KALANI SITAKE | BYU FOOTBALL HEAD COACH
Kalani Sitake (kah-lah-nee see-tah-kay) is entering his 10th season overseeing the BYU football program in 2025.
In his 25th overall season as a coach, Sitake leads the program he once played for under legendary Hall of Fame coach LaVell Edwards. A former Cougar running back (1994, 1997-2000), Sitake is the 14th head coach in BYU history and just the fourth since 1972, when Edwards took over the program. Sitake is the first former player under Edwards to be named head coach at BYU.
Sitake and his program moved from the ranks of FBS independents to join the Big 12 Conference in 2023 to take another step forward in the Big 12 Conference. A former Cougar running back (1994, 1997-2000), Sitake has guided BYU to a 72-43 (.626) overall record during his first nine seasons, including an 11-2 record in 2024 while finishing BIg 12 play at 7-2 in a four-way tie for first place atop the conference standings.
Sitake has guided BYU to double-digit victory seasons in three of the past five years while achieving a 45-18 (.714) record to boast the No. 8 winning percentage among all FBS coaches in that span.
This past season the American Football Coaches Association named Sitake its 2024 Region 4 Coach of the Year and a finalist for AFCA National Coach of the Year. He was also a semifinallist for the prestigious George Munger Award from the Maxwell Football Club given to the nation's top coach. He was named to the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award Watchlist and the Dodd Trophy Midseason Watch List.
The Cougars finished the year ranked No. 13 in the nation after earned a 36-14 victory over No. 23 Colorado in the Valero Alamo Bowl in front of the most-watched game in the modern era of BYU football with 8 million viewers on ABC—the most-watched bowl game outside of the College Football Playoff in the 2024 season. A capacity crowd of 64,261 also watched the game in person—the second-highest for a Valero Alamo Bowl that did not include a Texas team (other was Oklahoma State and Ohio State in 2004) and the highest attended bowl game outside of the CFP in 2024.
With the invitation to the 2024 Alamo Bowl, Sitake has been part of 15 bowl games during his coaching career. He as been on the winning side 12 times those 15 bowl games, including a 5-2 mark as a head coach at BYU.
Before joining the Big 12 dudring his tenure in independence, Sitake helped the Cougars achieve notable wins over Arkansas, Baylor, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Tennessee, USC, Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington State and Boise State, among others. He has also championed BYU’s Built4Life career development and NIL program. Built4Life is designed to support BYU student-athletes in developing critical life skills, facilitating professional development opportunities and connecting classroom learning directly to relevant employment opportunities.
Named BYU’s head coach on December 19, 2015, Sitake returned to his alma mater from Oregon State, where he served as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator in 2015 under head coach Gary Andersen. Sitake took the helm at BYU after 15 years in the college coaching profession, which included seven seasons serving as a defensive coordinator and four years as an assistant head coach.
Prior to Oregon State, Sitake spent 10 seasons at the University of Utah under head coach Kyle Whittingham, also a former Cougar. Sitake started at Utah in 2005 as the linebackers coach and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2009 before also being named assistant head coach in 2012. While at Utah, Sitake coached several Pac-12 and Mountain West Conference honorees, including Morris Trophy winners Star Lotulelei (2011) and Nate Orchard (2014).
During his career, Sitake has helped mentor 33 NFL Draft picks, including 13 Cougars since taking over the program. Last year’s draft saw left tackle Kingsley Suamataia selected by the Kansas City Chiefs. In 2023, three Cougars drafted included Blake Freeland (4th round), Jaren Hall (5th round) and Puka Nacua (5th round). Nacua earned All-Pro status while finishing as the Offensive Rookie of the Year runner-up after a record-breaking first season in the league. In 2022, RB Tyler Allgeier went to the Atlanta Falcons, where he set a Falcon’s rushing record for a rookie with a 1,000-yard season. Allgeier followed the footsteps of other recent Cougar draft picks under Sitake, such as No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson and offensive tackle Brady Christensen among five players drafted in the 2021, linebackers Sione Takitaki and Fred Warner in 2019 and 2018 and running back Jamaal Williams in 2017. Among their many accomplishments, Williams, BYU’s all-time rushing leader, also rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 2022 while leading the NFL in rushing touchdowns, while Warner again earned All-Pro honors being widely regarded as one of the top linebackers in the NFL.
Sitake began his coaching career in 2001 as the defensive backs and special teams coach at Eastern Arizona before becoming a defensive graduate assistant at BYU in 2002 under Gary Crowton. Sitake then joined the staff at Southern Utah where he coached running backs, tight ends and offensive line during the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
He began his BYU playing career in 1994 prior to serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Oakland, California. After returning and redshirting in 1997, Sitake was a three-year starter at fullback for the Cougars from 1998-2000 under Edwards. A team captain as a senior, Sitake’s last game as a player was also the last game coached by the legendary Edwards, who was a great mentor for Sitake.
Born in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, and raised in Laie, Hawai’i and Provo, Utah, Sitake is the nation’s first FBS head football coach of Tongan descent. He graduated from BYU in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in English.