Kalani Sitake assembled an all-star cast of advisers while Penn State furiously tried to lure him from BYU to the Big Ten.
The team included Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid and Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young , who did the impossible: earn himself an even more hallowed place in Cougar Nation by saying, on a national program, that if Penn State wanted BYU's coach, it would "have to rip him from our bloody hands."
Just as influential was the wife of Kalani's beloved mentor, the late LaVell Edwards .
Patti Edwards, now 93, spoke several times with Sitake, which is normal for them since LaVell Edwards died in 2017.
"I get advice from Patti quite a bit in the program," Sitake said, "and so I sought her advice during this time, too. She was amazing. She wasn't trying to make a decision for me on anything, but she just told me about the value of BYU and the value of being some place for a long time and how it helped her family, and how it was such a feeling of ease for LaVell.
"I took that into account quite a bit."
BYU head football coach Kalani Sitake speaks as he's joined by BYU athletic director Brian Santiago during a press conference held at the Student Athlete Building in Provo on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Penn State wasn't the only school pursuing Sitake this fall. A number of schools gauged his interest in leaving several weeks ago, he told the Deseret News on Tuesday night.
Without revealing figures, BYU announced Tuesday that it will pay Sitake much, much more money to remain its head coach. Still, he walked away from a Penn State offer that was worth millions more per year, according to university sources familiar with the negotiations, a top market offer from a Big Ten school.
Why?
The answer has everything to do with a statement printed on a wall in the home of BYU's football team, the Student Athlete Building:
Brigham Young Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake high fives fans during the Cougar Walk before the game against the Portland State Vikings at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
"We follow the example of the toughest man to ever walk the earth, our Savior Jesus Christ. — Kalani Sitake."
It isn't lost on Sitake that such a statement couldn't be printed on a wall at Penn State, a public university.
The coach who has led BYU to a 23-3 record over the past two seasons, who has the team one win from automatically qualifying for the College Football Playoff, puts service and love above the game.
More accurately, he combines them.
"Football's cool when the gospel's in it," he said.
BYU's head football coach Kalani Sitake talks briefly with former head coach LaVell Edwards, following a press conference in Provo, Monday, Dec. 21, 2015. | Scott G Winterton
Edwards taught Sitake by example that football and faith go together while Sitake played for him at the end of the 29 years that Edwards stayed planted at BYU.
The Detroit Lions pursued Edwards. So did other schools. Edwards stayed in Provo, won 257 games and served as a bishop for BYU's sponsoring institution, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Edwards-led BYU football players saved Sitake when he was a broken fourth-grader crushed by the weight of his parents' divorce.
"I was lost and desperate for answers that never came," he said last March, when he delivered a BYU devotional.
Players from the Edwards-led, national championship BYU football team visited Sitake's elementary school in 1984. A player from Tonga, just like Sitake himself, gave him a hug that fixed what was broken.
BYU head football coach Kalani Sitake gives a devotional at the Marriott Center in Provo on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
"Everything is gonna be fine," Vai Sikahema told the boy who would grow up to coach. "I love you and God loves you."
BYU is Sitake's self-described dream job, and he leads the program to make a difference in the lives of the men he coaches and people from coast to coast. He refuses to separate service from his job and daily life. And it shows in his players.
"Playing for Kalani has changed the trajectory of our lives," said Tanner Wall, a former walk-on who has risen to stardom as a captain for BYU this year. "That's why he's the perfect man for the job. … Any label you could find for our lives, Kalani has had a touch point on that."
Sitting in his office after the press conference announcing his extended contract at BYU, Sitake said service is the mission of BYU as a whole and Cougar football as a program.
"I know that my job is to win football games but, man, I feel like my job is much more than that," he said. "Sometimes we separate service from everyday life, but what I learned from my (Latter-day Saint church) mission is that your service is actually who you have to be."
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake greets fans as BYU and Utah prepare to play at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Sitake said service is something BYU's football program can do for everyone, unconditionally.
"That allows us to be connected to the Savior," he said.
Combining football and service is foolproof, in his view.
"Sometimes it works out and you win the game and the service is awesome," he said. "When you lose the game, the service is still there.
"Serving others is an undefeated system, and it's always available. Whenever we experience a loss — just one so far this year (at Texas Tech) — we know that we can leave an impact of positivity and even walk away from it feeling good about what we're able to do for people in Lubbock."
In Lubbock, where BYU lost 29-7, Cougar fans helped raise $65,000 for the wife of the Texas Tech football team's barber, who was in a severe car accident .
BYU fans now join organized tailgate service projects at every BYU away game. It will happen again Saturday at the Big 12 championship game.
To Sitake, BYU football's culture is "love and learning." Players of all faiths love it.
"People think preaching love and learning is weak in football," said Wall, a defensive back. "That's not the case. Clearly it must be working in the success that we're having on the field and in the way that we're impacting communities near and far."
BYU Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake stands with his team to sing the fight song to their fans after losing to Texas Tech at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Some BYU fans expressed sadness that Sitake's job situation was overshadowing the excitement for the Big 12 championship game, but Sitake did not seek out the Penn State job.
Many are bemoaning the state of college football that has schools trying to poach coaches in the middle of a season. Penn State fired its head coach, James Franklin, after three games. LSU fired its coach midseason and poached a coach, Lane Kiffin, away from Ole Miss even as it is expected to earn a bid to the College Football Playoffs, the pinnacle of the sport.
"We don't blame Kalani for that," a BYU source said. "We hope fans will have patience for him and understand the current NCAA market."
Penn State officials flew to Provo on Sunday to meet with Sitake; he did not visit Pennsylvania . In the third month of its search, Penn State made an offer similar to other recent top-market salaries paid by other major college football programs, sources said.
BYU's philosophy is to be in the game when it comes to paying coaches but not to pay top-of-the-market salaries.
Sitake wanted to feel valued, he said. He also wanted his players and the entire football staff to feel valued.
Sitake met with BYU President Shane Reese, athletic director Brian Santiago and Keith Vorkink, the advancement vice president who oversees sports. Santiago negotiated with Sitake's agent, David Dunn.
BYU, with approval of the Board of Trustees, agreed to Sitake's fourth extension in four years. The deal raises not only Sitake's salary but increases compensation across the board in the football program. The deal also includes a commitment to generate additional NIL money for players.
"I feel like there's an obligation on our end to at least raise the bar in all of it," Sitake said. "I feel valued, and I know our players will feel valued with this investment, and our coaches will feel valued."
What he didn't anticipate with was the eruption of love from BYU fans.
"It was just this wave of an outpouring of love and appreciation," Sitake said. "I don't know if I was ready for that. I assumed that people would be upset with me for even considering it but, man, it was overwhelming.
"(It's) an amazing experience. That's something that I don't think I can ever forget. It was so positive. It was definite boost to my self esteem."
Sitake also had a message for BYU fans.
"I didn't want it to be a distraction," he said. "It became one. Now we can just get back to the game and have fun and not have people be so stressed out. I apologize for creating stress to all our fans. To have so many just stop in the middle of the road and yelling, 'Coach, we love you,' was amazing."
He said the fans inspire him.
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake celebrates as he is lifted into the air by fans as BYU defeats Utah in a football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. BYU won 27-16, ending a nine-game losing streak to the Utes. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
"I like who I am when I'm around BYU football and around BYU fans," he said. "I just like to feel the energy. I've been around when it's not been good, because of the result of a game, but I love that that's not really the overriding factor in our happiness. That's when you have true joy."
The coach, who is nationally known for his pregame dances in the south end zone before home games, also revels in Provo game days.
"I feel like there's a need for just our culture in football," he said. "Look how fun it is on game day at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Look at the momentum that's created by Cougar Nation. There's a lot of happiness and joy. The fact that I get to be part of that is awesome."
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake greets fans as BYU and Utah prepare to play at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Church and university officials believe Sitake embodies what it means to be a BYU coach.
The ability he's shown to build a top-flight Power 4 football program in the money-soaked age of NIL while maintaining the distinctiveness of BYU's mission is so powerfully appreciated in Provo and Salt Lake City that officials feel lucky and blessed that such a perfect fit occupies their most high-profile position.
"In many ways, Kalani Sitake is the public face of Brigham Young University," said Reese, the BYU president. "He leads our most prominent athletic team, and you couldn't ask for a better exemplar of the Christ-centered values for which this university stands.
"In saying that, I also communicate the great trust and confidence BYU's board of trustees has in Kalani Sitake's unwavering commitment to BYU's mission, which helps to build student athletes who learn by studying and by faith.
"Someone said recently that BYU wants to win, but BYU wants to win as a family. Kalani is family, and we couldn't be more pleased that he'll be staying at BYU for all the right reasons and leading our football program in the Big 12 Championship this week."
Sitake is grateful for BYU.
"I want to be here," he said.
"It's nice to be able to talk about scriptures," he said. "This the only place that you can really talk about the gospel and football or calculus or biology in the same conversation and say it in public.
"It's even expected of us," he said. "That's what's nice about it. When you make a decision to play at BYU in our football program, we actually expect you to be more religious than you have been in your normal life, and be closer to God. We have a lot of men that are different faiths here. I want them to be more spiritual than they've ever been.
"I'm excited that we allow everyone here to express themselves and grow stronger spiritually in whatever faith they have."
None of this sounds like a coach who wanted to leave his dream job. BYU — and the fan base — made it possible for him to stay.
Exactly as his advisers hoped.
Super Bowl champion Andy Reid, another member of the LaVell Edwards coaching tree, is a pillar of stability in the NFL world. He led the Philadelphia Eagles for 14 years. This is his 13th year with the Chiefs.
During an interview Tuesday night, Sitake paused when a text from Reid buzzed his phone. Sitake apologized for picking up his phone and reading the text. He looked up:
"He and Patti are really happy," Kalani said. "So is Steve Young."
Outside, soft snow began to fall on Provo like a holiday festival.
Game day is Saturday.
