PROVO, Utah (AP) – Kalani Sitake will remain BYU’s head football coach after agreeing to a new long-term contract extension on Monday.
Sitake is 83-44 since taking over at BYU in 2016. The Cougars have won 11 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2006 and 2007, and have won at least 10 games in four of the past six seasons with Sitake at the helm.
“For me, I feel like I never thought about retiring, but I also want to be competitive and be able to take care of people,” Sitake said. “This is just one of those moments where I felt like we were in the Big 12. We can make the right moves and we don’t need to do this anywhere else. I can do it here. I feel like we have great momentum.”
Penn State named Sitake its top candidate in the search to replace James Franklin, who was fired earlier this season after an 0-3 start in the Big Ten. Sitake spoke with Nittany Lions athletic director Pat Kraft and received an offer reportedly worth eight figures a year.
BYU made retaining Sitake a top priority and worked out a contract extension that resulted in him remaining at the school, playing fullback under LaVell Edwards in 1994 and from 1997 to 2000 after a two-year mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As part of retaining Sitake, BYU has committed to deeper investments in its football program, including everything from salary increases for assistant coaches and support staff to enhancements to its football facilities.
“I think expectations have already been set by Kalani and his vision and passion for excellence,” BYU Athletic Director Brian Santiago said. “He built something really special, and we wanted to give him the resources to maintain it.”
The new contract extension comes as Sitake prepares No. 11 BYU to take on No. 4 Texas Tech in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship Game. This will be the first title game appearance for either school and a rematch of the Nov. 8 regular season game, which the Red Raiders won 29-7.
The fact that Sitake will be on BYU’s sideline for that game and many more to come is a relief to the players he has coached and the players he currently coaches.
“I would have been very sad if he had left,” BYU receiver Chase Roberts said. “I probably would have cried in my bed and I’m not going to be back next year. That says a lot about Kalani’s character and how much we care about this program.”
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