Part of the Brigham Young Cougars Media Day was a roundtable discussion with several legendary Cougars. The participants were: LaVell Edwards, Steve Young, Trevor Matich, Ty Detmer, and Bryan Kehl. Current players Jake Heaps and Matt Reynolds joined the roundtable later on.
I tried to capture as much of the conversation as I could.
NOTE: THESE ARE NOT EXACT QUOTES.
LaVell told the story of when Ty came to BYU on his recruiting trip and LaVell was stunned at how small and young Detmer looked.
Trevor Matich: The 1984 was ultimate team accomplishment.
Bryan Kehl: I was born in 1984, that is why BYU was so good that year.
Steve Young: I was bigger than Ty, at least. Not highly recruited. Begged my way onto campus. LaVell saw something in me. He had a gift to see who you could become. LaVell saw more in me than anyone else.
Thoughts on Independence
LaVell: Going to have to change the mindset. Winning conference championship is what we strove for each year. It will be exciting to see how it unfolds.
Ty: Agree. We had the opportunity to play the first non-conference games, and when the conference games started it was like a new season. The ESPN contract will bring exposure. It will take some getting used to not having the old rivalry games—Wyoming, Colorado State, etc.
Steve: The conference gives you a safety net, so for the first few years, it is like being on the high wire at the circus without a safety net. We need to get used to it. When we recognize that we are alone we need to have the mentality "it is us against the world." Independence has a tremendous upside, but BYU needs to get used to a new philosophy.
Trevor: Independence is exciting and a little terrifying. BYU is completely on its own to either sink or swim. BYU will become more familiar with recruits nationwide.
Bryan: Bronco is creative, I would follow him to the end of the earth. Bronco will come up with some ways to motivate the players.
ESPN Contract
Steve: ESPN is exposure for BYU. It is the new world, just look at Jimmer and the social media this last year. People who know football know BYU, but this gives an opportunity to get others who don’t know BYU to know them. The pressure is greater because you cannot have a losing season and have an excitement around the program. BYU has always had the pressure to win, so it won’t be much of a big deal.
Ty: I couldn’t even get games on the Mtn. in Texas. People in Texas are excited. I will have the chance to see all the games. BYU has fans all over the country. The scheduling allows all BYU fans to see them live.
LaVell: I don’t think there is any question that what helped us reach a national conscious was ESPN. The Pittsburgh game and the Thursday night games. The fact that BYU has the contract with ESPN will make this very exciting. It has the potential to be great.
The Honor Code
LaVell: It is there and it is part of BYU football. It is interesting that those who get in trouble say they don’t know about it—that is not true. A great thing about BYU is that each case is treated on its own. I never found it to be true that athletes got breaks when regular students don’t. I was a student bishop and saw regular students have to go through honor code issues.
Ty: I have training rules, which are basically an honor code, for my high school team, like no drinking. The honor code is part of why I came here.
Steve: BYU reflects the passionate effort of the church to see how good can we be. If you make mistakes you move on and keep trying to be better. I cannot fathom BYU without the honor code. Once you are on campus you realize it is an important part of the school. It is compassionately administered. Bronco does a great job presenting the honor code during recruiting. As more light is shined on it people will respect it more.
Trevor: BYU does not want you to shoehorn your lifestyle into the honor code. It is an aspiration, we all fall short from time to time. BYU has won big games because of discipline which comes from living the honor code.
Bryan: BYU asks a lot and gets a lot from players. In the NFL, players immediately respect BYU when they know about the honor code. They are impressed by the number of wins we get from a limited recruiting pool.
Steve: Tom Holmoe arrived as a non-member. It was close to 50/50 members of the church and non-members when I played in the early 1980s. This has been going on for a long time. BYU is not 100% Mormon players.
Greatest Moment at BYU
LaVell: Greatest moment was to see players reach their potential. I miss association with the program the most since retirement. The wins were nice since they kept me employed doing what I liked—working with the players. I told the 1984 team at 20th anniversary of the national championship that I was more proud of them in 2004 than 1984 because of what they had done with their lives.
Ty: The Miami game in 1990 was my biggest moment and the hype that went with it. The whole experience was great. Enjoyed on and off the field. LaVell was a great coach to play for.
Steve: I threw 5 interceptions in the first half against Georgia. It was one of my first collegiate starts. I was glad that LaVell let me go back on the field. I took over for Jim McMahon in 1982, and at that time BYU had to go to the Holiday Bowl every year—it was an unwritten rule—so making it to the 1982 Holiday Bowl was great. It was wonderful to do something that kept the QB factory going.
LaVell: The score was still 7-7 at halftime of that Georgia game, so we still had a chance. I wanted to calm down Steve. He kept telling me he was fine and everything was OK. I wanted to say, "What do you mean everything is fine? You have thrown five interceptions."
Trevor: We only gave up 9 sacks in 1984, so when Robbie Bosco got injured in the Hoiday Bowl we instinctively huddled up. I could see the pain in Bosco’s eyes when he returned to the game. To see the suffering and sacrifice he was making for his teammates was my greatest moment.
Bryan: Las Vegas Bowl 2007—I fell on the ground and couldn’t see if UCLA's last second field goal was good. I heard the fans cheering and thought the kick was good and we lost the game. Then I realized that the cheering was too loud for it to be UCLA fans, then I knew that we had won.
Laramie Memories
Ty: Drunk fans were yelling all night. We were blowing them out, so I was sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter, but they were still yelling at me. I turned around and asked them where I could hunt in Wyoming. Once I started speaking their language they turned out to be nice.
LaVell: It has been close to 90 years that BYU has been going to Wyoming. It is a unique place. Fans get into it, but it was a fun place to go.
Steve: Of my Top 5 roughest place to play football, Laramie, Wyoming is number one. I put playing at the Philadelphia Eagles as number 2. Wyoming fans have a hatred that not even Utah fans have. I felt safer in Philly when fights were happening in the stand than in Laramie.
Trevor: Roger French thought Wyoming had bugged the locker room, so he cut the cord to a speaker before giving his halftime speech.
Bryan: Our airplane was struck by lightening, so we were just happy to get there. I am glad I am never going there again.
Jake Heaps and Matt Reyonlds join the group, LaVell Edwards and Bryan Kehl leave.
Jake: It is awesome to be around these guys (Steve Young, Ty Detmer, and Trevor Matich). I didn’t know much about BYU other than the quarterback fraternity, so it is great to be with them and talk with them about BYU. It is great to see that they care about who takes over at QB.
Steve: I look forward to talking with Jake in the future. The year QB is transitioned are the years BYU struggles. Now with Jake established, the expectations are high. At the end of last year you had the sense that Jake had gotten up to speed.
Ty: It takes time to get your feet wet and get a feel for it. It is the little things—reminders in the huddle. The game goes so fast, you don’t have time for the little things. When you are comfortable then you can give those reminders. Brandon Doman will help Jake do that. It is great to have your QB coach as the play caller. Jake is a veteran now so people are looking to him.
Jake: These guys know what I am going through, as former BYU quarterbacks they are the only ones, so being able to talk to them and relate is a special and humbling opportunity.
Trevor: My advice to Matt Reynolds is that in college you are a better athlete than the guys you play against. In the NFL, they will be better athletes than you. Need to work on your technique and know why you do what you do, then you can beat those with more athleticism.
Trevor Matich then flipped the question on to Matt Reynolds: What are you doing to be ready for the NFL?
Matt: Right now I am working on the things that will make me the best I can be. I am focusing on being more aggressive and putting people on their backs. After seeing what the defense is doing, then I get into my stance and start to get mad.
Jake: One of biggest reasons I came to BYU was the tradition of great offensive line men. Four of the five guys on the line are coming back, they are all talented. I am fired up to hear about Matt getting nasty.
Ty: My favorite story about Steve Young is that we would ride to every home game together the year we both played in San Francisco. The drives were like therapy sessions. I had to talk Steve into believing that he was a good player. He was complaining about feet blisters, etc.
Steve: Favorite Ty Detmer story. Let's be honest, Ty doesn’t have a great QB body, but he did have the best QB mind of anybody I have known, including Joe Montana. Ty could slow things down. I always asked Ty questions because I respected Ty’s mental ability. I could never slow down the game like Ty could.
Trevor: Steve took a big hit one game, and he thought it was my guy, but it wasn’t. Steve was upset and chewed me out in the huddle. I was standing there trying to decide what to do/say. I decided the best thing to do was stand there and take it.
Questions from the Media
BYU has one Heisman and two Outland trophies in Legacy Hall. Do you guys think about those and adding to the collection?
Matt: If you are focused on the awards, then you are playing for the wrong reason. However, if you are playing at a high level, you want to be the best you can. My philosophy is to be the best I can be and everything will take care of itself.
Jake: The rich history and great players at BYU, I have always felt I could accomplish anything I wanted to accomplish. If Matt wins the Outland or I win the Heisman, then it means the team is playing well. It is really about our team and where we want to go. If we get a national championship that will override everything else.
What constitutes a successful first independent season?
Steve: There is lots of pressure. It is vital to hit the ground running. Everyone who has ever played for BYU will be behind you 100%. This season is for the mentally tough. Lot of new things. You will see Bronco try to get you motivated to be independent. I hope you have mental toughness to take it all in.
Trevor: Remember what you have heard from the guys who came before you. Be focused, but have fun. It is a principle of success to know when to have fun. Make sure you enjoy it and that teammates enjoy it.
Ty: It is important to go out there and have fun. The fans need to understand what you are going through. There will be rough patches along the way. There are highs and lows in a game and a season. We are all behind you with what you do and stand for. Do things the right way.
The Editor appreciates all feedback. He can be reached via email at bluecougarfootball@gmail.com
I tried to capture as much of the conversation as I could.
NOTE: THESE ARE NOT EXACT QUOTES.
LaVell told the story of when Ty came to BYU on his recruiting trip and LaVell was stunned at how small and young Detmer looked.
Trevor Matich: The 1984 was ultimate team accomplishment.
Bryan Kehl: I was born in 1984, that is why BYU was so good that year.
Steve Young: I was bigger than Ty, at least. Not highly recruited. Begged my way onto campus. LaVell saw something in me. He had a gift to see who you could become. LaVell saw more in me than anyone else.
Thoughts on Independence
LaVell: Going to have to change the mindset. Winning conference championship is what we strove for each year. It will be exciting to see how it unfolds.
Ty: Agree. We had the opportunity to play the first non-conference games, and when the conference games started it was like a new season. The ESPN contract will bring exposure. It will take some getting used to not having the old rivalry games—Wyoming, Colorado State, etc.
Steve: The conference gives you a safety net, so for the first few years, it is like being on the high wire at the circus without a safety net. We need to get used to it. When we recognize that we are alone we need to have the mentality "it is us against the world." Independence has a tremendous upside, but BYU needs to get used to a new philosophy.
Trevor: Independence is exciting and a little terrifying. BYU is completely on its own to either sink or swim. BYU will become more familiar with recruits nationwide.
Bryan: Bronco is creative, I would follow him to the end of the earth. Bronco will come up with some ways to motivate the players.
ESPN Contract
Steve: ESPN is exposure for BYU. It is the new world, just look at Jimmer and the social media this last year. People who know football know BYU, but this gives an opportunity to get others who don’t know BYU to know them. The pressure is greater because you cannot have a losing season and have an excitement around the program. BYU has always had the pressure to win, so it won’t be much of a big deal.
Ty: I couldn’t even get games on the Mtn. in Texas. People in Texas are excited. I will have the chance to see all the games. BYU has fans all over the country. The scheduling allows all BYU fans to see them live.
LaVell: I don’t think there is any question that what helped us reach a national conscious was ESPN. The Pittsburgh game and the Thursday night games. The fact that BYU has the contract with ESPN will make this very exciting. It has the potential to be great.
The Honor Code
LaVell: It is there and it is part of BYU football. It is interesting that those who get in trouble say they don’t know about it—that is not true. A great thing about BYU is that each case is treated on its own. I never found it to be true that athletes got breaks when regular students don’t. I was a student bishop and saw regular students have to go through honor code issues.
Ty: I have training rules, which are basically an honor code, for my high school team, like no drinking. The honor code is part of why I came here.
Steve: BYU reflects the passionate effort of the church to see how good can we be. If you make mistakes you move on and keep trying to be better. I cannot fathom BYU without the honor code. Once you are on campus you realize it is an important part of the school. It is compassionately administered. Bronco does a great job presenting the honor code during recruiting. As more light is shined on it people will respect it more.
Trevor: BYU does not want you to shoehorn your lifestyle into the honor code. It is an aspiration, we all fall short from time to time. BYU has won big games because of discipline which comes from living the honor code.
Bryan: BYU asks a lot and gets a lot from players. In the NFL, players immediately respect BYU when they know about the honor code. They are impressed by the number of wins we get from a limited recruiting pool.
Steve: Tom Holmoe arrived as a non-member. It was close to 50/50 members of the church and non-members when I played in the early 1980s. This has been going on for a long time. BYU is not 100% Mormon players.
Greatest Moment at BYU
LaVell: Greatest moment was to see players reach their potential. I miss association with the program the most since retirement. The wins were nice since they kept me employed doing what I liked—working with the players. I told the 1984 team at 20th anniversary of the national championship that I was more proud of them in 2004 than 1984 because of what they had done with their lives.
Ty: The Miami game in 1990 was my biggest moment and the hype that went with it. The whole experience was great. Enjoyed on and off the field. LaVell was a great coach to play for.
Steve: I threw 5 interceptions in the first half against Georgia. It was one of my first collegiate starts. I was glad that LaVell let me go back on the field. I took over for Jim McMahon in 1982, and at that time BYU had to go to the Holiday Bowl every year—it was an unwritten rule—so making it to the 1982 Holiday Bowl was great. It was wonderful to do something that kept the QB factory going.
LaVell: The score was still 7-7 at halftime of that Georgia game, so we still had a chance. I wanted to calm down Steve. He kept telling me he was fine and everything was OK. I wanted to say, "What do you mean everything is fine? You have thrown five interceptions."
Trevor: We only gave up 9 sacks in 1984, so when Robbie Bosco got injured in the Hoiday Bowl we instinctively huddled up. I could see the pain in Bosco’s eyes when he returned to the game. To see the suffering and sacrifice he was making for his teammates was my greatest moment.
Bryan: Las Vegas Bowl 2007—I fell on the ground and couldn’t see if UCLA's last second field goal was good. I heard the fans cheering and thought the kick was good and we lost the game. Then I realized that the cheering was too loud for it to be UCLA fans, then I knew that we had won.
Laramie Memories
Ty: Drunk fans were yelling all night. We were blowing them out, so I was sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter, but they were still yelling at me. I turned around and asked them where I could hunt in Wyoming. Once I started speaking their language they turned out to be nice.
LaVell: It has been close to 90 years that BYU has been going to Wyoming. It is a unique place. Fans get into it, but it was a fun place to go.
Steve: Of my Top 5 roughest place to play football, Laramie, Wyoming is number one. I put playing at the Philadelphia Eagles as number 2. Wyoming fans have a hatred that not even Utah fans have. I felt safer in Philly when fights were happening in the stand than in Laramie.
Trevor: Roger French thought Wyoming had bugged the locker room, so he cut the cord to a speaker before giving his halftime speech.
Bryan: Our airplane was struck by lightening, so we were just happy to get there. I am glad I am never going there again.
Jake Heaps and Matt Reyonlds join the group, LaVell Edwards and Bryan Kehl leave.
Jake: It is awesome to be around these guys (Steve Young, Ty Detmer, and Trevor Matich). I didn’t know much about BYU other than the quarterback fraternity, so it is great to be with them and talk with them about BYU. It is great to see that they care about who takes over at QB.
Steve: I look forward to talking with Jake in the future. The year QB is transitioned are the years BYU struggles. Now with Jake established, the expectations are high. At the end of last year you had the sense that Jake had gotten up to speed.
Ty: It takes time to get your feet wet and get a feel for it. It is the little things—reminders in the huddle. The game goes so fast, you don’t have time for the little things. When you are comfortable then you can give those reminders. Brandon Doman will help Jake do that. It is great to have your QB coach as the play caller. Jake is a veteran now so people are looking to him.
Jake: These guys know what I am going through, as former BYU quarterbacks they are the only ones, so being able to talk to them and relate is a special and humbling opportunity.
Trevor: My advice to Matt Reynolds is that in college you are a better athlete than the guys you play against. In the NFL, they will be better athletes than you. Need to work on your technique and know why you do what you do, then you can beat those with more athleticism.
Trevor Matich then flipped the question on to Matt Reynolds: What are you doing to be ready for the NFL?
Matt: Right now I am working on the things that will make me the best I can be. I am focusing on being more aggressive and putting people on their backs. After seeing what the defense is doing, then I get into my stance and start to get mad.
Jake: One of biggest reasons I came to BYU was the tradition of great offensive line men. Four of the five guys on the line are coming back, they are all talented. I am fired up to hear about Matt getting nasty.
Ty: My favorite story about Steve Young is that we would ride to every home game together the year we both played in San Francisco. The drives were like therapy sessions. I had to talk Steve into believing that he was a good player. He was complaining about feet blisters, etc.
Steve: Favorite Ty Detmer story. Let's be honest, Ty doesn’t have a great QB body, but he did have the best QB mind of anybody I have known, including Joe Montana. Ty could slow things down. I always asked Ty questions because I respected Ty’s mental ability. I could never slow down the game like Ty could.
Trevor: Steve took a big hit one game, and he thought it was my guy, but it wasn’t. Steve was upset and chewed me out in the huddle. I was standing there trying to decide what to do/say. I decided the best thing to do was stand there and take it.
Questions from the Media
BYU has one Heisman and two Outland trophies in Legacy Hall. Do you guys think about those and adding to the collection?
Matt: If you are focused on the awards, then you are playing for the wrong reason. However, if you are playing at a high level, you want to be the best you can. My philosophy is to be the best I can be and everything will take care of itself.
Jake: The rich history and great players at BYU, I have always felt I could accomplish anything I wanted to accomplish. If Matt wins the Outland or I win the Heisman, then it means the team is playing well. It is really about our team and where we want to go. If we get a national championship that will override everything else.
What constitutes a successful first independent season?
Steve: There is lots of pressure. It is vital to hit the ground running. Everyone who has ever played for BYU will be behind you 100%. This season is for the mentally tough. Lot of new things. You will see Bronco try to get you motivated to be independent. I hope you have mental toughness to take it all in.
Trevor: Remember what you have heard from the guys who came before you. Be focused, but have fun. It is a principle of success to know when to have fun. Make sure you enjoy it and that teammates enjoy it.
Ty: It is important to go out there and have fun. The fans need to understand what you are going through. There will be rough patches along the way. There are highs and lows in a game and a season. We are all behind you with what you do and stand for. Do things the right way.
The Editor appreciates all feedback. He can be reached via email at bluecougarfootball@gmail.com
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