PROVO — Kalani Sitake’s contract extension that will keep him on BYU’s payroll through the 2023 football season was universally applauded by his players, assistant coaches and most Cougar fans last week and thoroughly documented by this news outlet and many others.
No question, the former BYU fullback has become Kalani the Beloved in Provo, perhaps the most admired coach of a major sport at the school since his own coach and mentor, LaVell Edwards, roamed the sidelines at the stadium that would eventually bear his name. That adulation poured in from all corners on Nov. 18; Even his good friend and mentor, Kyle Whittingham, took a break from discussing No. 6-ranked Utah’s special season to offer his congratulations.
The love has flowed even though Sitake has compiled a record through 50 games that is only slightly above average, 27-23, heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale at San Diego State (7 p.m. MST, CBSSN). The Cougars (7-4) wrap up Sitake’s fourth season in the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24 against an opponent yet to be named.
A national fan base that has high expectations for the program — maybe too high, given independent BYU’s unenviable place in the current college football landscape — has embraced the man, except for a small percentage of detractors still fuming over that 4-9 showing in 2017 that led to the dismissal of another hugely popular figure in BYU sports history, offensive coordinator Ty Detmer.
Why is this guy so widely adored? What’s his secret?
Zach Wilson, the Cougars’ precocious starting quarterback who grew up a University of Utah fan, never considered playing at BYU “in a million years” and was headed to Boise State before Sitake called him a week before the early signing period in December 2017 and told him “I want you to be my quarterback,” says it is because of the way Sitake treats people.
Wilson said a lot of college football players are afraid to approach their head coach, let alone plop down in their office and shoot the breeze, but Sitake welcomes it.
“The most (endearing) part is that he is just the most down-to-earth guy,” Wilson said. “You can talk to him about anything. He loves every player on this team and every person on this team. He cares about every single person, and I think that’s what makes him so intriguing. All the players just want to spend time with him and we know that he has always got your back.”
Sophomore cornerback D’Angelo Mandell, who left the program prior to the 2017 season, worked odd jobs in the San Diego area and then was welcomed back by Sitake and his staff in 2018, says most head coaches would not have allowed a return.
“He’s a good dude; I love him,” Mandell said. “Him allowing me to come back, that just shows how much he believes in me. Usually when a guy leaves, it is just like, ‘he’s done, leave him home and let him go.’ But he gave me another chance to come back here and play. So I am just grateful for him and all he’s done for me.”
Defensive tackle JJ Nwigwe, who made an interception in last week’s 56-24 win over UMass, thought about leaving when the coach who recruited him to BYU, even-keeled Bronco Mendenhall, left for Virginia. But when he met the humble, emotions-on-his-sleeve Sitake, he stayed aboard.
“After meeting Kalani and the staff he brought in, I knew that the program would take a good direction, and I definitely wanted to play for him,” Nwigwe said, recounting a meeting he had in Sitake’s office when the coach asked him to make the switch from offense to defense as a memory that will last a lifetime.
“He is one of those guys in the future I can call and he will definitely pick up the phone and have a conversation with me,” Nwigwe said. “So he just in general is positive and I have good memories of working with him.”
Wilson said Sitake is a “huge reason” why he’s at BYU, instead of Boise State or other programs that were recruiting him and were successful in 2017 when he was playing his final season at Corner Canyon High.
“It was a tough decision for me,” Wilson said. “I felt like I was going to a really good school for quarterbacks, up in Boise. It was really tough. All the odds were kinda against me, coming to a school that was 4-9 and had a returning senior quarterback (Tanner Magnum), and didn’t have a lot of success. It was just that trust in his voice that said, ‘I want you to be here playing for me.’ And he made some changes to make that happen.”
As is his way, Sitake shrugs off suggestions that every player on the team, every employee in the athletics department, every coach on his staff, was thrilled when he received the three-year extension just five weeks after a crushing 27-23 loss at South Florida left the team with a 2-4 record, himself with a 22-23 career record, and brought calls, from some quarters, for his hastened departure.
“I am sure there are some that don’t like me,” he said in typical self-deprecating fashion. “You make it sound like you checked with everyone.”
Not everyone, but nearly a dozen players and a half-dozen assistants. Not a bad word from anybody.
“I mean, I am just going to be myself,” Sitake said. “I value getting to know people. I may not agree with everybody, especially if they are critical of me, but I am not going to shy away from someone who is. I think it is OK to have conversations. So yeah, I don’t have to be right all the time. If you ask my wife I am rarely right. But I do value just getting to know people and finding out how they generally feel about things. I try to give as much feedback as I can about myself and just interact. I think that’s part of life. That’s why we are here, you know.”
Sitake said he hasn’t always been a people person. He credits Edwards, who passed away on Dec. 29, 2016, for helping him get over some shyness and bringing him out of his shell. Now he’s winning “Communicator of the Year” awards, drawing praise from opposing coaches for his class and sportsmanship, and creating his own legacy in Provo for handling some of the tougher schedules — at least in September and October — the program has faced.
“I have been around LaVell and other people and seen the example, and just the way they had such good people here when I was playing and this is the place that kind of helped me open up my eyes and know my life could be better just being around other people and getting to know others, whether they agree with me or not,” he said.
Because that’s Sitake’s way — giving everyone else the credit, and the love.
Cougars on the air
BYU (7-4) at San Diego State (8-3)
At SDCCU Stadium
Saturday, 7 p.m. MST
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: KSL 1160 AM, 102.7 FM