Dana Holgorsen: Houston Playbook Features Plays Dating Back To LaVell Edwards Era At BYU

PROVO, Utah – Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen has a deep respect for the BYU football program. BYU travels to face Holgorsen’s Cougars on Friday in what should feature a pair of explosive offenses.

Holgorsen has cut his teeth in the coaching ranks as one of the more recognizable names in Air Raid coaches’ coaching tree. An offense that traces back to the glory years of BYU football under LaVell Edwards.

Houston's Dana Holgorsen on #BYU: "I've followed BYU, always have. Kalani's a great coach and a great dude. Our history with BYU from what we are offensively, goes way back."#BYUFootball @kslsports

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) October 13, 2020

“Our history with BYU from what we are offensively, goes way back,” Holgorsen said on Tuesday during his Zoom press conference to reporters. “I got plays written up on this board right here that are plays we got from BYU 30-40 years ago. I’ve been out to Provo and studied their offense. So, I’ve always watched BYU.”

The same can be said for BYU head coach Kalani Sitake who played for Edwards and turned to him as a mentor throughout his coaching career. Watch quarterback Zach Wilson throw a laser on a bootleg, and you see flashes of Edwards offenses of old in those play calls.

Dana Holgorsen and his history with the Air Raid

In the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Edwards and BYU reinvented offensive football at the collegiate level with passing concepts that no one knew how to stop. BYU had six different quarterbacks from 1976 to 1994 lead the country in passing yards in a single season.

Coaches like Holgorsen studied the BYU passing attack and then adopted the Air Raid offense from innovators Hal Mumme and current Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach.

Holgorsen: "I've got plays written up on this board that are plays we got from #BYU 30-40 years ago. I've been out to Provo and I've studied their offense. I've always watched BYU."#BYUFootball @kslsports

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) October 13, 2020

Leach was a student at BYU that would study Edwards from afar and was fascinated with his offensive attack.

Holgorsen worked with Mumme at Valdosta State from 1993-1995 as a wide receivers coach, then worked with Leach at Texas Tech, and fellow Air Raid disciple in Kevin Sumlin when he was an OC for Houston. Since then, he’s been the head coach at West Virginia and now Houston.

Holgorsen and his staff faced BYU in 2016 when he was at West Virginia. The Mountaineers won over Kalani Sitake’s first BYU team at FedEx Field in Washington, D.C.

BYU enters Friday’s game against Houston with the No. 5 offense in the country, averaging 556.8 yards per game with 342 of those yards through the air. The type of production resembles BYU offenses of old, and it’s all led by Wilson, who has left Holgorsen, who boasts the No. 1 defense currently, impressed.

“These guys are spectacular, the Wilson kid at quarterback is as good as I’ve seen,” Holgorsen said. “It all starts with them upfront. They’re big and experienced and physical upfront. They’ve got backs that get them yards; they got receivers that make plays. It’ll be a pretty big challenge.”

No. 14 BYU (4-0) vs. Houston (1-0)

Date: Friday, October 16th, 2020

Location: Houston, Texas

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. (MT)

TV: ESPN

Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM, KSL NewsRadio app)