Cougs Daily

Kalani Sitake's Seat Isn't as Hot as Some Might Think

Kalani Sitake is a candidate to be one of the first coaches fired according to one sportsbook

Casey Lundquist

Jul 10, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; BYU Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Days at Allegiant Stadium.
Jul 10, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; BYU Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Days at Allegiant Stadium. / Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
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College football is just around the corner. BYU is coming off a challenging 2023 campaign that ended in a five-game losing streak to finish 5-7. Losing seasons are rare in BYU football history, and pressure to get back to bowl eligibility in 2024 is top of mind for the football program. According to one sportsbook, Kalani Sitake's seat is one of the hottest in the Power Four conferences.

BetOnline released the odds for the first college football coach to be fired in 2024. Sitake was sixth on the list with 10/1 odds.

Is Kalani's Seat Actually Hot?

Is Kalani Sitake's seat hot enough for a midseason firing?

The short answer is no. The long answer provides a little more context.

BYU is unique from other Power Four schools. They are slower to hire, slower to fire, and more likely to allow a coach a few years to adjust to change. They are especially unlikely to fire a coach of Kalani's tenure during the middle of a season.

BYU's transition to the Big 12 was expected to be challenging, and it was in 2023. BYU was not athletic enough, not deep enough, and not physical enough to compete for a Big 12 championship. Those deficincies are being addressed on the recruiting trail.

Kalani Sitake has done a lot of very good things as the BYU football coach, and he has the trust of AD Tom Holmoe. It would take a lot, probably a 3-9 season or a 4-8 season, for Kalani's seat to actually be hot. If Sitake can show incremental improvement and get back to 6-6 in 2024, he will remain BYU's head coach for the foreseeable future. Even a 5-7 record would probably be good enough if BYU is more competitive throughout the season. If anything, BYU would make a coordinator change before changing head coaches.

BYU had a front-row seat to watch Utah's transition to the Pac-12. The Utes suffered back-to-back 5-7 seasons during that time, and BYU is expecting similar challenges in their transition to the Big 12. These changes require some patience, especially at BYU when some of their top recruits leave to serve missions before enrolling at BYU.

Even though Kalani's seat isn't as hot as some might think, he still needs to show improvement in 2024. Trajectory is important. Think about the 2018 season. It wasn't great, but it was a step in the right direction after an abysmal 2017 campaign. Make no mistkae, BYU wants to win - look no further than the hiring of Kevin Young as evidence for BYU's desire to win in the Big 12. Kalani will be given the benefit of the doubt because of his 2020-2021 run as BYU's head coach, but BYU has to be better in 2024 than they were in 2023.

Two things can be true:

  1. Kalani Sitake won't be the first head coach fired this season
  2. Sitake has a lot to prove in 2024
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Casey Lundquist

CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

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