Sports

Penn State Looks Set To Hire BYU Coach Kalani Sitake And Nittany Lions Fans Are Baffled

#College Football
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Kalani Sitake BYU

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As more and more college football programs fill their head coaching vacancies, the first big program to open up their head coaching role remains empty: Penn State.

But as options go off the board left and right, the Nittany Lions appear to be narrowing on one name to lead their team moving forward. That name seems to be BYU head coach Kalani Sitake, and Nittany Lions fans are absolutely baffled.

Sitake, who is 83-44 in his 10 seasons in Provo and 22-3 over the last two years, is set to coach the Cougars in Saturday’s Big 12 championship game. But his name has emerged as Penn State’s top candidate according to several reports, and the Big 12 title game is supposedly the reason the Nittany Lions have not yet made an announcement.

Penn State Fans Don’t Want Kalani Sitake

Several big names were thrown out early in Penn State’s coaching search. But many, including Mike Elko and Curt Cignetti, signed large contract extensions with their current programs, while others, such as Brian Hartline and Brent Key, seem to have fallen off the radar.

There was also talk that the Nittany Lions were interested in Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer. However, those links were dependent upon the Crimson Tide losing the Iron Bowl to Auburn and DeBoer and Alabama parting ways.

Which leads us to Sitake.

As stated above, Sitake is 23-3 over his past two seasons. BYU is 11-1 this season and could well make the College Football Playoff. While the Big 12 isn’t exactly a juggernaut, it’s clear that Sitake is, at very least, an above-average college football coach.

The problem, however, comes down to fit.

Sitake, 50, has never coached east of Utah, and has spent all but two of his 25 seasons as a coach in the state of Utah. His entire staff, as dictated by BYU, is filled with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and all have similar geographic ties.

Sitake’s current recruiting class ranked No. 21 on 247Sports. But similarly, many of the recruits are members of the LDS church and, thus, are connected directly to BYU.

Penn State fans, understandably, have serious questions as to how Sitake will recruit the talent necessary to succeed in the Big Ten despite having no ties to the Northeast, or even recruiting-rich states such as Florida, Texas, or California.

Maybe Sitake stays at BYU. Maybe he goes to Penn State, and it works out despite the fit concerns. But for the time being, it seems like a completely bizarre hire and one that will be questioned if and until he wins games.