Frisco, Texas • A few months ago, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake thought he had the core of his roster set.

He had a redshirt senior quarterback coming off of an 11-2 season and the preseason expectations to match.

But now Jake Retzlaff is preparing to leave Provo instead of facing a seven-game Honor Code suspension from the university.

Sitake is starting over just a month before the season starts.

Asked about Retzlaff at the start of Big 12 Conference Media Days on Tuesday, Sitake mostly deferred comment.

“We love Jake Retzlaff,” Sitake said. “We love Jake Retzlaff and appreciate all that he’s done for our program. I think it would be inappropriate for me to make a statement in his situation first. I think that’s his right. I think it’s a private matter that he can speak for himself. I’m going to give him the opportunity to do that.”

Retzlaff is currently looking for a new program to finish out his remaining year of eligibility. The pending civil sexual assault lawsuit against him was dismissed last month, clearing the way for the BYU graduate to transfer.

It still leaves BYU picking up the pieces heading into fall camp.

“The identity is still a work in progress,” Sitake said. “I think you have to have a foundation that’s set on some principles and you have to have a mission. So we have all those in place, but I think there’s real flexibility for our team to find their own identity.”

Sitake didn’t shy away from the university’s Honor Code, which ultimately led to Retzlaff’s suspension. BYU, owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, prohibits premarital sex. Retzlaff, in answering the lawsuit, claimed he had consensual sex with his accuser.

“There’s a level of expectation, a standard that we ask our athletes and our students to live by. Every school has their standards. We have ours, too,” said Sitake, who is a graduate of the university. “These are part of the things that you have to be committed to. And we expect our students to live according to what they signed up for.”

BYU has three potential replacements for Retzlaff, including McCae Hillstead, Treyson Bourguet and Bear Bachmeier. Sitake refrained from giving an update on who will lead the offense next.

“I think for me, it’s just allowing the guys compete in the quarterback room,” he said. “If you’re going to play at BYU, you have to be able to throw the ball. So we have guys that can sling the ball, and they all have different skill sets.”