Uh-oh.

This cow’s been milked, I know, but that’s the only reasonable response to what Kalani Sitake recently said when he was asked if his troubles over the resources issue at BYU, the ones he’s made absolutely clear are important to him without really making the particulars themselves clear, had been resolved.

His response: “Yeah, I’m focused on the season. I’m not worried about the other stuff. I’ll let my … [he presumably was about to say “agent” before his voice trailed off] … like I said, I’ll let that stuff take care of itself. But I’m gonna focus on the team.”

It wasn’t just the words he said that set off an alarm; it was the way he said them. Watch the video.

They were direct. They were serious as a heart attack. They had no joy in them.

The man’s ticked, royally (blue) chapped. We’ve already reported that, having heard it from multiple sources close to the coach. And nothing in that regard has changed.

BYU’s done the dude dirty. And that’s its problem. A problem that lingers still. Sitake said he’s not worried about this stuff, but that’s a lie. It’s on his mind, and who can blame him for letting it linger? Nobody likes having promises issued to them and having those promises left unfulfilled.

There’s no doubt Sitake loves BYU. He does not love the fact that the school he loves is not returning the love. That’s the recipe for divorce.

As one of the hottest coaching commodities around, he walked away from having the chance to lead a storied program like Penn State, with all the opportunity for wealth and glory that would have come with that chance, and now, BYU, the school that stood in the doorway in silhouette like Marlene Dietrich, lips puckered, heel turned, amour dangling, has teased and turned away.

The only silver lining in what Sitake said here is that he’s taken his anger — OK, he didn’t actually use that exact word, but it was impossible to miss — and funneled it toward his team.

That’s a good thing if it rallies his players around him.

For BYU to accomplish the lofty goals it’s set for itself this season, with as much talent as it’s ever had on the roster, and probably more, Sitake and his assistants will have to be wholly dialed in on the weekly task at hand. And that laser fixation will have to be sensed and equaled by the guys in the locker room. When observers talk about the Cougars winning the Big 12 and qualifying for a College Football Playoff spot, that likely means they’ll have to win double-digit games and suffer no more than one or maybe two defeats.

No simple deal, regardless of talent.

The issue for Sitake in the midst of all that is that “that stuff” will not take care of itself. It never does. It must be taken care of, forced to be taken care of by the parties involved.

And if that stuff has not been resolved, when will it happen? Will it ever happen?

If it doesn’t happen, Sitake — the guess here is — will not be at BYU over the long haul. He’d previously said, before these difficulties erupted, that BYU was his home, that he wanted to continue to make it his home, but … home is not where the heart is (broken). It’s not where fiction is represented as fact, where the truth is mangled.

And if nobody’s sure whether an honorable, respected coach like Sitake will remain at BYU, a place where everybody’s sure he’s a near-perfect fit, a cloud of confusion and derision will cover not just the football program, but the entire school, and maybe even to some degree the church that owns and operates BYU.

Those who say, ah, if Sitake leaves, BYU can just go hire Jay Hill … um, think again. If Hill succeeds as defensive coordinator at Michigan even for just one season, he could ride a hot ticket to head any number of the nation’s top programs. If he took the time to consider BYU — I don’t know, because he likes living in Utah? — he would want the same promises fulfilled that Sitake wants.

The easy solution is for BYU to give its head coach what he was promised, and to put this whole regretful thing in the rearview. Sitake has loved and wants to love BYU. But there’s a thin line between … well, you know the saying.

It’s past time for BYU to love its coach back.