As the Brigham Young University football team climbed the Top 25 rankings in 1984, each win brought the improbable closer — until the team was named the national champions.
But the “upstart BYU squad” never doubted their potential or their quest, said Deseret News columnist and former sports writer Lee Benson, who witnessed it all from the press box.
“It was a magical time, and that’s the fun of it, looking back to realize just how improbable the whole thing was,” he said.
His colleague Dick Harmon agreed: “Just engaging with all these players after all that time and reflecting on the memories is incredible.”
Forty years have passed since BYU was second to none — an outsider from the West enjoying the postseason spoils that traditionally went to powerhouse programs — but sometimes, it seems like only yesterday, Benson and Harmon said. Especially because of the parallels being made to this year’s Cougar football team and its chances to go all the way.
Even without the current 8-0 season, paying tribute to the 1984 team would still be apropos — after all, 40 years is quite a milestone.
“I think there’s a great potential, as there was then, now for BYU to show the world what it is,” Benson said.

What the players said then
“Y. football rises from humble roots to national title,” reported the Church News on Jan. 13, 1985.
The article looked back to the beginning of the football program, noting that it took eight years for BYU in the 1920s to win as many games (13) as the 1984 team won in one year.
David Mills, who led BYU in receiving as the starting tight end, was quoted as saying, “Not a lot was expected of this team except from the team itself.”
It was hard to put into words the way he felt about winning the national title. “It’s something I’ll never forget. It’s something to be proud of. Every time I think of it I smile.”
Kelly Smith, who started at tailback and caught the winning touchdown pass in the Holiday Bowl, was also quoted in the article. “There was more unity on this team than in the past. … Everybody wanted to win.”
He was one of the 52 returned missionaries playing on the team, having served full time in the Florida Tampa Mission. After the Holiday Bowl, one of the families he baptized sent him a letter thanking him for serving a mission and bringing them the gospel.
“All the touchdowns you score and things just can’t compare to finding out that a family you baptized on your mission is going to the temple,” Smith said.
Coach LaVell Edwards
The Church News on Nov. 25, 1984, wrote this: “Leave it to LaVell Edwards, a former bishop, to keep his football team’s No. 1 ranking in perspective.
“‘It’s like anything else that is good that happens to you,’ said the father of three. ‘It’s another experience that isn’t going to be there forever.’”
In the middle of that season, Edwards spoke during the priesthood session of October 1984 general conference. His message was titled “Prepare for a Mission.”
“In my career I have had many wonderful things happen to me, many more than I ever dreamed would ever happen,” Edwards said. “But I would like for you young brethren especially to know that all that has happened to me in my chosen profession is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the truly important things in my life. The testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ that I have, along with my wife and my family, are my most important possessions.”
Benson said one of the best parts of looking back to the 1984 season has been remembering Edwards, who retired after the 2000 season and died on Dec. 29, 2016, at the age of 86.
“He had this reputation. He would delegate authority to assistant coaches and let them do their job. … That was one of the things that set him apart,” Benson said, adding, “I’ve never met a person more genuine than LaVell Edwards.”
Edwards told Benson he had no idea why he was called to be a bishop of a student ward at BYU, but he felt that there was someone he needed to reach to make a difference in their lives.
Harmon said Edwards’ coaching legacy includes mentoring many current head coaches and assistant coaches around college football and the NFL.
Current BYU head coach Kalani Sitake has modeled his whole professional coaching career after Edwards, Harmon said, in that he wants to reach out to people — no matter who they are.
“And right now that’s one of the things that’s fueling this team that’s undefeated … is this feeling of brotherhood and togetherness, and that’s all on Kalani, who was a disciple, if you will, of LaVell Edwards,” Harmon said.
Parallels with today’s BYU team
For the past few weeks, national sportswriters have been writing articles about the 1984 season — pointing back to it and the 40th anniversary as the current BYU football team keeps winning.
“I think people have a feeling that this is an exciting time and they want to be engaged in it,” Harmon said, pointing to the sold-out stadiums then and now, BYU climbing up in the rankings, and talk of possibly winning the national championship.
Strength of schedule is sometimes compared between 1984 and today, but Harmon mentioned that what is happening this season is noteworthy because the opponents that BYU is playing on a weekly basis are more difficult than what they did before.
Benson said today the difficulties of reaching No. 1 and negotiating all the barriers are similar to what they were in 1984, “so I think that’s really an interesting parallel.”
The quarterback situation also has parallels. In 1984, Robbie Bosco was “very much an unproven commodity,” Benson said, and people thought the same at the beginning of this season about Jake Retzlaff.
Many people wrote back then and write now about BYU being peculiar. Retzlaff is a practicing Jew at a Christian university who is being featured nationally for that unique situation. But there is always a lot of material for sportswriters, Benson said, “because it’s not the same cookie-cutter program” as the others.

The purpose of BYU football
While joining the Big 12 conference has brought more attention to the Cougars, Sitake and other BYU coaches are using the school’s religious mission as part of their recruiting pitches — and emphasizing that BYU’s affiliation with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is “a competitive advantage.”
BYU President C. Shane Reese wrote on Instagram on Monday, Oct. 28, how thrilled he was to celebrate BYU’s 8-0 record this season and a No. 9 national ranking in the Associated Press poll.
“It’s amazing to see the success and excitement, but even more inspiring to witness the dedication our athletes and coaches have to our greater mission. Our team competes not only for victory on the field but to uphold values that define BYU — integrity, faith and service,” President Reese said.
This year, the football team has been mentoring BYU–Pathway Worldwide students in Africa. BYU alumni and fans hold service-based tailgates at every road game. The student athletes hold devotionals in cities on the road and talk about their faith online and in person.
Faith was a huge part of the 1984 team as well. Bosco was not a Latter-day Saint when he got to BYU, but he later joined the Church. A receiver on that team, Mark Bellini, read the Book of Mormon, gained a testimony of the gospel and decided to join the Church. Many other athletes also joined the Church while at BYU, Harmon said.
“You could go on and on about the lives that have been changed by being in the presence of other priesthood holders on their team, returned missionaries and coaches that were devoted to the Church [who] loved them and were kind to them and opened the door,” said Harmon, adding, “I think it’s transformed not only their lives, but now they’ve gone out and touched so many other lives.”
In the end, Benson said, it doesn’t really matter who wins: “Heavenly Father isn’t weighing in on who’s supposed to win those football games.”
While there is so much great potential for BYU to be a force for good in the world, there is also the potential that it can be a force that isn’t positive. So he invited everyone to keep sports in proportion.
“I wouldn’t have had that attitude 40 years ago, … but now I’ve a little more perspective, and I think, well, it doesn’t matter that much who wins and loses,” Benson said. “It matters how you play the game and how you carry yourself.”
Read more of Benson and Harmon’s memories in a special edition magazine produced by the Deseret News called “1984: The year BYU was second to none.” And listen to both sportswriters on the Church News podcast from Tuesday, Oct. 29.
See more photos below.

