When Kalani Sitake was asked about the commotion surrounding his name being tossed around in connection with the Penn State head coaching job, his response was all over the map.
Except for the mark smack dab in the middle of it.
Never did he deny the Nittany Lions’ interest in him or his interest in the Nittany Lions.
He said all of it is a compliment to the BYU program.
He said coaching rumors are a good sign about his team’s current success.
He said he would address the matter with his team.
He said he wants his players to focus solely on the Big 12 Championship game against Texas Tech on Saturday.
He said he hopes his players have a great experience this week and do not waste time or mental energy or powers of concentration on coaching rumors.
He said it was a great distraction to have.
He said he was living a good life at BYU, eating stacks of food and gaining weight.
He said this whole deal isn’t about him.
But it is about him.
He’s the freaking head coach at BYU. He’s at the center of what Cougar football is doing, how it is winning, what it is about, who it’s recruiting, who is already in the program, who will remain in the program, who gets what NIL money, what the present and the future looks like. What this week looks like. What Saturday will look like.
Sitake gave no clue as to the specifics of what, when he addresses the subject with his players, he’ll say.
Will he get specific with them? Will he be candid? Will he waffle? Will he demonstrate his dedication to BYU and ask his players to stir within themselves the same effort, the same sacrifice, the same commitment?
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake puts his arm around Brigham Young Cougars defensive end Ephraim Asiata (44) during a game earlier this year.
Will he tell them he’s using the rumors as leverage to improve his financial standing at BYU?
With one of the biggest games ever for the Cougars coming in a rush, will he dilly-dally around with this thing or will he look into it quickly and definitively and get on with his — his team’s — business?
A couple of truths here: Sitake does feel honored to be the lead dog at BYU. He has at times wondered why he hasn’t been paid on equal terms with other coaches at other schools who haven’t accomplished what he’s gotten done in Provo. The dude has won 22 of his last 25 games, and he’s well aware of the fact. He already could have jumped ship to run other programs, but didn’t budge. He thinks he deserves more than what he’s getting. He believes his assistants deserve more, too.
So, what happens now?
If Penn State actually determines that it wants Sitake, the deal would be for generational money. So much so that if he were to get fired in the seasons ahead — there’s not a whole lot of patience in State College — he would be set for life, able to float on a raft somewhere, anywhere. He’s already making decent money at BYU, but … not enough, not as much.
With the way Sitake has mastered his craft at BYU, knowing the ins and outs of football there, the ins and outs of the unique environment there, what it takes to recruit there and win there, he’s going to go on succeeding there. Which means he’ll continue to get offers to leave, if he doesn’t leave on this occasion.
That means BYU needs to pay him what he’s worth, whatever that price is. The money is there, the Cougars are, as one booster told me, “swimming in it.” Some say, no big deal, if Sitake wants to leave, let him go; just make sure he doesn’t take Jay Hill with him, and then promote Hill from defensive coordinator to head coach.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake as BYU hosts TCU, NCAA football in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025.
That wouldn’t be a bad plan. Hill is a great coach who will be a head coach again — sooner more likely than later. But he’ll win at BYU, too. So he, too, will get offers to go elsewhere. Point is, if a program intends on winning at football and reaping all the benefits that come along with that winning, it has to pay the head coach suitably.
That’s just the way it is.
If a program likes winning 22 of 25 games, then it should keep Sitake right where he is because he’s proved he can do that. He’s just done it, plain as day. Any reason to believe he can’t keep doing it?
Pay the man. Pay him whatever Penn State would be willing to pay him.
Then, the main difference for Sitake would be this: What he can accomplish at BYU versus what he could accomplish at Penn State. That’s problematic because if the Nittany Lions were 11-1 right now, heading into a conference title game, they would already be in the College Football Playoff. Full stop. Whether that’s the case at BYU has been at the center of conversation for days now. Many people are of the mind that the Cougars, despite playing in a P4 conference and sitting at 11-1, that they’ll have to defeat Texas Tech on Saturday to make the playoff.
Sitake loves BYU, loves the church that sponsors it, but he also would love standing at the top of the college game, having the opportunity to stand atop it. Can he do that at BYU? He definitely could do it, if he replicates his same success at a place like Penn State — if it does, in fact, want him.
When LaVell Edwards was offered the head coaching job with the Detroit Lions back in the middle of his winning at BYU, he turned it down, turned down making more money inside of a handful of years than he got at BYU for many, many seasons. Did he regret blowing off the NFL and staying where he was?
“No,” he said. “Staying was one of the best decisions I ever made. I would’ve gotten fired in Detroit.”
He never got fired in Provo.
It was Edwards who also told me, back when Sitake was playing at BYU, that the kid would one day be a great head football coach.
Not sure if the man whose name is on the side of BYU’s stadium foresaw that Sitake might face a similar decision as he himself was faced with. But here he is, if the rumors are true. If they’re not, more rumors will come in time.
BYU should acknowledge what Kalani Sitake has done, pay him what he’s worth, and hope to high heavens that the success he’s created and the success he’ll yet create also will be recognized by the powers that be in college football, the ones who invite or do not invite his team all proper into the CFP, the ones who ultimately will determine whether he can stand at the top of his sport.