Bold statement: Kalani Sitake chose loyalty over a blockbuster payday, staying at BYU instead of chasing Penn State’s rumored riches. And this is the part most people miss: the financial details behind that decision reveal a lot about where college football salaries—and loyalties—are headed.
Earlier this week, reports suggested Sitake could become Penn State’s next head coach. Instead, he elected to remain at his alma mater, BYU, as the program gears up to face Texas Tech for the Big 12 championship. A BYU victory on Saturday at AT&T Stadium would secure a spot in the College Football Playoff.
In the wake of his extension announcement, Sitake was blunt about his motivation. “If I’m being honest, I just wanted to be here a long time,” he said. He added that it’s hard to leave when the situation is so special and the people around him are so supportive.
The decision came amid strong support from the BYU community, which Sitake’s wife described as a “love bomb.” There were also visible moves from the Cougars’ circle: Crumbl Cookies CEO Jason McGowan tweeted that it was time to “get off the sidelines and get to work” as the Penn State rumors swirled.
Now, a clearer picture emerges of the money involved. In a Thursday piece on the BYU–Penn State recruiting battle, CBS Sports’ Richard Johnson reported that the Penn State offer reportedly surpassed $10 million per year, more than double Sitake’s pre-extension BYU salary estimate of about $4 million annually.
Johnson notes that Sitake’s BYU extension would place him among the highest-paid coaches in the Big 12, rivaling only Colorado’s Deion Sanders at roughly $10.8 million per year on average.
On3’s Pete Nakos added that Sitake was projected to earn between $9 million and $9.5 million annually from BYU, with an additional $10–$15 million in NIL payments directed to the football program, atop the school’s revenue share. Current NIL guidelines allow schools to distribute up to $20.5 million to athletes for the academic year, with NIL payments outside that cap permitted.
Sitake, a Tonga native who played fullback for BYU in 1994 and later coached there, has built a long coaching résumé culminating in BYU’s head coach role since 2016. Over a decade, he’s led the Cougars to an 83–44 record, including a 17–10 conference mark since BYU joined the Big 12 in 2023. In the past two seasons, BYU has gone 22–3 (15–3 in conference), delivering three 10-win campaigns under his leadership.
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