Patti Edwards, matriarch of BYU Football, dies at 93
Feb 14, 2026, 1:24 PM
Patti Edwards, longtime BYU football matriarch, and wife of legendary coach LaVell Edwards passed away at the age of 93. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
(Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – The matriarch of BYU football, Patti Edwards, has passed away at the age of 93 on February 13.
Patti Louise Covey Edwards’ passing was announced in an obituary by Sundberg-Olpin & Wheeler Funeral Home of Orem on Friday.
Edwards was married to legendary BYU football head coach LaVell Edwards for 65 years. LaVell passed away in December of 2016. They had three children, Ann (Cannon), John, and Jim.
Patti met LaVell while attending Utah State University, where LaVell was a football player for the Aggies.
You can’t tell the story of BYU football’s success over the last 60 years without mentioning Patti Edwards.
Like LaVell, Patti was instrumental to BYU football.
Patti was a mother-like figure to many of the players who played for LaVell.
Patti would create scrapbooks for all players whose names appeared in the headlines, and she would clip stories every Friday to highlight their achievements during their time at BYU.
She also helped build relationships with the wives of BYU football coaches and players.
Edwards was a founding member of the American Football Coaches’ Wives Association, where she served as President from 1994 to 1995.
Before the start of every BYU football season, Patti hosted a dinner for the wives of coaches and players, a tradition that continues in the program today.
In addition to being a wife and mother, Patti Edwards was a writer. She was a member of the National Woman’s Press Association. She was once a columnist at the Provo Daily Herald.
In 2000, Brigham Young University announced that Cougar Stadium would be named LaVell Edwards Stadium in honor of Patti’s husband.
Patti was on the field with LaVell before the home finale against New Mexico in 2000 when former President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gordon B. Hinckley announced the stadium name change.
“It was a complete surprise,” Patti said of the stadium being changed to LaVell Edwards Stadium to KSL Sports in an interview in 2022 for the A Century of Cougar Football podcast. “Going into that game, I was a little bit nostalgic, recognizing that this would be the last time that (LaVell’s) team would play in this stadium. So it was a complete surprise to both of us.”
After LaVell retired from football, he and Patti served an 18-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New York City.
In 2016, one of LaVell’s own players, Kalani Sitake, became the head coach at BYU.
Sitake maintained a close relationship with Patti Edwards and ensured she remained involved in the BYU football program.
Kalani invited Patti to speak to the team on occasion.
In 2019, she addressed the team to speak of LaVell’s impact on the program and BYU football.
Before BYU’s 2022 football game against Utah State, Patti was the “Y lighter” and was recognized at the stadium named after her husband.
Patti Edwards closing remarks at the end of the ‘1984: 40 Years Strong & True’ special from 2024.
“May we all enjoy the now, because the now is all we have.” 🕊️ pic.twitter.com/zUR8Z0lwG5
— Hemā Heimuli Jr. (@x_hems) February 14, 2026
Sitake even turned to Patti this past December as he considered whether to accept the offer to be the head coach at Penn State or stay at BYU.
“I get advice from Patti quite a bit in the program,” Sitake said to the Deseret News in December, “and so I sought her advice during this time, too. She was amazing. 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.”
In addition to her involvement with the BYU football program, Patti Edwards used her platform to give back to young people.
Patti and LaVell were strong advocates of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Utah County, where they were both named lifetime honorary board members.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
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