Kalani Sitake

Kelaokalani Fifita "Kalani" Sitake (born October 10, 1975) is a Tongan–American football coach and former player.

Sitake began his BYU playing career in 1994 prior to serving a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to Oakland, California.

After returning and redshirting in 1997, Sitake was a three-year starter at fullback for the Cougars from 1998 to 2000 under hall of fame BYU head coach LaVell Edwards.

He was named BYU's Football Scholar Athlete of the Year in 1998, helped the Cougars to the first Mountain West Conference championship in 1999, and earned BYU's Impact Player of the Year in 1999.

Sitake played college football as a fullback at BYU under coach LaVell Edwards, and graduated in 2000.

Prior to becoming head coach at BYU, Sitake was the defensive coordinator and associate head coach at the University of Utah, and the defensive coordinator and associate head coach at Oregon State University.

Sitake was born in Tonga.

His family emigrated to the United States when he was a child, living in Laie, Hawaii.

He went to high school in Kirkwood, Missouri.

In 2000, Sitake was named team captain and BYU's most valuable running back.

He completed his career amassing 373 yards rushing on 86 carries (4.3 yards per carry), and 536 yards receiving on 62 receptions for one touchdown.

Sitake also earned a B.A. degree in English from BYU in 2001.

Following his collegiate career, Sitake signed a free agent contract with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2001.

His career ended due to a back injury.

Sitake got his start as an assistant coach during the 2001 season when he worked as the defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator at Eastern Arizona College.

In 2002, he returned to his alma mater, BYU, as a graduate assistant for the defense.

From 2003 to 2004, he worked at Southern Utah University.

During the 2003 season, he was the running backs and tight ends coach; he coached the offensive line and tight ends during the 2004 season.

Sitake's tenure at the University of Utah started in 2005, where he coached the linebackers, until being promoted to defensive coordinator on December 7, 2008.

His formal duties began on January 3, 2009.

Sitake became the first native Tongan named as a defensive coordinator at an NCAA FBS school, following the resignation of the previous defensive coordinator, Gary Andersen.

Sitake eventually finished his first season 9–4, leading BYU to a 12th consecutive bowl game.

The four losses were by a combined eight points.

On December 23, 2014, Oregon State University announced Sitake's hiring as the team's new defensive coordinator and Assistant Head Coach.

This reunited Sitake with Oregon State's head coach, Andersen, whom Sitake had previously worked with at Utah.

He has been the head football coach at Brigham Young University (BYU) since December 2015, and is the first Tongan to become a collegiate football head coach.

On December 19, 2015, after Bronco Mendenhall left BYU to coach the Virginia Cavaliers, BYU named Sitake as the team's new head coach.

On September 3, 2016, Sitake's head coaching career began with BYU facing Arizona in the Cactus Kickoff in University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ.

The Cougars won, 18–16.

BYU then lost three games in a row to a 1–3 start.

They then won four games in a row, including a road victory at Michigan State and a homecoming win against Mississippi State.

Expectations were high for BYU heading into the 2017 season, despite the loss of many graduating seniors, including starting quarterback Taysom Hill and explosive running back Jamaal Williams.

The loss of production proved to be detrimental, as the Cougars had their worst season in over 50 years, starting 1–7 before slogging to a 4–9 finish.

After the season, Sitake fired offensive coordinator Ty Detmer due to the offense not delivering satisfactory production.

He hired Jeff Grimes to replace Detmer.

The 2018 season was a slight improvement over the previous year.

It was defined by inconsistent success, with the highlight of the year being a massive upset victory over No. 6-ranked Wisconsin.

However, the team continued to struggle, with an especially tough loss to Northern Illinois at home and blowing a 20-point lead at archrival Utah.

Despite the lack of consistency for much of the season, a few silver linings were present.

Sitake benched starting quarterback Tanner Mangum in favor of true freshman Zach Wilson.