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PROVO — It started out as much of a gag gift as a political statement.
The royal blue T-shirts with the Sailor Coug logo and the #ExtendKalani monogram weren’t made by the players, but the message was quickly adopted by the team.
One such shirt was first given to defensive lineman Lorenzo Fauatea, and it quickly spread around the room — first to Uriah Leiataua, then Khyiris Tonga, then JJ Nwigwe, among a handful of others.
That’s where the political statement and the lobbying for head coach Kalani Sitake to receive a contract extension in his final season finally began to play out. The players had used the hashtag on social media a few times — linebacker Chaz Ah You had even mentioned it to the press — but in Saturday’s home finale against FCS Idaho State, each of the defensive line group was going to wave the T-shirt at the crowd of just over 52,000 people as they sprinted into LaVell Edwards Stadium together one last time.
“We just love Kalani; this was for him,” Leiataua. said. “We knew we might get in trouble, but we didn’t care …. Whoever made those shirts, shout out.”
The moment came full circle in the post-game locker room, after the Cougars’ 42-10 win over the Bengals that allowed them to accept an invitation from the SoFi Hawaii Bowl, when athletic director Tom Holmoe sneaked into the closed locker room to say a few words.
This was common practice at BYU; Holmoe, a former defensive back who won a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers, often took a few moments after each game to congratulate the team following a win or share encouragement after a loss.
This time, though, was different.
OUR COACH.#BYUFOOTBALL#GoCougspic.twitter.com/tVoEMVt5v1
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) November 18, 2019
“This is your coach, right? He’s my coach, and he’s our coach,” Holmoe yelled as he unzipped his jacket to reveal the T-shirt underneath.
That set off pandemonium in the locker room, as Holmoe and Sitake embraced and players mobbed their soon-to-be coach through the 2023 season.
The campaign worked. Operation #ExtendKalani was a success.
“I was tripping,” Leiataua said. “I was so excited, I was super excited. I was so happy for Kalani. I testify this to everyone all the time: You don’t know how much he puts his heart and soul into it, especially after those two losses (to Toledo and South Florida earlier this year). It hurt him more than it hurt us, and it hurt a lot of us.
“He showed his true character all the way through. I’m so excited to have him again next year.”
Tonga, who was fresh off scoring his first career touchdown as a fullback in BYU’s scrum formation, was front-and-center for Holmoe’s announcement, and the first one to douse Sitake in a celebratory water bottle bath.
“For me, it meant the world. I felt like I was getting a contract extension,” said Tonga, a junior who is considering leaving after this year to pursue an NFL career. “Kalani is more than football; I’m happy for him and for his family.
“We love coach Kalani, and everything he stands for.”
After 2 minutes, 11 seconds of addressing his extension and future at BYU amid a new contract through the 2023 season, Sitake was ready to wrap up his discussion and focus on football, on finishing the season strong, on the Cougars’ next game Saturday at UMass (12 p.m. MST, FloFootball/NESN). The program isn’t about one player or one coach, argued the former fullback once called Kalani Fifita under legendary BYU coach LaVell Edwards.
With all due respect, though, that’s not how these things work. It’s not how momentous contract extensions like the one BYU announced Monday morning live in today’s news cycle.
It’s especially untrue for a coach like Sitake, who means as much as he does to his players.
“I love them. I don’t think they needed to do that,” Sitake said of the #ExtendKalani T-shirts. “But these guys know that these coaches and I have worked really hard. With the feeling that we have as a program, I think people can see what we are about: We’re about each other. They care about the fans.
“It got me emotional, just thinking about it. I’m really, really thankful to be their coach. They are such great kids.”
Sitake’s first head coaching job hasn’t always been easy. Big wins over the likes of USC, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Boise State have been shrouded by losses to Toledo, South Florida, UMass and Utah State.
He’s still never beaten archrival Utah in his four seasons, a fact that will play a prominent role in every Ute media guide until the current nine-game streak is snapped.
But that's not why Sitake was extended four more years Monday morning.
"I love Kalani; how great is this guy, in terms of rallying his guys and helping them believe?" BYU basketball coach Mark Pope said. "I don't follow football that much, but tell me another team in the country that is playing their third-string quarterback and winning massive games? Oh, and they lost their all-star grad transfer running back, and a slew of injuries.
"The ability to capture these guys' hearts through ups and downs this season is pretty extraordinary. I think he's a credit to this university. He’s an unbelievable human being."
Saturday’s players-only announcement, and the official finalization Monday morning, wasn't about the wins, the losses or the growing pains the Cougars have had to endure under a first-time head coach and first-time offensive and defensive coordinators.
It was about the players and the culture Sitake has built in his four years.
For many of the players on the current roster, Sitake was the primary reason they came to BYU. Sione Finau didn’t even try to hide it when he signed a national letter of intent three years ago at Kearns High School.
Sitake had recruited him to go to Oregon State, but when the then-defensive coordinator's alma mater came calling for his first head coaching job, Finau also immediately flipped — to the delight of his family and the tight-knit Kearns community.
“Personally, I love him as a coach, but also outside of football as well,” Finau said. “He was the one who recruited me going to Oregon State, and then he came to BYU. I followed him. And seeing that for him is a big accomplishment, I’m always behind him and supporting him.”
With the campaign ended and the extension finalized Monday morning, the Cougars can remove that sticking point from the back of their minds.
Two more games remain in the regular season, including a trip to former Mountain West rival San Diego State in the regular-season finale, as well as the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve.
The focus is clear now for BYU football.
And happily so.
“It was in the back of our minds, just hoping,” Tonga said. “Knowing Kalani, he never wanted us to think that way — at all. But it was something that was always in the back of our minds. We’re all happy for him.”
