1- Records. Edwards took over a team with a 50 year history in Division one, a team that had won or tied only two conference championships in history. BYU averaged 3.8 wins /year before Edwards. Edwards, Paterno and Bowden MADE THEIR TEAMS GREAT concurrently when few powers dominated. Mendenhall took over a National power that had fallen briefly on hard times. Edwards pre CFA and BCS era I-A program faced teams the were for the most part on par with teams from what are today's P5 conferences. The B10 had Ohio State and Michigan and eight nothings, the SEC had Georgia and Alabama and eight nothings. The SWC had Texas, aTm, SMU and Arkansas. The Pac was USC and UCLA and nothing else. The wAC had Arizona State and Wyoming....yes the pokies were a power back then. The best Independents were up and coming programs at Penn State, Miami, Florida State and traditional powers like Georgia Tech and Notre Dame. That was your elite 40 years ago. There was no other separation. Edwards teams faced solid competition. By the Crowton/early BCS era, the old WAC had with seven of eight WAC foes become the MWC and called (gasp) "mid major".

2) When Edwards began, getting any Bowl Invitation was a huge coup. There was barely 12 and the NCAA was loath to sanction any more. Today there are more bowls than prsidential wannabes. Its easy to get a bowl game. Have a pulse and a booster club, win six.

3) Rivalry wins is huge. Before Edwards in 50 prior games BYU had defeated Utah only five times and tied three. You think going 9-1 is comparable to 3-6. The turn arount for BYU vs USU was equally dramatic. Sorry dude, this is a monster failure on Bronco watch.

4) Edwards teams found the top 25 five times in his first ten years, as did Mendenhall. But Edwards never went five outside the top 25 like Mendenhall. Let's not genuflect to Bronco until he wins ten or more again.