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.