Kalani Sitake has become the Big 12’s longest-tenured coach, and he’s wearing that label with the same easygoing confidence that has defined his time at BYU.
With Kyle Whittingham gone from Utah to Michigan and Matt Campbell leaving Iowa State for Penn State, Sitake suddenly stands alone as the league’s elder statesman. That’s a strange twist for a coach whose team is coming off a 12-win season and a trip to the conference championship game, but it fits the moment. At Big 12 media days, he sounded like the same coach BYU hired to replace Bronco Mendenhall more than a decade ago.
The name he keeps coming back to is LaVell Edwards.
Sitake leans on Edwards to explain everything - his tenure, his approach, his culture, his style, even the way he carries himself in public. With the microphones on and the cameras rolling, he kept returning to the same point: LaVell Edwards is the model.
That message matters in a Big 12 where Texas Tech is the preseason favorite in most places, including the preseason magazines and internet predictions, but where BYU has also drawn support from two media-day polls. On3 Sports and Berry Tramel of the Tulsa World both picked BYU after doing their own forecasting, and Sitake’s roster and staff were a big reason why.
Still, he made it clear he doesn’t buy into the idea that anyone can really forecast a league race like this one.
“People make predictions and they’re wrong every time, so they stopped making predictions as a league; they don’t do it anymore.”
That skepticism comes at a time when college football is being reshaped by NIL money and the transfer portal. Sitake acknowledged the pressure coaches face as more cash gets thrown at players, with Texas Tech rumored to have a $40 million roster and LSU spending heavily in Baton Rouge just to keep pace.
BYU, though, is taking a different line. When asked about a university policy that doesn’t necessarily push the program to be the highest bidder, Sitake pointed to values beyond the checkbook.
“If it were all about money, we’d all be somewhere else, right?
That same thinking helped keep him in Provo last November when Penn State came calling. Matt Campbell answered that call. Sitake did not.
He said he wants players to understand that development has to matter, especially in an era when so many are jumping into the portal. For him, the pitch is about the long view.
“The goal is to see themselves five years from now, not just one. They need to focus on the longevity of it all rather than the instant gratification.
So, I think that’s the goal, to teach these guys that discipline and sacrifice matter. You have to recruit to that.”
Sitake also said there are different kinds of compensation, and that BYU’s approach only works if players buy into that bigger picture. He noted that nearly all of his starters decided to return.
“If it’s about their checking account, we probably aren’t going to be the best place for you. I don’t know if that’s a good system, but that’s the one I want to work with at BYU.”
He doubled down on that idea, saying he wants players to value the people and the environment around them just as much as anything financial.
“I want to say, ‘Hey, what’s the value of having guys who will be your competition (for playing time), teach you the playbook and love you like you’re family?’ and (have them) realize that there are more levels to this than just what 11 guys get to be on the field at one time. That’s going to be the key.”
For Sitake, the job is about staying true to himself and to the standards he says come from the school and the sponsoring church.
“I can only do it my way and be myself. Even if I had all the money in the world to build a roster, I would still do it this way.”
He said he doesn’t know whether he wants to be the highest bidder.
“I have a program to protect, a culture to protect and on that, I can try to get young men to be their best selves. And if it’s about money, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.
If that was the answer to everything then, guys, we’d all be somewhere else. All of us.
Nobody would be sitting here. So, the fact you guys do what your passion is, I want these young men to do something that they enjoy doing and the money will show up if you are passionate about it.
“If you go out every day and it doesn’t feel like a job, it feels like I’m building on my passion and my ambition is to be my best and players feel like that (and) can master that opportunity, then the money will show up. But compensation comes in different forms.“
That message seems to be landing. BYU’s projected offensive player of the year, running back LJ Martin, echoed the same vibe this past week.
“He’s awesome. I talk about it all the time.
Like, I felt more pressure in high school than I do in college, just because I wanted to perform so well. But now in college, honestly, it feels like games are just easier than practice.
“I’m out there watching the video board, watching Cosmo do stunts during water breaks and stuff like that. It’s pretty crazy.
I just never thought football would be this fun at this stage. I’m just out there like a kid, enjoying the moment and enjoying everything that comes with it.”
That’s the world Sitake is selling. It may not be the loudest pitch in the NIL era, but it’s clearly working.
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