After Penn State came calling last December, Kalani Sitake wanted BYU to come to the table.

First, he wanted the program to “make a decision” on increasing financial support to help him retain BYU’s athletes and coaching staff from other suitors.

And he wanted the Cougars to show him BYU was a place he “can grow old,” he said at Big 12 Media Days. That was true even if Penn State was offering more money to lure Sitake away.

“I wanted them to show me they want me to be here for the time — it was not really about the money,” Sitake said of his contract extension. “I want to be here.”

The same philosophy — which resulted in a long-term extension reportedly worth more than $9 million a year — is the pitch Sitake is now dishing out to BYU’s recruits.

Longevity and development, he said, are more important than “instant gratification.”

“I hope that players can realize — and recruits specifically — that development is part of their journey, and so the goal is to see themselves five years from now, not just one year from now," Sitake said.

What does that mean for the Cougars?

“If it’s about the checking account ... then we’re probably not going to be the best place for you,” Sitake said. I don’t know if that’s a good system. That’s the one I want to work at with BYU. It fits in alignment with what we’ve been asked by our church leaders, and it’s right in alignment with how I believe as a head coach.”

Sitake said that philosophy is rooted in protecting the BYU program and culture.

“I don’t know if I would want to be the highest bidder,” Sitake said. “If it’s about money [with recruits], I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.”