Kalani Sitake Knows the Coaching Carousel Never Stops - and BYU Has to Be Ready
ORLANDO - Kalani Sitake has been in this game long enough to know that stability in college football is always temporary. Coaching staffs shift, opportunities open up, and programs have to be ready to adapt. Now, with former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham reportedly in the mix for the Michigan job, BYU could find itself right in the middle of that shakeup.
Whittingham’s potential move to Ann Arbor isn’t just a headline for Utah fans - it could have real ripple effects in Provo. Several members of Sitake’s staff have deep ties to Whittingham, including BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill. If Whittingham lands the Michigan job, it’s not hard to imagine him reaching back to bring trusted assistants along for the ride.
So where does that leave Sitake and BYU?
“I can’t foresee the future,” Sitake said Friday morning. “I know that I have coaches on my staff who want to be head coaches, and most of those opportunities, they’ll come along.
So I want them to be transparent as much as we can about it. But it’s going to be really difficult.”
Hill’s connection to Whittingham runs deep. He played for him at Utah, then spent eight seasons on his staff before taking over as head coach at Weber State. Hill has made it clear he wants to be a head coach again - and with Sitake recently inking a long-term extension, that path at BYU just got a little more complicated.
But that same extension also came with a significant investment in Sitake’s staff - more resources, more support, and more stability for his top coordinators. Whether that’s enough to fend off interest from a program like Michigan remains to be seen, but Sitake believes it at least gives BYU a stronger foundation to work from.
“As we go through this, I just need to know how to sustain [winning],” Sitake said. “We’ve been given an opportunity to have more than one coach at a position. So you have a bunch of guys who already know what we are doing.”
That depth - both in coaching talent and institutional knowledge - is something Sitake has been building toward. It’s not just about having a great playcaller like Hill. It’s about having a system in place that doesn’t fall apart if someone moves on.
“You have it established, these are the calls that you’re going to make in such a certain situation,” Sitake explained. “You allow the play caller to have a little bit of instincts to make that call. But as head coaches, we’re the ones that override all of it.”
Then, with a laugh, he added: “I can be a jerk about it and say I am calling all three phases. I got it, leave me alone. But I do trust the guys who are there.”
It’s a classic Sitake moment - blending humor with a clear message: he’s in control, but he’s also built a staff he believes in.
At the end of the day, Sitake knows that if other programs are coming after his coaches, it’s because BYU is doing something right. The Cougars have won 22 games over the past two seasons and were knocking on the door of the College Football Playoff.
Success brings attention. And attention brings opportunity - for players, for coaches, for everyone involved.
“I’m really happy about the long-term deal, being able to establish a foundation and make sure that it’s sustainable and that we can overcome anything,” Sitake said. “Whether it’s losing coaches to opportunities.
I mean, give them options. It’s great for them and their families.
That’s a good sign that people want our coaches to become leaders and coordinators and be part of programs too.”
So while the coaching carousel spins - and it always does - BYU’s head coach is focused on keeping his program steady. He knows he might lose a key piece or two. But he also knows the culture he’s built is strong enough to weather the storm.