McBride first met Edwards in 1976, when LaVell was BYU's head coach and Mac was an assistant at Utah: "I remember thinking, 'What's this guy like?' When I became a head coach, I knew I had to beat him to survive, but I liked him. BYU dominated Utah all those years. They were a cocky group. But LaVell was a great dude. He was unique. You'd have to spend a lot of hours trying to figure out a way to dislike him."
Edwards was always known as a nice, humble man, but he was competitive, too. When his new friend at Utah started beating him, it bothered him.