How Crumbl Cookies helped BYU keep Kalani Sitake away from Penn State

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How Crumbl Cookies helped BYU keep Kalani Sitake away from Penn State

Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY · USA TODAY Sports

Fri, Dec 5, 2025 ·

6 min read

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With its signature pink box, Crumbl is a dessert chain founded in Utah known for making big cookies and desserts.

It's also now known for its big influence in Brigham Young football.

It was a wild week in Provo, Utah, with Cougars coach Kalani Sitake reportedly at the top of Penn State's long coaching search. The Nittany Lions were pushing hard to hire him, causing panic for a program that is one win away from their first College Football Playoff appearance.

That was until some big-time donor decided to "get off the sidelines" and get to work. That was Crumbl co-founder and CEO Jason McGowan, who got BYU to rally around its coach by baking up a sweet treat with a heavy dose of love and financial commitment.

The finished product out of the oven? A long-term extension for Sitake that keeps him at his alma mater – and Penn State still searching .

"Sometimes, you just got to get off the sidelines in life and just try your best to see what you can do to make a difference," McGowan told USA TODAY Sports. "Every once in a while, it pans out."

BYU football coach Kalani Sitake celebrates with the team after winning 41-27 over Iowa State at Jack Trice Stadium on Oct. 25, 2025, in Ames, Iowa.

Crumbl helps BYU keep Kalani Sitake

It makes sense Sitake eventually got on Penn State's radar. The Cougars have thrived in the Big 12 under him, going 11-2 last season and reaching this season's conference championship game. He's won double-digit games in four of the past six seasons. Penn State felt confident it had found its man.

The idea of Sitake leaving BYU was "gut-wreching" for McGowan, so he got to work. He posted a cryptic yet obvious message on X that he was going to do whatever he could to keep Sitake at BYU.

Not long after, he made another post that called for Cougars fans to show how much Sitake meant to the school and show him love and respect. He called it a love bomb, believing there would be a tremendous response. Just to incentivize it, McGowan said he'd give away four 50-yard line seats and airfare to the Big 12 championship game in Arlington, Texas, for the best responses.

"I wanted to remind Kalani just how much everyone loves him," McGowan said. "I knew he would get a tremendous response."

Maybe the prize helped, but It clearly had an impact. BYU fans flooded social media, and as McGowan put it, "it turned Kalani's heart." Sitake was emotional during the press conference announcing his extension as he recalled all the messages directed toward him.

"It was an amazing feeling of appreciation from everybody," Sitake said. "I don't know how you can leave that, man. I just don't know how you can walk away from it."

Love is a great way to convince someone, but ultimately, money does do quite a bit of talking. Luckily, McGowan is just one of several major donors for the Cougars with his company that made over $1 billion in sales in 2023, according to Forbes . After BYU beat Utah, he offered to cover the fine for rushing the field , and when the Cougars weren't penalized, he ended up donating to the NIL fund and paying lunch debt in the nearby school districts.

It's unknown how much McGowan, other donors and BYU offered up to keep Sitake. As a private school backed by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU doesn't have to make its finances public.

But there was a bigger financial commitment. Athletic director Brian Santiago said Sitake didn't talk much about his own compensation, but he wanted to take care of the people around him – assists, team staff and players.

"It's not really about the money, but there is an opportunity for me to take care of my players and my staff and make sure that we're all headed in the right direction of what we want to accomplish," Sitake said.

Whatever the price was, it was right enough to slam the door shut on the Nittany Lions. Sitake proclaimed it was time to "quit all the drama" because "I'm here."

With university and donor back, Santiago said it was a significant investment to "make sure that we do everything we can to retain Kalani Sitake."

"I think Penn State offered some tremendous support," McGowan said. "I think that was appealing to him, but I think we showed Kalani that we equally – BYU especially – and us donors in our small little way, to help out.

"We've got all these amazing donors behind us that just says we're here. We're all committed on BYU, too. It wasn't just me. It was everyone just saying, 'Yep, we're here for you.'"

Penn State hired Matt Campbell as its next head coach. Campbell, 46, coached 10 seasons at Iowa State and was the winningest coach in school history.

(Nirmalendu Majumdar, USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Kyle Whittingham is finalizing a new deal to be the coach at Michigan after 177 wins in 21 seasons at Utah. Whittingham replaces Sherrone Moore who was fired Dec. 10.
(Rob Gray, Imagn Images)

UCLA hired Bob Chesney as its next head coach, ending the longest coaching search in country of a coach fired midseason in 2025. Chesney spent two seasons at James Madison and led the Dukes to the Sun Belt championship game this season after coaching Holy Cross, where he won five conference championships.
(Bob Donnan, Imagn Images)

South Florida hired Brian Hartline, replacing Alex Golesh, who left to become head coach of Auburn. Hartline has been an assistant at Ohio State since 2017 first as wide receivers coach then offensive coordinator and helped the Buckeyes win the national championship last season.
(Adam Cairns, USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Florida hired Jon Sumrall as its next head coach, replacing Billy Napier, who was fired midseason. Sumrall, 43, spent two seasons at Tulane and two at Troy and led his teams to the conference championship game in each of those four seasons.

(Stephen Lew, Imagn Images)

LSU hired Lane Kiffin as its next football coach on Nov. 30. Kiffin spent six seasons at Ole Miss and led the Rebels to a spot in this year's College Football Playoff, though he won't coach in it.
(Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger)

Virginia Tech hired James Franklin as its next head coach. Franklin was fired earlier this season at Penn State. He replaces Brent Pry, who was fired midseason by the Hokies.
(Brian Bishop-Imagn Images)

Michigan State football hired Pat Fitzgerald as Jonathan Smith's replacement. Fitzgerald coached 17 seasons at his alma mater Northwestern, posting a 110-101 overall record.
(Michael Reaves, Getty Images)

Auburn is hiring South Florida coach Alex Golesh to be the Tigers' next head coach. Golesh is 23-15 in three seasons with the Bulls, with three bowl bids.
(Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images)

Ole Miss promoted defensive coordinator Pete Golding to head coach after Lane Kiffin left for LSU. Golding is in his third season as Rebels DC and served as Alabama's DC before.
(Justin Ford, Getty Images)

Morgan Scalley is taking over as Utah coach with the departure of Kyle Whittingham following 21 seasons in the job. Scalley, a former Utes defensive back, was an assistant under Whittingham for 18 seasons and coach-in-waiting since 2024.
(Rob Gray, Imagn Images)

Arkansas is set to hire Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield to lead the Razorbacks program. Silverfield is 50-24 in six seasons in Memphis with a fifth bowl appearance on the way.
(Wesley Hale-Imagn Images)

Oklahoma State hired Eric Morris from North Texas to be the Cowboys next head coach. Morris replaces longtime OSU coach Mike Gundy, who was fired earlier this season.
(Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images)

Stanford hired Washington Commanders quarterback coach Tavita Pritchard to be the Cardinal's next head coach
(Eric Canha-Imagn Images)

Colorado State hired Jim Mora Jr. as its new head coach. Mora led UConn to back-to-back nine-win seasons and replaces Jay Norvell, who was fired midseason.
(David Butler II-Imagn Images)

Kentucky moved on from Mark Stoops after 13 seasons and hired Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein to fill its vacancy. The Kentucky native previously played for Louisville.
(Ben Lonergan, The Register-Guard)

Iowa State hired Jimmy Rogers as its next head coach. Rogers, 38, spent one year as the coach of Washington State after coaching South Dakota State for two seasons and an FCS national championship in 2023.

(James Snook, Imagn Images)

Kansas State has brought back former player and assistant Collin Klein as its football coach after Chris Klieman stepped down after seven seasons. Klein spent the past two years as offensive coordinator at Texas A&M.
(Peter Aiken, Getty Images)

Tosh Lupoi is returning to alma mater California after the school fired Justin Wilcox. Lupoi, a longtime college and NFL assistant, was defensive coordinator at Oregon for four seasons.
(Ben Lonergan, The Register-Guard)

Charles Huff is the new Memphis football coach after one season at Southern Mississippi after leading the Golden Eagles to a bowl game. He previously was at Marshall for four seasons.
(Matt Bush, Special to the Clarion Ledger)

Connecticut hired Toledo coach Jason Candle to replace Jim Mora. Candle won 81 games in 10 seasons with the Rockets.
(Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports)

James Madison moved quickly to hire Billy Napier, a former coach at Florida and Louisiana-Lafayette, after the departure of Bob Chesney to UCLA.
(Matt Pendleton, Imagn Images)

After losing Jon Sumrall to Florida, Tulane elevated offensive coordinator Will Hall to the job. Hall previously coached four seasons at Southern Mississippi.
(Matt Bush, USA TODAY Sports)

Toledo found the replacement for Jason Candle with the addition of Mercer's Mike Jacobs, who led the Bears to consecutive FCS playoff appearances in two seasons at the school.
(Will McLelland, Imagn Images)

Oregon State hired Alabama co-offensive coordinator JaMarcus Shephard as its head coach, replacing Trent Bray who was fired after an 0-7 start this season.
(Jason Clark, Getty Images)

North Texas hired former West Virginia coach Neal Brown as the replacement for Eric Morris, who departed for the head coaching job at Oklahoma State. Brown spent six seasons with the Mountaineers and won 35 games in four seasons at Troy.
(Ben Queen, Imagn Images)

Ohio promoted interim coach John Hauser after the team defeated UNLV in the Xbox Bowl. Hauser replaces Brian Smith, who was fired in December.
(Raymond Carlin III, Imagn Images)

After the departure of Jimmy Rogers, Washington State hired Kirby Moore, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Missouri after previous stops at Fresno State and Washington.
(Denny Medley, USA TODAY Sports)

Caostal Carolina filled its coaching vacancy after the firing of Tim Beck by hiring Ryan Beard from Missouri State, who led the Bears to a bowl game in their first FBS season.
(Michael Gulledge, Special to the News-Leader)

Southern Mississippi promoted offensive coordinator Blake Anderson to fill its coaching vacancy following the departure of Charles Huff. Anderson was previously the head coach at Utah State and Arkansas State.
(Michael Madrid, USA TODAY Sports)

Alex Mortensen took over as interim coach of Alabama-Birmingham after the firing of Trent Dilfer. Mortenson was promoted to full-time coach after going 2-4 to finish the season.
(David Butler II, Imagn Images)

Why BYU wanted Kalani Sitake to stay

The week has revealed how greatly Sitake is viewed at BYU: a highly respected individual with love for the university and its fans. In McGowan's eyes, there was no one else that could be in charge of the Cougars.

"Finding a coach who can help us win, that's replaceable," McGowan said. "Finding someone who can help us win, but also the character and the person he is and the values he's trying to share, I had a hard time imagining anyone else that could come in and do what he did.

"We love him and we want him here, and you can see that."

As if the Nittany Lions coaching search couldn't get worse, salt was rubbed in the wound when Virginia Tech and its former coach James Franklin had Crumbl cookies at its signing day ceremony. It made sense to assume McGowan was involved in it, but don't blame him.

"I didn't have any part of it," McGowan said with a laugh. "Seeing that happen, I laughed and thought it was really, really funny. I think we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously."

Now that BYU has its guy, it can focus on trying to make the playoff. McGowan said to expect another version of love bombing, this time aimed at the playoff selection committee to remind them it belongs in the field.

There's no better proof than teams coming up to bat for Sitake – and all striking out − thanks to the pink box.

"You know what else believes it?" McGowan added. "Penn State, and so does everyone else because they want our coach, right?"

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How BYU kept Kalani Sitake away from Penn State with Crumbl Cookies

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How Crumbl Cookies helped BYU keep Kalani Sitake away from Penn State

Crumbl helps BYU keep Kalani Sitake

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Why BYU wanted Kalani Sitake to stay