LaVell Edwards to Receive Contributions to College Football Award

FORT WORTH (NCFAA) - The National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) announced today that legendary football coach LaVell Edwards is the 2009 recipient of the NCFAA Contributions to College Football Award. Edwards, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004, will be honored live on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards on Thursday, Dec. 10, from 7-9 p.m. (EST) on ESPN.

The 2009 season marks the 25th anniversary of Brigham Young University's (BYU) 1984 National Championship team. That season, Edwards led the Cougars to a perfect 13-0 record and was named the national coach of the year by the American Football Coaches Association and the Football Writers Association of America.

Edwards' college coaching career began in 1962, when he became an assistant at BYU. He was named head coach in 1973 and became known for his pro-style passing attack. During his tenure, BYU's offense produced over 100,000 passing yards as Edwards helped develop four All-American quarterbacks: Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, Steve Young and Ty Detmer.

Edwards retired after the 2000 season with 257 career victories, making him the sixth all-time winningest coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A). The Cougars won the Western Athletic Conference title in 20 of Edwards' 29 seasons in Provo and the football stadium at BYU, originally known as Cougar Stadium, was renamed in his honor at the conclusion of the 2000 season.

The NCFAA Contributions to College Football Award was created in 2002 to recognize exceptional contributions to college football. The award is presented to an individual "who has been closely associated with college football as a player, coach, administrator, media personality or other position attendant to the game." Former recipients include Darrell Royal (2002), Keith Jackson (2003), Vince Dooley (2004), Tom Osborne (2005), Chuck Neinas (2006), Frank Broyles (2007) and Bobby Bowden (2008).

The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards will be hosted by ESPN's Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit from the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The show features the live presentation of nine awards, along with the recipients of the Disney Spirit Award; The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award, the NCFAA Contributions to College Football Award; and student-athletes selected to the Walter Camp All-America Team.

The National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game's predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association's official Web site, at www.ncfaa.org.

For more information on the Contributions to College Football Award, contact NCFAA president Danielle Moorman (817-338-3488 or Danielle@DaveyOBrien.org).