Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
PROVO — Following a pattern that head coaches often take after difficult seasons, Kalani Sitake has shuffled his staff multiple times during the eight years leading the BYU football program.
Entering his ninth season, the popular former BYU fullback may be out of options if his team again produces dissatisfactory results. Win or else, that's the reality in the often impatient world of high-visibility college sports.
Fair or not, there's at least a slice of truth to the assumption Sitake is coaching for his job this season after the Cougars stumbled through a 5-7 last year. Making the situation worse, they were only 2-7 in the program's inaugural Big 12 campaign and ended on a five-game losing streak.
Another losing season likely would leave the finger pointing directing back at the head coach, who couldn't justify overhauling the coaching staff again as a solution. A mediocre offense last season led to dismissing the line and tight ends assistants.
After a horrendous 4-9 season in 2017, Sitake fired offensive coordinator Ty Detmer and several assistants on that side of the football. A porous defense in 2022 prompted him to replace the coordinator and several assistants.
As assistants historically throughout the game can attest to, job security for coaches can get out of whack quickly with the prevalent win-now mentality. Only one year after listing Sitake's employment status as "safe and secure," CBS Sports put him on the proverbial hot seat this season.
Outside predictions don't paint a rosy outlook for a swift turnaround. BYU, which was picked to finish 13th in the new 16-team Big 12, will face a difficult schedule that includes playing the forecasted top five teams in the conference.
"Did the Big 12 expose BYU, or was 2023 a dip in the Cougars' fortunes? This season will go a long way toward answering that question," Dennis Dodd wrote.
"BYU gave Sitake a contract extension in 2021 (through 2027) after a 29-9 run from 2018-20 (which was actually 2020-22). The Cougars promptly went 5-7 in their first season in the Big 12, beating only three FBS teams. Without Texas and Oklahoma, the league is wide open. BYU is being mentioned nowhere near the top of contention. Since going 11-1 in 2020, the Cougars have declined each of the next three seasons."
Hard as it is to argue with facts, Sitake is no less of a coach than he was during the program's excellent three-year run. A rash of injuries and an obvious lack of depth, especially at quarterback the last two seasons, played a significant role in the disappointing results.
The coaches and athletic administration are quick to point out much like Utah, the program needs time to transition from playing as an independent to the Big 12. Going from the Mountain West to the now-defunct Pac-12, the Utes didn't post a winning record in conference until the fourth season.
Utah did manage to go 8-5 in its first season in the new conference and won a bowl game, but Kyle Whittingham's teams went 5-7 in consecutive seasons, putting the now-program's winningest coach squarely on the hot seat.
Fortunately for Utah, athletic director Chris Hill's decision to stay the course paid handsome dividends. The Utes became a Pac-12 powerhouse and are favored to win the Big 12 in their first season.
As Whittingham's defensive coordinator during Utah's move to a tougher conference, Sitake saw first-hand what it takes to grow a program. The same goes for defensive coordinator Jay Hill and offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick, who also were on Whittingham's staff at the time.
Much like with Whittingham, Sitake deserves a similar amount of time to get BYU on track in the power conference. Athletic director Tom Holmoe knows as much, voicing multiple times confidence in his coach.
At the same time, in Holmoe's own words, the administration has put an unprecedented amount of resources into the program. Winning matters, and it helps to have it come sooner rather than later.
