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PROVO, Utah (Aug. 17, 2000) --"You reach a point where it's time to move on."

So says Brigham Young University Football Head Coach LaVell Edwards, as he announced today he will end four decades of coaching at BYU at the end of the 2000 football season.

LaVell announced his intent to retire at a press conference this afternoon at BYU.

The coach says he decided last January he was going to retire, but didn't decide on when to make the announcement until this past weekend.

"I felt like maybe it would be best to go ahead and do it and forget about it, and maybe eliminate any particular distraction that may arise throughout the season," he said of today's announcement.

Coach Edwards informed his player about his plans at a meeting before practice, this morning.

"It was really silent in that room and I even felt a little teary-eyed," said defensive end and team captain Setema Gnali. "You could feel a happy kind of sadness. We're happy for him, but it's sad because everyone thinks of coach Edwards and BYU as the same thing."

Athletic Director Val Hale said a search for a successor will begin "at some point where the timing is better." "We're going to put the focus on this season," Hale said.