Kalani Sitake Stays at BYU, Rejects Penn State Offer

As reported by Sports Illustrated’s Bryan Fischer, the 50-year-old head coach is set to remain at BYU despite heavy interest from Penn State over the past few days, which even pulled the CEO of Crumbl Cookies into the fray. Just hours after reports emerged about his decision, the program announced that it has reached an extension with Sitake.

A GREAT day to be a Coug. pic.twitter.com/tjEH50UNsx

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) December 2, 2025

ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report Sitake’s expected decision.

Sitake is in his 10th season at BYU and is in the middle of his best campaign. The Cougars are 11–1 and 8–1 in the Big 12. They are set to appear in their first-ever Big 12 championship game on Saturday and will face Texas Tech, the only team to defeat them this season.

It had to be an emotional decision for Sitake. The prestige and power of Penn State were battling against his alma mater. He played fullback at BYU in 1994, then from ‘97 to 2000 under legendary head coach LaVell Edwards. Ultimately, the Cougars were able to sway Sitake with a new contract.

Penn State will now have to turn to other options. The school fired James Franklin on October 12 and has had a long and winding coaching search. The Nittany Lions have watched as Florida, LSU, Auburn, Michigan State, Arkansas and others have hired new coaches, and their top job remains unfilled.

Sitake began his assistant coaching career in 2001 as a defensive backs coach at Eastern Arizona, then moved to BYU as a graduate assistant in ’02. He spent two years at Southern Utah in various offensive roles before landing at Utah as the team’s linebackers coach in ‘05. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in ’09, then added the assistant head coach title in 2012. In total, he spent 10 years at Utah.

In 2015, he moved to Oregon State as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. He wasn’t there long.

After years as a collegiate assistant coach, Sitake was hired as BYU’s head coach on December 19, 2015. He replaced Bronco Mendenhall, who left Provo to become the head coach at Virginia.

In his first season, Sitake led the Cougars to a 9–4 record, but success wasn’t consistent early. BYU went 4–9 in 2017, then 7–6 in 2018 and ‘19. During the 2020 COVID season, the Cougars figured some things out. Led by Zach Wilson, they went 11–1, won the Boca Raton Bowl and finished ranked No. 11.

BYU followed up its 2020 season with a 10–3 campaign in 2021 and finished in the Top 25. Things fell off after that as the Cougars went 8–5 in ‘22, then 5–7 in ’23, their first season in the Big 12 after giving up their spot as an independent.

Sitake was able to right the ship in 2024. BYU went 11–2, won the Alamo Bowl, and finished in the top 15. This season, he has them 11–1, ranked No. 11 and in the Big 12 title game.

Overall, Sitake has an 83–44 record at BYU in his 10 seasons and is 17–10 in the Big 12. But over the past two seasons, the Cougars have gone 22–3 overall and 15-3 in conference.

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