This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Provo

After Kalani Sitake attempted to play football at BYU, after he, as a running back, scored one touchdown in 53 games, after he popped his shoulders, broke a leg, dislocated an ankle, underwent two back surgeries, after he got cut by the Cincinnati Bengals, after he took up coaching at a junior college, working extreme hours for little more than gas and grocery money, he came to an important conclusion: He was loving life.

"I was living a dream," he said. "Coaching seemed like something I was born to do."

That dream, birthright in hand, crossed a threshold on Monday, when Sitake was officially introduced here as BYU's new head coach, the first Tongan Division I head coach ever.

Taking the helm is a new deal for the 40-year-old whose professional path had taken him from Eastern Arizona, where he coached defensive backs and special teams, to BYU, as a grad assistant, to Southern Utah, coaching running backs, tight ends and offensive line, to Utah, where he mentored linebackers and later became defensive coordinator, to Oregon State, as defensive coordinator, and now back to BYU. He said he was privileged and thankful and humbled by the opportunity.

"It's great to be back," Sitake said. "It's great to be back home. … I'm grateful and honored to be in this position. It's humbling for me." He thanked his parents, his siblings, his wife, his children, his family, his cousins, his former coaches, his former teammates. He thanked everybody he's ever known.

That's classic Sitake.

He's always been a modest man, a dutiful, diligent assistant with an easy demeanor and a pleasant way. That's one of the reasons he's a strong recruiter and a motivational force among his players, who have thrived under his guidance. People, players like him. Trevor Reilly, for instance, the former Ute and current New York Jet, said Sitake is a natural leader who connects and communicates well: "I love the guy. Kalani will be a great head coach."

"He's had a lot of experience that a lot of people don't have," said former BYU player Jan Jorgensen. "He's a leader, he can recruit, and he's seen different systems. But his leadership and the fact that he can recruit are the biggest things."

Said Sitake: "Recruiting is everything."

He's also a student of the game, a quick study, an accomplished evaluator of talent, although, at this point, despite Reilly's best guess, nobody's certain of his organizational skills as lead dog because — he's never been one before.

"The qualities of leadership, personality, the way he loves kids, all those things will give him an advantage," said Tom Holmoe, the AD who hired Sitake. "… There will be some hills and valleys."

The new head coach said he was willing to learn.

When Sitake first came to Utah to work for Kyle Whittingham, when linebackers hadn't really been any kind of focus in his past, he said: "I wasn't new to working hard. I learned everything I could. Kyle challenged me to be one of the best linebacker coaches in the country. I looked at high schools, colleges and at the NFL. I absorbed it all. I learned everything I could about defense."

And he continued a tradition of solid D at Utah, where, in his first game as coordinator, at the age of 33, he helped the Utes beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

Now, Sitake said he's bringing all of that to Provo.

He said his offense would be "balanced" and his defense "aggressive," that he would pass the ball and run it.

"And," he said, "try not to punt so much."

But he's bringing something else, too: A badass attitude.

BYU wants its head coach to be a lot of things — a face for the program, a missionary for its church (Sitake completed a full-time mission some 20 years ago) and a counselor, a father figure for its players. Sitake can do those things — in his own way, which will be more discreet and subtle than the manner Bronco Mendenhall employed and displayed. Sitake didn't recount any scriptural tales or crack open the Book of Mormon at his press conference, and most people on hand seemed to think that was a good thing.

Instead, he talked football and his approach to the game. "I want to win," he said.

"He's got great ideas," Holmoe said. "They're different than what we've done in the past."

Sitake has been greatly influenced by his father, Tom, a former rugby player from Tonga, who moved his family to Hawaii, then to Utah and to Missouri, among other places, teaching his son all the sweet, principled stuff BYU loves — the aforementioned gratitude, faith, humility, obedience, a family-centered existence.

Still, there is that other side to Sitake — a fierce, leathery tough, balls-to-the-walls, fight-until-the-battle-is-done feature with which his former players and teammates are wholly familiar.

Asked about that badness, he said: "I'm going to be myself. I got a little mean streak in me. It's about passion. … I appreciate you saying I'm a bad man."

He admitted to having some "nasty" in him.

Football is profoundly important to Sitake, and, under his watch, there will be no mistaking the game — and the sacrifice and energy it requires — as something secondary. Even if, in the big picture it is, football won't be talked about as being fifth. He said he's proud to be a part of BYU, proud of his heritage, his family and friends, and the man he's become. All of that said, Sitake realizes that nobody pays much attention to anything else you do or espouse if prowess on the field isn't prioritized and mastered.

Take it from a man who was committed enough to play the game through all sorts of pain, and still relish it. To this day, when Sitake reaches up to paint a wall, to grab a dish off a shelf or to screw in a light bulb, his shoulder pops out, a reminder of the price he paid for the sport that became his career and a huge part of his life.

"I'm a BYU guy," he said. "It's going to be awesome. … I'm planning on doing some great things here."

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. —

More coverage

• Former Cougar fullback Kalani Sitake's return to BYU as the head coach has the feel of a reunion. > A1 Kurt Kragthrope • Sitake's hiring marks another breakthrough for BYU alumni in the coaching ranks. > http://www.sltrib.com