BYU Football’s Search For Meaning

It was November 17, 2001. The sun glared none the brighter for a 5:00 PM kickoff at Lavell Edwards Stadium, leaving its usual shadow over the northern bleachers. The stands shook with the tension of 66,000 fans, 2,000 over capacity. BYU’s offense took the field halfway through the fourth quarter. They trailed 21-10. Yet, there was no panic in quarterback Brandon Doman’s eyes. Doak Walker hopeful Luke Staley lined up beside him, ready to show the world that BYU Football was not out of the national picture just yet. Four minutes later, Staley rumbled into the endzone from 30 yards out to put BYU ahead for good, 24-21. There was life in Provo, Utah. There was hope, and higher expectations than any season since 1984.

Circumstances soon changed. In 2001, the curtain fell. The illusion was up. Brigham Young University was no longer a player for the biggest stage of college football.

Two weeks after stunning Utah, a 12-0 BYU team began preparations for their final game. Visions of a major bowl appearance flashed in their eyes. Under the highest of stakes, and despite a season-ending injury to Staley, they had passed week 12’s road test against Mississippi State of the SEC. The Cougars were included in the argument for America’s top team. That would not last through mid-December. 

Only days before taking on the Rainbow Warriors in Hawaii, BCS officials informed Coach Crowton that BYU would not be considered for one of their esteemed bowls. At that time, the Bowl Championship Series hosted the only bowl games deemed as truly meaningful. Without the possibility of a meaningful bowl game, there was a certain hollowness to the Cougars’ perfect record. There was no longer the opportunity for a better bowl destination. Chances at the BCS payout were dashed. When a perfect record would award them no more than if they lost out, the football team was left to rely on internal motivation to close out the year. With that in mind, the Cougars were blitzed in their final two games, and finished the season 12-2.

Since BYU’s glory years in the 1980s, the program had always felt they were competing for something more. They could compete in high-stakes national matchups, and they could even play for a national championship. In 2001, the powers-that-be said they were wrong. Even a perfect record would not grant them access to the big stage. Their lofty goals were a thing of the past, and games lost some of their meaning. That lack of purpose would show in their next three seasons, each of which culminating in losing records. If they weren’t competing for national recognition, the team needed something more. Enter Bronco Mendenhall. Temporarily.

When Bronco was promoted to head coach before the 2005 season, he brought a new sense of meaning to the program. He hung banners trumpeting virtues of tradition, spirit, and honor. Firesides were held during each road trip, boosting team spirit in both fans and players. When starting play as an Independent, without an aligned conference or standings to play for, Mendenhall held up the team values as motivation. In a BYU magazine feature, Bronco elaborated that his mission was “about drawing young men to this program who want to be here, who want to represent these things with passion and who would play to a different level because they are representing these things.” Even with a lack of tangible rewards, there was always a reason for full effort. Bronco brought meaning to the program when they weren’t playing for national championships, conference championships, or even widely recognized bowl games.

Before the 2015 season concluded, Bronco Mendenhall announced that he would be leaving Brigham Young University to coach at the University of Virginia. When he left, Bronco took with him the mantras and values from over a decade of BYU football. The team would need to instill a new sense of purpose and meaning behind their play. New coach Kalani Sitake would need to build and maintain his own ideals.

On the backs of Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams, BYU finished Sitake’s inaugural season with 9 wins and momentum to spare. Then, the wheels fell off. In 2017, Cougar football endured its worst season in decades, finishing with a 4-9 record and more lopsided losses than wins. Losing games is one matter. Losing your dignity is an entirely separate one. The team struggled just to compete. While certainly not intentional, a certain amount of pride and passion was missing at Provo’s gridiron. The struggles were strikingly similar to those in 2001. It appeared that the players had lost their sense of purpose. It doesn’t end there.

Since 2017, the team all too often shows up outmatched and uninspired. Too often are those also games playing as the odds-on favorite. It’s true that the direction of BYU Football has improved. Their improved record each year supports this. Yet, several games a season present this struggle. In 2018, those games included blowout losses to Washington and Utah State, as well as lackluster efforts against California and Northern Illinois. In 2019, a promising start was derailed by losses to the struggling Toledo Rockets and Southern Florida Bulls, then topped off by a letdown against the Aztecs of San Diego State. These inconsistent showings of below-average play harken back to the Hawaii game 18 years ago, when BYU’s search for meaning appeared as a blip on the radar which grew to a full-on lockdown.

Entering another game day against the 2019 Rainbow Warriors, BYU football appears to again be lost in a vacuum of meaning. Following 2001, playing for a national championship became all but a pipe dream. Following 2010, playing for conference championships and premium bowls was also a recent memory. Bronco Mendenhall’s departure in 2015 also saw the departure of his vision for purpose and spirituality to each game. With those higher motivations expired, the program must still answer what the kids are playing for. It doesn’t need to be any one of the previous motivators, but it does need to be something. 

For Kalani Sitake, a driving motivation has been the mantra of family, and playing for their brothers on the field.  At the most recent media day, Kalani stated that “We are all about family here, and we sell that hard.” Yet, families fight. Families break up, and families don’t always achieve their goals without collective values. At present, there are few transparent goals, and little vision to unite such a large and diverse family unit. Little else other than winning. During the aforementioned media day, Fesi Sitake stated his belief that “as long as we win and score points and are entertaining to watch, we are always going to be able to get a good majority of guys who are high-profile players who want to be here, and we aren’t going to have to fight too hard to get those guys.” Unfortunately, this isn’t always true. Even with improving records each year, recruiting without a clear vision for the program remains steadily inconsistent.

Following the 2019 season, the answer to BYU’s search for meaning remains unclear. When the Cougars showed up to play road games against Toledo, South Florida, and San Diego State, they showed neither urgency nor motivation. That will likely only continue without a change, especially considering Independence-related conundrums which include one-destination postseasons, plus a carousel of opponents without notable matchup histories.

Sitake received an extension late in the season, and it was well-deserved. The positives he offers outweigh the negatives, and he has the program on an upward trajectory. Now that Sitake has his extension, and to take the next step forward, it’s time to bring consistency back to the playing field. It’s time to set transparent goals. It’s time for him and his staff to project their vision to players, recruits, and the fanbase.

It’s time for BYU Football to complete their search for meaning.

BYU Vs. Liberty: The Blunders

Last week, I wrote a glowing piece on Kalani Sitake and why he deserves an extension. Truth be told, I believe he has grown into a good coach. The BYU program will be better off to give him an extension, and to see how he handles another difficult schedule in 2020. However… the coaching staff is not above criticism. The Liberty game was a win, which is already better than similar recent results… but it was an ugly game, and there were several missteps which merit a second glance. BYU football does need to continue improving, and it’s hard to improve unless you take accountability for miscues.

Here are a few of the blunders:

1. The offense continued to lean on trick plays to move the ball. This is fine for a few games, maybe more than fine with situational awareness. A little variety keeps a good defense off balance. However, after more game tape gets out and trick plays are limited by opposing defenses, Roderick and his scheme will be listless without a fundamental offensive gameplan. BYU’s offense still needs more identity. It is difficult to rely on deception to convert important downs.

2. Crucial plays being decided on by the players. Kalani said in the post-game that his players wanted to run the fake field goal, so he consented and gave them his full faith. The ensuing handoff failed to gain yards, and Liberty was allowed optimal field position on their next drive. Based on similar calls in recent games, this appears to happen often, most notably being the late fourth-down call against Boise State. When the players have an idea which could legitimately impact the loss probability, it’s up to the head coach to make a sound judgment call. The football team has left many of these important judgment calls to college students. It’s up to Kalani to turn these into teaching moments and advise on the fundamentals.

3. The defensive gameplan had little specialization based on the opponent. Recent game film should have suggested to shut down Liberty’s best receiver. Their offense will struggle if you limit his opportunities, and ensure he isn’t the one beating you. Yet, the Cougar defense was repeatedly abused by Antonio Gandy-Golden, and there was little adjustment throughout the game. The defense also had some success with bringing pressure and getting to the quarterback early on. BYU’s defensive front and linebackers proved they could bully through Liberty’s line… and then rarely attempted a blitz after halftime. This game script was very different than we saw the last few weeks, when pressure was consistently applied until it was no longer effective. It appears that the team lacked the same preparation evident in the past two matchups. If this trend shows up again in the closing stretch, it may be time for the Cougars to self-reflect on their habits.

4. The overall tenacity was lacking, if not altogether missing. Players, and play-callers, lacked the same ferocious execution with their backs farther from the wall. Inability to execute when playing as the favorite, and especially while playing at home, is a consistent criticism from Kalani’s skeptics. This criticism has a little more credence after Saturday night. It’s a chief reason for why this BYU team suffered home losses to NIU and UMass in recent years. Without high stakes or pressure, the team under Sitake has often played uninspired football. If BYU football aspires to greatness, this needs to be addressed before the start of next season.

5. There was little accountability from coaches regarding the miscues. Asked post-game about the areas which went wrong, Kalani defended each questionable decision and game call to the media. Game management continues to be an issue. It doesn’t appear that Coach Sitake has learned from similar mistakes, as head-scratching game decisions continue to occur in year 4 as head coach. Furthermore, while others around the program have admitted to these occasional head-scratchers, Kalani Sitake does not seem to believe that he has made any poor calls. Future seasons will need to see stronger game management. There will be less room for error in 2020 when half the games are against power conference opponents, most of those on the road. 

I’ve been among the strongest proponents of Kalani and getting him a new contract. I want to see him succeed, and I will continue to support him as head coach. I believe that he has done great things for the BYU football program. At the same time, I will continue to pine for improvement when appropriate, of him and the others on staff. Kalani Sitake’s staff has the potential and opportunity to make a strong imprint on the future of BYU football. If they continue to build and grow from the mistakes against Liberty, the impending Winter will see a bright offseason in Provo.

The Worth of Kalani Sitake

On January 29, 2019, members of the local Utah sports media met around a square table in a small Marriott Center conference room. Several media members sat on each of three sides, laptops and phones in hand. The fourth side was occupied solely by the Brigham Young University athletic director, Tom Holmoe. He wore a grey sweatshirt, neatly groomed hair, and a calm demeanor.

The purpose of that meeting was to discuss the most pressing questions for the coming year. Tom understood: what he said during this meeting would evolve into talking points for the coming months. He knew to choose his words carefully. With this in mind, his words regarding head football coach Kalani Sitake’s future were telling. Said Holmoe, “This isn’t his last year, and we’ve rarely gone into the last year of a contract.” He soon added, “There are certain areas where we still need to continue to show growth and development.”

There were a number of other items discussed during that meeting. It was the contract status for Sitake, however, which made the local headlines. It then became apparent that the coming year would be about Kalani Sitake’s value. The 2019 football season would be Kalani’s year to prove his worth.

The preseason months of Kalani’s quest for a contract played out very well. He displayed his penchant for recruiting, perhaps the most lauded portion of his BYU resume, by bringing in two high impact graduate transfers: Running backs Emmanuel Esupka and Ty’son Williams. These backs each transferred from regions east of the Rockies, not typically considered BYU recruiting hotbeds. Yet, Kalani and his staff made multiple trips to the region to court and sign these players. Those were a couple of big wins for the program, and displayed Kalani’s worth as a recruiter may be a strong selling point.

Coach Sitake continued to win the offseason with his vision for the program. As he did during the hiring process, Kalani demonstrated an acumen for what fans deemed important. He played up the significance of winning the rivalry game, encouraging a “beat Utah” chant at the end of each practice. In a return to the glory days of Lavell, he brought back royal blue as the full-time school color. Kalani even appealed to the social justice crowd, speaking out about domestic violence at the Provo library in early June. Sitake brought back old traditions, embraced new culture, and was nearly worth his weight purely as a visionary.

Then, the games started. Unfortunately, the ability to consistently win games has been Kalani’s greatest struggle. The Cougars lose nearly as often as they win during Sitake’s tenure, which has rarely been the case for BYU football. The bleeding in that vein continued against Utah. After focusing on Utah for an entire offseason, the Cougars handed over the game in the form of turnovers and a new Tyler Huntley catchphrase.

The loss to Utah would not be overly upsetting as a single game taken in a vacuum. They are among the best of the PAC-12, and were a game away from the Rose Bowl in 2018. That loss, however, highlighted another significant criticism of Kalani the Head Coach: his teams have shown little ability to win against primary and geographic rivals. BYU is 3-9 in such games since 2016. Prior to 2019 Homecoming, the Cougars had not beaten any local rivals since 2016. Kalani had not yet finished a season with a winning record in such games. Considering that BYU has a better winning percentage against each of the SEC and Big 10 than against their rivals, the results have been uncanny and perplexing. When you consistently show as the third best team in your region, fans and recruits alike may begin to throw support behind another program. With recruiting and fan support as the lifeblood of college athletics, it is difficult to argue a coach has worth when losing those two strongholds.

Much of Kalani Sitake’s worth this season depended on his ability to beat BYU’s three closest rivals in Salt Lake, Logan, and Boise. After the aforementioned troubles in Salt Lake, against what may be the most talented Utah team in history, Kalani finally showed he can deliver in this area. BYU won in impressive fashion against both the Broncos and Aggies, taking downfield shots, running trick plays, and throwing in some creatively drawn-up blitzes for good measure. They did this with a 3rd-string quarterback and runningback for most of the two games, after three straight embarrassing losses. The Cougars were once again not expected to win any of their rivalry games this year, yet bounced back and won two of the three. Not only did they show they could beat their rivals, but the 2019 Cougars proved they could handle adversity to bounce back from a losing record, something which sunk the 2017 team.

Kalani no longer can be criticized for losing records against rivals every year. He helped the team come together and win those games in 2019, and there’s something to be said for that. Most coaches that ultimately lose their jobs also lose the players and coaches in the locker room, before losing their keys to said room. Any sense of unity is typically non-existent. That has not happened to Kalani. The players strongly support and stand by him. The coaches speak out their support for his leadership. By all accounts, adversity and loss granted Kalani an opportunity to unify and coach a down-trodden group, another test which he passed. Player support and strong backing from his staff is critically important for a long-term head coach at any institution. With such strong support from many areas within the program, Kalani Sitake has the backing to lead a healthy program.

Kalani Sitake has shown this year that he can win against his rivals. He can win big games against P5 teams. He can rally and inspire his team to hard-fought victories in the face of adversity, and he can win despite injuries and a top strength of schedule. Two chief criticisms, that he struggles to focus his teams and struggles to beat his rivals, have significantly less merit at this point after an aggressive re-tooling followed by back-to-back rivalry wins. In the quest to prove his worth, Sitaki is currently passing in most respects.

Kalani’s last test is whether he can consistently win against the back half of the schedule, facing teams which should result in dominant BYU victories. This has been a struggle for the past couple of years, low-lighted by home losses to UMASS and Northern Illinois. Kalani now has a stretch of three games in which he can put that last roadblock to rest. Should he win as a heavy favorite against Liberty, Idaho State, and UMASS, Kalani will have improved his regular season record for two years in a row, and passed nearly every conceivable test during this contract year. If he wins the next three as expected, and with recruiting season picking up as December approaches, Kalani should ride into Southern California at November’s end with a contract in hand, and the California recruits lined up to see their future coach at SDCCU Stadium.

Seven months after Tom Holmoe’s January press conference, just before the start of fall camp, Head Coach Kalani Sitake expressed his sentiment for BYU to the media in stating, “With my experiences being here, I’ve loved every second of this job. I feel bad that I love it so much.” With the season winding to a close, and BYU staring at another improved season, Kalani may have bought himself many more of those seconds to love.

Quarterback Injuries Have Decimated BYU Football

For yet another year, the best quarterback at Brigham Young University will lose multiple games to injury. For yet another year, the ceiling of this proud program will remain unknown, and the greatest extension this season may be just one phrase: “What if?”

In their most recent game, BYU had an opportunity to turn the corner, and to escape their opening five-game gauntlet with a winning record. Instead, the Cougars slinked out of Ohio with a losing record, and more significant injuries than wins. The most crucial of these injuries was to their heralded quarterback, Zach Wilson. He will miss at least 6-8 weeks, or most of the remaining schedule. The story of this season will now center around the latest injury at quarterback.

The quarterback injury is not just the story of the week for BYU football. The quarterback injury is the story of the past decade. It is a crucial reason for why the program has stagnated since departing the Mountain West conference. Quarterback injuries have crippled the football team.

BYU has typically needed exceptional quarterback play in order to succeed at the highest level. As a private religious university, the school does not often land the high-caliber athletes needed to thrive with an electric ground game, or to out-muscle opponents with show-stopper defense. At some point, the depth in those units erodes and the team slows down. What they can recruit are intelligent receivers to run precise, accurate routes; they can recruit big men on the offensive line to protect the signal-caller; they can also recruit intuitive quarterbacks which win by dissecting defenses and making correct reads. These recruiting strengths require a very good quarterback to maximize the players they can ably recruit, and require that player to stay healthy. BYU’s struggles have centered around the failure to meet this healthy QB requirement.

From 2006-2009, Brigham Young University had a strong claim as the most consistently successful football program outside of the BCS conferences. They were a top 25 team with double-digit wins to close each season, and had multiple marquee wins over strong teams such as TCU, Utah, UCLA, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona, and Oklahoma. The double-digit wins were secured before the bowl game each of those four years. The same quarterback also started at least 12 games each of those years, and only two starting quarterbacks were featured in the span of four successful seasons. Since 2009, BYU has never again secured 10 wins before postseason play, and only finished two seasons where one quarterback started 12 games before bowl season. In seven of those years, multiple quarterbacks started multiple games. None played anything close to two full seasons in a row. It feels as if the only instances more consistent than a BYU quarterback carousel are death and taxes. Cougar fans are often unsure which they’d prefer.

For further detail, the past decade has included 10 different starting quarterbacks in Provo. Those stints included 19 quarterback changes, including in-game switches. Of those 19 instances, 12 were due to injury. Of those 12 injuries, 8 were season ending. To recap, that’s 19 QB changes, 10 different starting quarterbacks, 12 injuries, and 8 season-enders… all in the span of just 10 years. The cadence of that statement reads like a popular Christmas carol.

Most football aficionados would have difficulty naming any other program to cycle through as many quarterback issues in one decade. Even fewer could name such a program to have any degree of success. For their part, BYU has managed to stay afloat despite the stated obstacles behind center. Bronco Mendenhall still won 7-10 games each season and never suffered through a losing season, despite 5 season-ending quarterback injuries in 6 years. Kalani Sitake has not had the same luck, with fewer wins and BYU’s worst season in decades, but 3 season-enders in just over three seasons (and a fourth this year which should manage to avoid the “season-ender” tag). Bronco never coached a losing team, but also never endured a season with four separate quarterback injuries like Kalani’s 2017. This is not to excuse either coach for their shortcomings, but certainly does provide much-needed context for blame distribution.

Each of the past two coaches have shared credit among fans for the downturn of BYU football (as well as the program’s Independent status sharing some blame). It may well be debated that the current staff must shoulder more blame for their inconsistencies, but there should not be debate whether each coach has been dealt a very difficult hand in a high-stakes game. The program has clearly taken a noticeable downturn since averaging double-digit wins for multiple years before 2010. It has also sustained disastrous setbacks to the quarterback position. While many signal-callers are allowed a sophomore slump, Brigham Young’s quarterbacks can scarcely make it so far before injuries force their development out a year. Sophomore slumps marred by injury turn into junior jitters and senior stinks. While athleticism wears down over long seasons, the depth chart slowly depletes. BYU’s historic advantage at quarterback has turned into a hindrance as the team continues turning the keys over to new and older faces at the position. While strong QB play has often been the winning recipe in Provo, BYU trudges along without the most vital ingredient.

It is imperative that the Cougars maintain a healthy quarterback in order to have sustained success. They have had little recent success after a mid-season quarterback injury, and conversely have shown to be a very good team with health and consistency at the position… two items which have been rare over the past decade. There will be time over the coming weeks for discussion on how to maintain health behind center. For now, as complaints mount regarding program stagnation and coaching regression, the recent injuries at quarterback must be a strong footnote in the discussion. If not the main title.