sarkisian was Catholic and hadn’t experienced the Honor Code at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints school.
“He was like, ‘What do we do?” McGuire said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, we can do this.’ And he’s like, ‘That’s it?’ You know, it’s just a different culture coming to BYU if you’re not a member.”
Slowly he found his niche. McGuire and Sarkisian wore out Provo waterparks, trying to find a balance. On the field he got more comfortable merging his talent with Edwards’ system.
“In his first practice in spring ball, he threw a pass to me down the seam, which was such an incredible pass,” Lewis remembered. “And it was just perfect timing. It kept me away from the safety [not to get hit]. An easier throw would have been to let me drift into the safety. And that was the moment that I knew that his skills were top level. ... I remember running back to the huddle and I told him I will go anywhere you throw the ball. I will catch it. It is so rare.”
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian tracks his team from the sidelines during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Alabama, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
LaVell’s influence
By the end of the ‘95 season, the offense scored 40-plus points three times and Sarkisian kicked into gear with over 3,000 yards.
“I have one story that I always hold on to,” Sarkisian said. “It was right near the end of the first half, a timeout, and there was discussion about what play to call. There was dialogue with [offensive coordinator Norm] Chow and coach [Robert] French, our offensive line coach, about what we’re going to do. Nobody could agree.
“And I’ll never forget Coach Edwards looking at me and saying, ‘Sark what do you want to run? I referenced the play I wanted to run and he turned around and said, ‘Alright, we’re running the play I just referenced.’ ... He believed in what I was able to do.”
BYU could have made a bowl, but the administration decided against it because it didn’t want to absorb the cost of tickets.
“We could not believe it,” Lewis said. “I’m telling you that burned inside of us all offseason.”
It led to that intense meeting with Edwards in 1996, and that important moment of levity.
“He was himself,” Sarkisian said this week when asked what he recalled of his college coach. “I know everybody always sees the stern face on the sidelines from back in the day. But he was a really lighthearted guy. He was really fun to be around. The players liked to be around him. I think that really goes back to having really good relationships with your players.”
Sarkisian might have asked for a fog machine, but he also set the tone behind the scenes. He looked to bridge gaps and embrace different viewpoints.
“He said, ‘The two people I respect the most in life are Catholic priests and Mormon missionaries,” Lewis remembered. “That stood out, like, Wow, bro. That’s not a typical thing a quarterback thinks about or talks about. We had a team full of returning missionaries.”
He also made sure to involve people of all levels. He invited players for throwing sessions, including a young junior college receiver named Aaron Roderick.
“He always included me throwing with the veteran guys,” Roderick, now BYU’s offensive coordinator, said. “There are a lot of similarities between [his offense now and our offense back then]. A lot of those core plays are the foundation of what people call the air raid.
“The difference was, we ran them with two backs in the backfield. We ran two tight ends. We did all those core plays from a variety of personnel groups and formations. And a lot of those things he does now. ... They’re just doing it at a fast tempo and super spread formations.”
The Cougars would go 14-1 that next season, beating everyone but Washington on the road. Sarkisian threw for 4,027 yards and held BYU records for efficiency.
He capped it off with a Cotton Bowl win over Kansas State, leading a 14-point comeback in the fourth quarter.
“He’s really smart,” Roderick said. “He beat people with his wits. ... The quarterbacks had quite a bit of freedom back then to change something that they wanted to.”
These days, Sarkisian doesn’t talk much about his time in Provo. But you can see the influence In his own style.
“You see it in everybody that’s been coached by LaVell,” Sitake said. “From Andy Reid to Sark to Kyle Whittingham to all of these great players that have ever played here at BYU.”
When BYU travels to Austin this week, Sarkisian will inevitably think back to those two years he spent in Provo. And when the teams run out on the field, smoke machines and all, maybe he will remember that pivotal summer meeting with his coach.
