According to BYU’s AD, Sitake has declined offers to travel to other locations.
On Wednesday, BYU AD Tom Holmoe spoke on BYU Sports Nation to address the recent hire of basketball coach Kevin Young. In the interview, Holmoe discussed the importance of having a succession plan in every sport, using football as an example. Holmoe revealed something in the interview that has long been believed but never confirmed: Kalani Sitake turned down competing job offers during his time at BYU.
“We’ve a success plan and you’ve to be able to anticipate that you could lose a coach now at anytime,” Holmoe told the audience. “I mean, Coach Kalani [Sitake] has turned down offers to move to other places. You have to understand that those things are moving, and we’ve been through this before.
Coach Sitake has been linked to a variety of professions during the last few years. After the 2021 season, BYU has two consecutive double-digit victory seasons and a 20-4 record in two years. When Oregon coach Mario Cristobal left for Miami, Sitake was one of the leading candidates for the Oregon position. While Holmoe could not confirm exactly, it seems likely that Oregon was among the institutions that offered Kalani a job.
Retaining Kalani, despite BYU’s 5-7 record last year, was important to the program’s future trajectory in the Big 12. BYU is a unique position, and there is no substitute for BYU-specific experience. BYU needed an experienced coach to lead them to the Big 12. Kalani has shown to be a good coach when he has the ideal coordinators on his team. Kalani, on the other hand, will face increasing expectations. Last year, the hope was for a bowl game. This year’s expectations include a bowl game. Next year, there will be even bigger expectations. It is part of the transition to a Power Five conference. Slow, incremental improvement is critical.
