Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images
Jul 7, 2026; Frisco, TX, USA; BYU head coach Kalani Sitake speaks with reporters during Big 12 Conference Football Media Days at The Star.
The BYU athletic department announced a restructuring on Thursday that suggests that football coach Kalani Sitake may well regret not leaving the Cougars for Penn State when he had the chance.
Sitake emerged as a surprise candidate to replace James Franklin as the Nittany Lions’ head coach in December and was reportedly close to a deal with the school before a late change of heart.
At the time, Sitake cited an increased commitment by the university to the football program as part of the reason he decided to stay. But recent comments suggest that said commitment never actually came to fruition.
“We’ve been given the challenge of doing the most with the least,” Sitake said earlier this month. “So, you lean heavy on culture to win, but I think there’s a way you can actually increase your chances on both. You can get deep culture and be really strong as a football team, and there’s an opportunity that you can get some players that you normally wouldn’t have access to.”
Those comments led to rumors of a longtime rift between Sitake and BYU athletic director Brian Santiago, who was accused by some of favoring the Cougars’ men’s basketball program over their football team.
Thursday’s announcement only added fuel to the fire of those rumors.
Kalani Sitake No Longer Answers To BYU AD Brian Santiago
Desert News reports that Sitake will no longer report directly to Santiago as part of a restructuring of the school’s athletic department. Instead, he will report to university Vice President Keith Vorkink.
“BYU Athletics shares a common focus on helping our student-athletes succeed not just on the field, but also in the classroom and, most importantly, in their Christian discipleship,” Vorkink said in a statement.
Vorkink is also Santiago’s direct supervisor.
“Given today’s dynamic athletics landscape,” Vorkink added, “we feel it’s important to be providing more administrative support, not less. We’ve made recent hires with that in mind, and we’re also organizing in ways that we believe will support BYU’s world-class programs.”
The move doesn’t entirely confirm the tension between Sitake and Santiago, but it certainly suggests that, at very least, the two weren’t working together harmoniously.
Which begs the question: does Sitake regret not getting on the plane to State College when he had the chance? Only time will tell. But it’s clear that life in Provo hasn’t been exactly what he expected since signing a contract extension in December.