Chow was definitely Coach in waiting and had been told so by Rex Lee and Lavell,in fact he turned down other jobs because he was promised BYU Job when Lavell retired.
And that was totally upended by Pres. Lee’s untimely death.
and instead we got the Crowton dumpster fire. I'm totally convinced if Pres. Lee had not died of cancer Norm Chow would have been are Coach, not Crowton.