BSC football title game has Church connection
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NEW ORLEANS
Former BYU head football coach Gary Crowton was commended by both television and radio broadcasters for his offensive game plan and play calling in Louisiana State University's national championship victory Monday night, Jan. 7.
Crowton is the offensive coordinator under head coach Les Miles for an LSU team that quickly fell behind Ohio State 10-0 in the Bowl Championship Series title game before scoring 31 unanswered on the way to a 38-24 triumph in the Superdome.
A native of Orem, Utah, Crowton took part in the 11-2 national championship campaign in his first year at LSU. It was his second stop in Louisiana. He was the head coach at Louisiana Tech from 1996 to 1998 after one season as an assistant coach there. He moved on to LSU from the University of Oregon where he was offensive coordinator for two seasons.
A 1983 BYU graduate, he was head coach at his alma mater for four years, beginning with a 10-2 season in 2001. Overall, he was 26-23 with the Cougars.
As a player, Crowton had a stellar career as quarterback at Orem High School, was an all-American quarterback at Utah's Snow College and played quarterback, receiver and defensive back at Colorado State.
He served a mission in South Korea from 1979-1981.
Crowton's coaching career began as a student assistant at BYU in 1982. He was also an assistant coach at Snow College, Western Illinois, New Hampshire, Boston College and Georgia Tech, and was the offensive coordinator for the NFL's Chicago Bears for two seasons before taking the reins at BYU.
Crowton was instrumental in bringing another returned missionary to LSU. Quarterback Andrew Hatch of Henderson, Nev., who backed up Matt Flynn and Ryan Perrilloux in the championship game, served a mission in Chile.
Through a football camp, Crowton became aware of Hatch and recruited him to BYU. But when Crowton left BYU, Hatch ended up going to Harvard for a year before his mission. Upon his return, he transferred to join Crowton at LSU.
