Sitake’s name was floated by The Athletic as a possible replacement for DeShaun Foster.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake shakes hands with one of hte officials before football action between the Brigham Young Cougars and the Stanford Cardinal, at Lavell Edwards Stadium on Saturday Sept. 6, 2025.
BYU is only two games into the 2025 campaign, but head football coach Kalani Sitake has already seen his name spinning around the coaching carousel.
After UCLA fired DeShaun Foster following a 35-10 loss to New Mexico, Sitake’s name was floated by The Athletic as a possible candidate to take over the Bruins.
But for now, BYU’s coach isn’t interested in entertaining the conversation — internally or externally.
“I don’t talk about anything other than football and what we are doing right now as a program,” Sitake said. “I think people have heard me make statements before and these guys need me focused on East Carolina more than anything else.“
Sitake is in his 10th season in Provo, going 74-43 with seven postseason appearances. BYU is 5-2 in bowl games under Sitake’s direction.
BYU rose to sixth in the country last year after jumping out to a 9-0 start. The Cougars finished 11-2, ranked 13th and beat Colorado in the Alamo Bowl.
Sitake hasn’t addressed the team about any coaching rumors, and doesn’t plan to.
“I’ve told [the players] to avoid any distractions that come along the way. Distractions come in a lot of forms,” he said. “We are going to avoid distractions, stay humble and keep working hard. And try to do our best when we show up this week against East Carolina.”
Sitake isn’t likely to be the frontrunner for the UCLA job, nor is it likely he would take it. Sitake played at BYU and now leads a Power Four program that is expanding its monetary commitment to athletics. UCLA has struggled to find its footing since moving to the Big Ten two years ago.
Sitake just signed a lucrative contract extension this offseason and was elevated to associate athletic director on top of his head coaching duties. He’s also received more money for his support staff — something that was desperately needed in the Big 12.
“I try to keep focused on the young men,” Sitake finished. “We have amazing young men and an amazing culture in our program. I just want to make sure we are focused on that. But I’m always down to talk to the boys about anything they want to talk to me about.