Earlier this week, it appeared that Kalani Sitake might be the next coach at Penn State. Instead, he opted to remain at his alma mater BYU, as it prepares to face Texas Tech for the Big 12 championship. If the Cougars win Saturday’s game at AT&T Stadium, they will punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff.
“If I’m being honest, I just wanted to be here a long [time],” Sitake said after announcing his extension at BYU, his alma mater. "... It’s hard to leave when you have something so special and you have amazing people that support us.”
The decision came after an outpouring of support from the BYU community, which Sitake’s wife referred to as a “love bomb.” The monied parties around the Cougars program evidently mobilized as well, with Crumbl Cookies CEO Jason McGowan tweeting Monday that it was “time for me to get off the sidelines and get to work” as the Sitake/Penn State situation was unfolding.
Now we have an idea of what the finances behind Sitake’s decision looked like. In a Thursday story on the recruiting battle between BYU and Penn State, Richard Johnson of CBS Sports reported that the contract offer from Penn State that the veteran coach rebuffed was “north of $10 million per year,” more than double Sitake’s pre-extension estimated BYU salary of around $4 million per year.
“Sitake's extension at BYU is set to make him the highest paid coach in the Big 12 besides Colorado's Deion Sanders, who makes $10.8 million on average,” Johnson reports.
Pete Nakos of On3 reported Tuesday that Sitake is expected to take home between $9 million and $9.5 million per year from BYU, with an additional $10–$15 million in NIL payments committed to the football program on top of the school’s slice of program revenue sharing. Schools are currently allowed to distribute up to $20.5 million to athletes across all spots for the academic year, though NIL outside NIL payments on top of that total are permitted.
Kalani Sitake’s coaching background and record at BYU
Sitake, a native of Tonga, played fullback at BYU in 1994 and, after an LDS mission, from ‘97 to 2000 under legendary Cougars coach LaVell Edwards. After a brief NFL stint, he entered coaching in ‘01, handling defensive backs at Eastern Arizona. He returned the next year to BYU as a graduate assistant.
After stints on staff at Southern Utah, Utah and Oregon State, Sitake returned to his alma mater in 2016 as head coach. In a decade leading the Cougars, he is 83–44 with a 17–10 conference record since the program joined the Big 12 in 2023. The program is 22–3 (15–3) over the last two seasons, giving him his third and fourth 10-win seasons.
More College Football on Sports Illustrated
Listen to SI’s new college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Much Kalani Sitake Turned Down From Penn State to Stay at BYU.
