BYU, Kalani Sitake Agree to Extension After Coach Drew Interest from Penn State

Kalani Sitake will remain BYU’s head football coach after agreeing to a new long-term contract extension on Monday.

Sitake is 83-44 since taking over at BYU in 2016. The Cougars have won 11 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2006 and '07, and have won at least 10 games in four of his last six seasons at the helm.

"For me, it’s like I’ve never really thought about leaving ever but I’m also competitive and I want to be able to take care of people," Sitake said. "This is just one of those moments where I felt like us being in the Big 12, we can make the right moves and I don’t really need to do this anywhere else. I can do it here. I feel like we’ve got some great momentum."

Penn State made Sitake a top candidate in its search to replace James Franklin, who was fired earlier this season after a 0-3 start in Big Ten play. Sitake had conversations with Nittany Lions athletic director Pat Kraft and received an offer reportedly worth eight figures annually.

BYU made retaining Sitake a top priority and put together a contract extension that swayed him to stay at the school where he played as a fullback under LaVell Edwards in 1994 and from 1997 to 2000 following a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As part of retaining Sitake, BYU made commitments to deeper investments in the football program that included everything from higher salaries for assistant coaches and support staff to enhanced football facilities.

"I think the expectations are already set by Kalani and his vision and passion for excellence," BYU athletic director Brian Santiago said. "He’s built something really really special and we wanted to give him the resources to be able to sustain it."

This new contract