When Kalani Sitake was hired as the BYU head coach in December of last year, it looked like a worst-case scenario for several members of the Pac-12 -- most notably Utah, which shares a recruiting pool, Oregon State, which had been building some recruiting momentum thanks in part to Sitake as defensive coordinator, and Washington State, which has made deep recruiting inroads into the Polynesian community.
Sitake coached at Utah from 2005-2014 and became a major player in the Beehive State recruiting scene. Upon becoming the head coach at BYU, Sitake, a former Cougars player, hit the recruiting trail hard, landing a commitment from ESPN JC 50 defensive tackle Handsome Tanielu and holding onto a number of prospects that received significant late pushes from Utah, including ESPN JC 50 wide receiver Jonah Trinnaman, Jaren Hall, Max Tooley, Alema Pilimai and Jackson Kaufusi.
BYU hit several classes hard this summer, grabbing commitments in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 classes. Offensive tackle Connor Pay committed to the Cougars over offers from Utah and Utah State. Pay is a BYU legacy whose father and uncle played football at BYU, but his commitment represents a big get for the Cougars in the 2018 class.
“The biggest thing I noticed with the new staff is they have an energy about them,” Pay said of Sitake and his BYU staff. “They’re so fired up about the whole staff and getting ready to go play football. That’s something that really caught my eye.”
That energy is nothing new to those who have seen Sitake operate. Salt Lake City East head coach Brandon Matich said Sitake was a household name throughout the state and other parts of the country thanks to his recruiting prowess.
“His story is out there and everybody knows what a great person he is, how positive he is,” Matich said. “He makes everybody feel like he’s their best friend.”
Matich said Sitake and defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki form a potent one-two punch, especially in Utah and the Salt Lake City area.
“Kalani is going to change the game,” Matich said. “He’s a much better recruiter than Bronco [Mendenhall]. Guys are going to gravitate toward those two guys.”
Of course, no matter how strong a recruiter Sitake is, nothing is going to come easy with the way Utah is rolling right now, posting a 10-win season in 2015 and signing a tremendous 2016 recruiting class, which included three ESPN JC 50 prospects -- one of which was No. 2 junior college prospect and former BYU commit Garett Bolles -- as well as the top prospect in the state, defensive end Maxs Tupai.
The Utes have their own ace recruiter in Morgan Scalley, whom Matich credits plenty for the uptick in Utah’s recruiting. And the Pac-12 affiliation is a big positive for the Utes as well, according to Pay, who was blown away by the facilities during his visit to Utah and said the Power 5 conference affiliation was a positive that the Cougars don’t have.
The first Holy War between Sitake and Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham promises to be a fun one, but it’s just one game compared to potentially hundreds of recruiting battles on the trail over this year and beyond. What should make those battles interesting is that while Utah’s recruiting is surging in state and nationally, BYU and Sitake aren’t shy about stepping on any toes. Expect BYU to travel north as often as possible to get involved with recruits in Utah’s backyard.
“He told me from Day 1 that all the schools in Utah are going to be very important, but they’re going to put a flag down at East and Bingham,” Matich said of his program and South Jordan (Utah) Bingham. “What I’ve seen from Kalani, they’re going after guys. They’re going to be in the game for all of these guys, whether they’re four-star or five-star athletes. He’s not going to shy away from it.”
Ultimately, Pac-12 programs -- especially Stanford -- are going to keep hacking away at Utah recruits and one game won’t make or break a recruiting class, but expect this weekend’s winner to hit the in-state recruiting road hard, with plenty of mentions of the game.
“Whoever wins this game certainly gets the leg up in the state in getting their message out there,” Matich said, adding that he’s excited to see the addition of Sitake take this rivalry to another level. “I think it’s good. It’s healthy for the state and great for the kids to have two great programs.”