Memories of one Gary Crowton

There sure are a lot of folks who rain down criticism of Gary Crowton.

And I admit, he did some goofy things. But I wish him the best in tonight’s national championship game as his LSU Tigers take on Ohio State. I’m pulling for LSU.

I know people at BYU and others of my brethren in the media who take umbrage with his career at BYU and don’t mind making it personal as often as his name comes their way and they have ink and air time.

The way I remember Crowton, he was always very respectful, kind and generous. He never failed to give me plenty of time for questions and he’d answer them to the best of his abilities. He was considerate and often asked about my family, my wife, my children. I had a cornea transplant during his time at BYU and after almost every practice, he asked how my eye was doing.

Many times I got to go off the record with Crowton. He explained things to me to help my understand what he was thinking and where he was coming from. I believe I understood what made him tick, what his confidences were, what his weaknesses and insecurities were. He had a great passion for football and only wanted to win and let the offensive sparks fly. He was a decent recruiter. And he brought Bronco Mendenhall to BYU.

I don’t agree with all he did. I knew he’d be in trouble when he signed the 2004 recruiting class. Talented, yes. But fodder for Provo? No.

I like Crowton because I knew his grandfather, Dave, the former head professional at Timpanogos Golf Course, a humble man who coached on the staff with Chick Atkinson when I was in elementary school. I sat at practices and visited with his father and I liked him. His wife as a lovely person, but stayed behind the scenes at a time we were fed nose shots on TV of Urban Meyer’s wife at every Utah game.

Working my sources around and about Crowton, I began to understand why certain quarterbacks didn’t fit into his systems. I understand why he chose not to start Ben Olson against Utah State back in the day. Some segments of the media in Utah have tried to make that a major issue in the Crowton era, snuggling up to the Olson side of the story. There are always two sides of every story and Crowton’s side will never be told. Not ever. It could only come from him and he isn’t sharing, only respecting the kid.

I believe Crowton is a good man. I think he is also a very smart coach, but like Norm Chow, is best when he’s operating as an offensive coordinator, putting pieces together and training quarterbacks and receivers.

He remains one of the most interesting personalities I have covered in sports. His penchant for taking chances, for gambling on fourth downs, the idea of flying into Reno to play Nevada the day of the game and the 6 a.m. spring practice sessions. All of these things make him an interesting subject.

Again, there are folks in Provo and Salt Lake City who will poke fun of him, barely give him any credit. They seem to keep a mission going against him. I say they have that right. When I break it down with most of these people, it is usually something personal.

And that’s OK.

Not many people who shake and roll things around end up being loved by all.

But Gary Crowton has my respect tonight. Win or lose, he’s on a stage only a few get a chance to take their game to — the title game.