3 minute read
Paul Tidwell
By Drayson Ball
Paul Tidwell has been around the sport of football for over 50 years. The Logan, Utah, native has spent a lifetime on the gridiron, both as a player and as a coach, and is part of the 2023 Snow College Athletic Hall of Fame Class.
Tidwell played football for his hometown team Utah State University out of high school. He played fullback for the Aggies from 1973-76 before getting into the coaching world as the head coach at Richfield High School in 1978 and later at North Sanpete High School from 1979-83.
Tidwell joined the Snow College football staff as the defensive coordinator in 1984 joining Gary Crowton, who was the offensive coordinator at the time. He served in that capacity for four seasons and was an integral part of the 1985 team that won the national championship behind an 11-0 record.
Tidwell also played a role in the recruitment of Bronco Mendenhall, who was also part of the 2023 Snow College Athletic Hall of Fame Class, to play for the 1985 team.
Tidwell took over as the head coach of the Badgers in 1988 and led the team for the next seven seasons.
Following his tenure with Snow College, he was hired as the head coach for Eastern Arizona Junior College in 1995. He spent three seasons with Eastern Arizona and helped guide them to their first winning season in 26 years within two seasons of taking over the program.
Tidwell spent the next three seasons at Louisiana Tech University, where he coached defensive backs, tight ends, and special teams. He ultimately found himself at Brigham Young University in 2000 and spent the next 21 years with the Cougars before retiring in July 2021.
As a member of the coaching staff and a recruiting coordinator, Tidwell helped bring in the No. 22-ranked recruiting class in the nation in 2009. During that time frame, Tidwell recruited Kyle Van Noy, a two-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots. Van Noy was named to the Patriots all-decade team in 2020 an outside linebacker.
Tidwell served as the BYU inside linebackers coach from 2005-15 under the direction of Mendenhall, who was the Cougars’ head coach over the same time frame. Tidwell helped the Cougars’ defense become the No. 13-ranked defense in 2011 and the No. 3 defense in 2012.
After Mendenhall stepped away from the BYU football program in 2015, Tidwell moved into a role with the Cougars as the student-athlete welfare coordinator where he served from 2015-21.
Tidwell reflects fondly on the process that brought him to BYU. After coaching at Eastern Arizona, Tidwell followed Crowton to Louisiana Tech. Crowton was then hired at BYU to replace the legendary Lavell Edwards in 2001 and hired Tidwell to his staff.
Tidwell told the Deseret News in 2021 that coaching the Cougars was his dream job. That notion was reinforced when he took on the role of student-athlete welfare coordinator where he was able to develop fulfilling and broad relationships with both men and women in different programs.
It is the relationships with players, administrators, parents, and fellow coaches that Tidwell will remember most from his life around football. His footprint, not only within Snow College’s football program, but also throughout the state of Utah, will leave a lasting legacy and continue to help shape the sport for years to come.
