BYU football: Kalani Sitake again proving you can recruit in Provo

Kalani Sitake is changing the culture

On the flipside of this, look at Sitake. When talking about recruiting and transfers in college football, Sitake told Utah Valley 360 (emphasis added):

“If a kid doesn’t want to be part of your program, then let him go somewhere so he can have a great experience and do well, and then you can bring someone else in who wants to be part of that team.”

The difference is stark. Sitake cares about the kids. That much is abundantly clear. I had the opportunity to cover Sitake and the Cougars directly for more than a year – from the moment he was hired until April of this year.

Every time you spoke with him about recruiting, he always brought it back to a relationship with the player as a human being. And that wasn’t some kind of ploy. It wasn’t a trick he was using, knowing media members would run a story about his character.

That’s just who he is.

And that mentality is the reason special things are coming to Provo.

The BYU football coaching staff isn’t afraid to recruit. To put themselves and the program out there. They aren’t afraid to devote time and effort into recruiting a player that might say no. In fact, they want to do those things. They’re all about spending time and effort getting to know a kid, because even if that player doesn’t go to BYU, they feel like they can help him as a person.

There’s no tearing a player down (like Mendenhall did with Te’o) when they say no, instead they wish them luck – and mean it.

Imagine being a 17-year old kid. Sitting in your living room, talking with a coach, knowing that if you decline his offer, he’ll skewer you in front of the media. Imagine thinking that you’ll get thrown under the bus to protect a university.

That’s not something anyone wants to deal with.