Kalani Sitake may be one of UCLA's top targets to take control of the Bruins' bafflingly horrible football program, according to a recent ESPN article.
The Bruins are 0-3 with losses to Utah, UNLV, and New Mexico. With two non-conference losses, UCLA has already clinched last place in the Mountain West Conference. No matter how low expectations were for one of the newest Big 10 members, there was no way to prepare for such an underprepared football team coming out of Los Angeles.
UCLA has been in tatters for years now, with an 8-5 season turning to a 5-7 2024 campaign. This stumble is a free fall, and now with head coach DeShawn Foster officially out the door, the floor has officially caved in. The Rose Bowl is empty for home games. Funding and support for UCLA football is comparable to that of their Californian neighbors, Stanford, another program that has fallen from grace and fallen hard.
They say that when you hit rock bottom, there's no way to go but up. But that doesn't mean they have to leave rock bottom anytime soon. In fact, they may even install a basement. Why not?
BYU, on the other hand, could not have a more drastically different trajectory. A packed stadium every week, a top-10 winning percentage since 2020, a competent and proven coaching staff, and an athletic department so stuffed full of NIL support that some question the very morality of the university's deep pockets. It's a head coach's dream.
Sitake, a member of BYU's sponsor religious organization, was a natural fit at head coach when he first took over nearly a decade ago. It feels unlikely he would leave BYU on his own accord for the foreseeable future; it's borderline insanity to suggest he'd abandon ship for the wreckage at UCLA.
Fortunately, ESPN's reasoning for connecting Sitake to Westwood is vague at best, and entirely unrelated at worst.
"He's fairly established at his alma mater and would need some assurances -- beyond the Big Ten membership -- to leave a good situation in Provo. But Sitake also is in his 10th year at BYU and might want to restart his clock. The 49-year-old has spent most of his career at Utah but also worked at Oregon State and knows the West Coast and California recruiting scene. Sitake is 74-43 as an FBS coach and would bring an identity of physicality and toughness to Westwood."
The baseless suggestion that he may need a change of scenery? The fact that he's coached on the West Coast before? The need to "restart his clock" despite his efforts at BYU, culminating in one of the strongest cultures of success in the Western half of the country? Don't worry, Cougar fans, Sitake would not entertain such an unsavory offer at this point in his career.