This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Provo

After a recent BYU spring football practice, new head coach Kalani Sitake happily breezed into an interview area, plopped down, spotted some sugary treats on the table, patted his gut, and said: "Oh, man, you shouldn't put snacks out in front of me like that. Man, oh, man …"

He grimaced and then he grinned, appearing otherwise as unburdened as any head coach ever did. He looked like a head coach who hadn't yet tasted defeat, which, of course, is exactly what he is.

As routine questions from reporters came, he easily and thoroughly answered them, addressing the happenings at practice that morning as though he had sidled up to a table in the back room of a restaurant, talking to a bunch of his best friends. He was more than at ease, his comfort zone as expansive as Jimmy Fallon's.

He detailed techniques and fundamentals, conversing about the offensive line, about the defensive line, about the run and pass games, about center-quarterback exchanges, about the heaviness of the install, about Ty Detmer's brilliance and how much the players love him, about many of his other assistants, about moving players to new positions for which they are better suited, about developing and preparing guys to play at BYU and in the NFL.

If anybody had any question — and we mean anybody — he invited him or her to step right up and ask away. The way Kalani sees it, ask and ye shall receive. There was no abruptness, no weirdness, no paranoia, no anger, only openness. It's a new day at BYU. Or an old one. No Cougar football coach had acted so naturally and freely since … well, You Know Who.

Sitake eventually spotted a visitor who he hadn't seen in a while and invited him into his office for what turned into an hour-long conversation about his advent at the head of Cougar football.

In the 95 days since he's moved into that last office on the right, down the far-end of the hall at BYU's football headquarters, overlooking the practice fields, Sitake said there wasn't a single thing that had come to his attention that surprised him. Nothing had blindsided him. Nothing had rocked, or even jolted him. All was going according to plan, pretty much just as LaVell Edwards had told him it would go.

"I love it," he said. "It's what I expected. My situation is a little different than normal first-time head coaches, being here at my alma mater, having played here and being a fan of this school, it's everything I thought it would be. When I got the job, I talked to LaVell a number of times. We had long conversations. It was natural, and helpful, for me to talk to the guy who put BYU on the map."

Edwards was Yoda to Sitake's Luke.

A primary thing a couple of decades of coaching football has taught Sitake is this — to be himself. And that's ironic, considering how much he has lifted from others, including Edwards. Truth is, he has bits and pieces of a hundred, maybe a thousand, men and women rolled up in the collective him, in his personal and professional selves. He studied under a lot of coaches, and he was there when Kyle Whittingham became a new head coach at Utah. He was there when Gary Andersen became a new head coach at Southern Utah. And he took notes, a lot of notes.

In a box at home, he has about 20 different notebooks, loaded with hand-written ideas and observations he's made over the years, scribblings from team meetings, from brainstorming sessions, from chats with colleagues and mentors, taking whatever he thought was useful and some things that weren't. When he was defensive coordinator at Utah, Sitake once, while riding on an airplane, sat next to a youth football coach who gave him tips on drills for improving linemen's footwork.

"I still try to write down as much as I can," he said. "It's a big mess, really. I take notes at meetings. I try to listen to others when they speak. I'm never going to close off the opportunity to learn. It doesn't matter who it is. I'll talk and I'll listen."

Sitake said there's some embarrassing "stuff" in his notebooks, like an innovative blitz he concocted and later tried during a game: "I thought, 'this is going to be niiiiiiiiiiiiice.' It didn't work. In fact, it was a huge flop. Oh, well."

That "Oh, well" at the end is significant. Sitake said his confidence comes from the aforementioned frame of reference, from the knowledge the seasons have brought him, but that he's still willing to try new things, to stay fresh, even if they don't always work out.

"I'm really secure about the way things are going, confident but also cautious," he said. "Do I think we'll be undefeated for 10 years? No. There will be some things that smack me in the face. Sometimes, you have to own up to some things. Sometimes, you do the wrong things. Sometimes, it's OK to let people see that you struggle. But we'll be all right."

Sitake insisted that the concerns some have about the first-time syndrome he as head coach, Ty Detmer as offensive coordinator and Ilaisa Tuiaki as defensive coordinator will experience are overblown: "Having guys you can trust to do their jobs, handle their responsibilities, manage their side of the ball, is important. These guys are good. I promise you, these guys are ready. Some guys got it. They just have it. I see it all working out."

As for Sitake's coaching style, it will emphasize teaching and trusting players, delegating to his coordinators, and being majorly personable. "My job as a head coach is to take care of the players, watch over the staff, and build the team," he said. "I watched LaVell as he did that. I know what's going on on the offensive side, I know what's happening on the defense. I'm in tune with what's happening all around. I know the plays, I know the install, but I'm letting them do their thing."

Ed Lamb, the former head coach at Southern Utah who Sitake hired as an assistant, said the three most important things his boss can accomplish early on are … "First, show his sincerity and authenticity. And he's done that. Kalani's not trying to be anybody but himself. Second, establish player development, leave no stone unturned when it comes to academics, conditioning and training, and, then, playing on the field. And, third, once the season starts, a head coach has to learn to enjoy the moment. There's so much responsibility on him, but enjoying the competition and the moment and letting the guys know you're enjoying all of it is really important."

So far, Sitake is checking the boxes. "And the players are responding to him," Lamb said.

Veteran offensive lineman Tuni Kanuch spoke for them: "He may be doing this for the first time, but it seems like he's been a coach for a long time. Everything he does is well thought out. There's a lot of love in him. He just cares a lot about the players. He wants us to be healthy and happy. He wants us to be grateful that we're here. I mean, if you love someone, you love your mom, you want to do anything for her. We respect and like him."

"He's calm and collected. The way he goes about things makes the whole team feel confident. Everything he does is very detailed. He puts a lot into his job. We know our potential and want to put in the work to fulfill it. Most of all, he makes us feel like we're family."

Sitake's easy manner already has had a favorable effect on his players, his fun, authentic approach reaching far beyond dancing with the students in the Marriott Center at Cougar basketball games. He's reaching his meaty arms out and gathering in the football community with a warmth that has been absent since Edwards retired.

"I like people," he said. "That's just how I am. I'm the product of other people caring about me. I got here because others took the time to teach me and look after me. I learned from them. I'm a product of that. I'm not a self-made man. I wouldn't be in this chair right now if it weren't for a ton of people positively affecting my life. I hope I can do the same for others."

Sitake acknowledged, though, that he still has to win, and win often.

"If something's not right," he said, "we'll make it right."

He almost snarled when he said that.

At the new head coach's first meeting with his team, he brought up two concepts that some might find odd, but not Sitake: Humility and meekness.

"I told the players to remember what got them here, who sacrificed to get them here," he said. "A lot of sacrifice happened for you to be here, so live your life everyday to glorify those people. For all 123 guys, it's important to remember that. In an age of entitlement, that gets forgotten sometimes. Meekness, it's weird because it seems like a soft term, it's submissive, but it's being submissive to what is right. Having strength with control. You don't have to talk about it, just know who you are, and what's gone on before."

As spring practice winds down, then, Kalani Sitake is making his mark at BYU. Nobody knows yet what it will mean when the tough 2016 fall schedule ensues. But he believes his approach, culled from the combo-pack of coaches who have influenced him and the far and near reaches of his own mind, will enable him to win, to win the way he wants to win.

"I'm thankful to be here," he said. "This program isn't about one coach or one player, it's about all of us doing it together. I won't be at the top, yelling down at them. I'll be down with them, pushing alongside. Hopefully, people will accept that I'm just being myself. I want everyone to feel comfortable in his own skin. I'll be the first to say, 'Yeah, I was wrong on that one.' But what I do is, I learn and get better. If I see weakness, I'll try to make it a strength."

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson. —

Kalani Sitake's résumé

Head coach • BYU (2015-present).

Assistant head coach/defensive coordinator • Oregon State (2015)

Assistant head coach/defensive coordinator/linebackers coach • Utah (2005-14).

Offensive line/tight ends/running backs coach • Southern Utah (2003-04).

Graduate assistant • BYU (2002).

Defensive backs/special teams coach • Eastern Arizona (2001).