BYU's athletic restructure gives merit to apparent rift between Sitake and Santiago

BYU's athletic department is going through a major restructuring, with the football program -- BYU's biggest revenue-raker -- splitting off from the rest of the university's sports. Instead of reporting directly to current athletic director Brian Santiago, head coach Kalani Sitake will instead be overseen by University VP Keith Vorkink.

In other words, Kalani Sitake's rumored gripes with Santiago have been given creedence; football is no longer Santiago's responsibility.

With every following report, more kindling is tossed onto the wildfire. Not to venture too far into "Consipracy Republic" range, but the trail of breadcrumbs leads us to confirmation that Kalani Sitake's comments about the AD's failure to support the program won't simply go away.

"We can do way more," Sitake shared in an interview earlier this month. "These are very simple demands. [Resources] that our opponents have in the conference -- and not even [just] Texas Tech, the others. If we can get an even playing field with that stuff, I should be able to do more."

"We're not going to be the highest bidder, but I'd like to have access to stuff like that. And that's a reminder to the administration: You can count on us to get the right program in place."

"Let's not make the same mistakes that we've made in the past."

Sitake nearly left BYU football -- his dream coaching spot -- right at the culmination of his efforts in 2025. The team had just concluded an 11-1 regular season in a power four conference, and stared down a rematch with Texas Tech and a chance at the league throne. The fruit of his labor was finally within reach.

But when Penn State came calling with the promise that he wouldn't have to do more with less -- an unfortunate historical drawback at BYU -- Sitake came very close to saying goodbye to his alma mater and the program he had carefully built into a Big 12 power over the past decade.

BYU rallied. Sitake agreed to a new contract. Sunlight splashed yet again upon the campus of Brigham Young University.

But the AD has failed to keep their end of the bargain, and now it seems that the "Sitake goes or Santiago goes" dichotomy is much more than just speculation -- Brett McMurphy's source at BYU confirmed it.

This is no minor change, and turmoil in the athletic department couldn't have come at a worse moment for a BYU program banking on continuity and culture in their pursuit of the Big 12 Championship. It's far from a guarantee that the Cougars will fall short in 2026, but this is unneeded drama for a program only a week away from its most highly-anticipated season in decades.

Perhaps this agreement works out incredibly well for both sides of this tug-of-war. Sitake has been incredibly patient and understanding when it comes to the issue of funding a successful college football team, but he let out some steam when he voiced his frustrations about the AD's support deficiency. Something has finally given way.

We can hope this off-field struggle won't have ripple effects in BYU's on-field product this season -- and if handled in a tidy manner, I don't see why it has to -- but drama has arisen right at the beginning of the season. Let's hope BYU can clean up any debris before kickoff in September.

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