There are hot seats at BYU, but not where Kalani Sitake sits

Quarterbacks coach Aaron Roderick watches the action as the BYU Cougars football team practice in Provo on Friday, March 17, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

It’s hot at BYU and it’s not just the seasonal heat, but the lingering heat from last season that has conditions uncomfortable.

Five straight losses to end 2023 doesn’t sit well with anyone in Provo, especially with head football coach Kalani Sitake. The skid triggered staff changes, roster moves and strategic revisions to get bigger, stronger and faster ahead of BYU’s second year in the Big 12.

The anticipated new and improved product will be on the practice field in less than two weeks with the season opener Aug. 31 against Southern Illinois. Judgements on the quality and quantity of the improvements will come quickly from an international fan base that didn’t like watching BYU’s second losing season since 2004.

Adding four more conference teams, including rival Utah, and a preseason poll that ranks the Cougars 13th out of 16 teams and the Utes No. 1, only spikes the temperatures further. Some preseason publications suggest Sitake is on the hot seat, meaning BYU will need a good season for college football’s first Tongan head coach to keep his job.

The hot seat

There are certainly some hot seats at BYU, but not where Sitake sits — not yet. A coach in trouble is a coach who refuses to change when things go wrong. BYU is a combined 13-12 over the last two seasons. The results have triggered movement up and down Sitake’s staff.

Since the end of the 2022 season, Sitake has added new faces to oversee the defense, safeties, linebackers, defensive tackles, rush ends, offensive line, tight ends, running game, special teams, and strength and conditioning.

The area Sitake hasn’t touched is the the offensive play calling and that is where the seats…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/hot-seats-byu-not-where-201713277.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-07-18 20:17:13

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.