Patti Edwards, widow of BYU and college football Hall of Famer LaVell, dies at 93

PROVO — BYU football lost an icon on Valentine's Day weekend.

Patti Edwards, the long-time matriarch of BYU football and widow of legendary head coach LaVell Edwards, died Friday, according to her obituary with the Wheeler-Sundberg Funeral Home in Orem. She was 93.

Edwards and her Hall of Fame football coach husband were married for more than 65 years, which may have seemed odd for the former rodeo queen from Wyoming who was born Patti Louise Covey and had "never seen a football game" before she was set up on a blind date at Utah State with the Lincoln High graduate.

"I hated football, in fact," she told BYUtv in a video published last year. "But I had a roommate whose brother played football in high school, so she would go to all of these games and she'd tell me all of the wonderful things he did. So I told him every play that he played on a football game, and he was really impressed.

"We became engaged, we got married, and it wasn't until our honeymoon that I told LaVell I had never seen him play in a football game. ... Then I started to cry, and everything turned out OK."

Born March 18, 1932, Edwards has been separated from her late husband, who died Dec. 29, 2016 at the age of 86, for nearly 10 years. For decades, the duo were inseparable, with Patti Edwards as much a part of the fabric of Brigham Young University and its athletic department as her husband who was named Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year in 1979 and AFCA National Coach of the Year in 1984.

Back in 1992, the couple teamed up with the Boys and Girls Club of Utah County to help underprivileged children — a holiday tradition that continued for years, evolving into a partnership between the organization and other wives of BYU football coaches in a bid to "bless others who are less fortunate" and as many as 150 families across Utah County, she told KSL.com in 2024.

Even after LaVell Edwards' passing, his widow continued to keep the couple's home in Provo where they raised their children and spent the better part of the 65-year marriage. She'd drive to her son's house in Davis County, or her hometown in Wyoming, she told the Deseret News back in 2022.

At times, she'd expect to hear her late husband pull into the driveway after football practice, or she'd think of something to tell him "when he gets home."

But mostly, her days were packed with service to that Girls and Boys Club, to the church, and to responsibilities with grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"Aging is a privilege," she told the Deseret News. "You're going to have aches and pains and heartaches, but growing old is a privilege. I get to see my great-grandkids. I learn something every day. I wrote my history. I'm involved in a book club and I'm doing a report on that. I have lunch with family and friends.

"You have to enjoy the now."

Shortly after the coach's passing, Edwards' son Jim and his wife Lori insisted that she get in the car and drive to the football stadium on campus that has borne her late husband's name since he retired in 2000.

When they arrived, several current and more former players had gathered in the Cougar Room under the stands — an estimated 1,200 in all — to greet Patti Edwards and share their love amid grief.

Her biggest impact may have been among the players' and coaches' wives. In 1988, Edwards founded the American Football Coaches Wives Association, an organization that has grown to more than 3,000 women today.

She also offered time in less-formal settings, hosting her own football wives' club of 45 or so on the couple's back patio of their provo home.

"It's a lot easier to date a football player than to be married to one," she said, inheriting a bit of the dry writ from her husband with whom she would serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New York City from 2002-03.

Months before her passing, Patti Edwards met with BYU head coach Kalani Sitake — a former fullback under her husband — as he's often done during his decade-long tenure with the program. The coach with an 84-45 record including double-digit win totals in four of the last six seasons cited her influence in remaining at Penn State despite receiving overtures from several programs, including a recent eight-figure offer from Penn State.

"She was amazing," Sitake told the Deseret News. "She wasn't trying to make a decision for me on anything, but she just told me about the value of BYU and the value of being some place for a long time and how it helped her family, and how it was such a feeling of ease for LaVell.

"I took that into account quite a bit."

Funeral services will be held Feb. 7, according to the mortuary. A live stream for those unable to attend will be available on YouTube.

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