Patrick Kinahan: 'Champions culture' aside, Sitake deserves more time at BYU

SALT LAKE CITY — Building a “champions culture,” as his boss labels it, is debatable, but Kalani Sitake without a doubt has done enough to earn more time as the BYU football coach.

In an email exchange with Jeff Call of the Deseret News, athletic director Tom Holmoe commended Sitake for moving toward rebuilding the program during the third year of his tenure. Coming off a horrendous 4-9 season in 2017, the Cougars are 6-6 heading into this week’s bowl game against 7-5 Western Michigan.

“Kalani understands there is more to success than just talent and took on the challenge of establishing a stronger culture for the program,” Holmoe told the Deseret News in an email. “He’s made good progress on building a champions culture in Year 3, and I feel confident success on the field will follow.”

Holmoe was smart with his somewhat awkward phrasing of "champions culture," if for no other reason than he cannot say “championship” with any degree of credibility. As an independent, BYU’s only shot at a championship would come in the form of winning the national college football playoff. Realistically, BYU is among the overwhelming majority of college programs that have no legitimate shot at winning the title.

In the current situation of facing a top-heavy schedule every first month, the reasonable goal for BYU is to remain competitive and relatively relevant throughout the entire season. Along the way, the Cougars need to beat at least two Power 5 teams every year and then clean up on the rest of the competition.

They did not quite get there this season, beating Arizona and Wisconsin on the road but then suffering disappointing home losses to Utah State and Northern Illinois. BYU also was not competitive in a blowout loss to Washington.

But comparatively, the program made progress – certainly enough for Sitake and his complete staff of assistant coaches to remain employed. BYU rallied from a total embarrassment two years ago to at least a degree of respectability, especially considering the promise freshman quarterback Zach Wilson showed toward the end of the season.

For several reasons, both internal and external, the years of BYU storming through the season on the way toward double-digit win totals are long gone. Probably much to the dismay of longtime BYU supporters, the top end for a season record now is the 8-4 range.

During the glory decades, BYU could clean up on top LDS talent and there was not the huge financial disparity that now separates college football’s elite from most other programs. Sitake and his assistants now face the difficult task of recruiting for LDS players against all the Pac-12 programs, including bitter rival Utah.

Internally, tougher academic standards have made it much harder to land qualified talent. There is also the Honor Code issue and the perceived increased amount of scrutiny BYU athletes are now under.

Holmoe’s statement of Sitake taking “on the challenge of establishing a stronger culture for the program” refers to a lack of discipline in the program last season. Suspensions and other issues, in addition to the awful performance on the field, drew the ire of school administrators.

To that end, Sitake in no uncertain terms put the players on notice shortly after the season ended. Along with it, he also overhauled almost the entire coaching staff on offense.

The no-nonsense approach made a difference and led to more productivity. Naturally friendly and outgoing, Sitake had no problem showing a harder side when necessary.

“Just piss me off and see what happens,” Sitake said in an interview with me on The Zone Sports Network before this season. “I’m easy going, but stuff pisses me off, too,” he said. “If something doesn’t go well, I’m going to get mad. I’m a normal guy.”

And one who belongs as the BYU coach.

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