Kirk Herbstreit Calls BYU’s Kalani Sitake ‘One Of The Great Coaches’
Nov 3, 2021, 2:02 AM
Brigham Young Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake and the rest of the BYU sideline begin to celebrate as they defeat Utah in an NCAA football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. BYU won 26-17, ending a nine-game losing streak to the Utes. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
(Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit has praised the BYU program in recent years. The 25-year analyst poured on some more high remarks for BYU head coach Kalani Sitake.
During an episode of ESPN’s College Football Podcast with host Matt Berrie, the topic of BYU’s 66-49 win over Virginia came up.
Berrie initiated the BYU-Virginia conversation because he was impressed with the sportsmanship from the BYU program towards Bronco Mendenhall.
A weekly feature on the @ESPNCFB podcast w/@KirkHerbstreit and me: “Why We Love Sport.” For me, it was @BYUfootball and the “Bronco Bowl.” pic.twitter.com/y7UhYGmcbO
— Matt Barrie (@MattBarrie) November 2, 2021
“Bronco Mendenhall what he did at BYU was incredible. He goes to Virginia, has a good thing going up there in Charlottesville, but BYU welcomed him back. They had a big thing on their big screen that said, ‘Thank You, Bronco.’ They were thanking this guy who left them to go somewhere else. I don’t know how many other places would allow that to happen. …It made me feel good that this program was so appreciative of what this man did for them.”
Berrie then heaped praise on Tyler Allgeier’s 266-yard performance in a wild and crazy shootout.
“It was so far off the radar, but it was so, so good,” Berrie said.
Herbstreit followed up with some commentary on BYU and that impressive showing from the Cougars over the weekend.
Kirk Herbstreit talks BYU/Virginia, Kalani Sitake
“Glad you brought some attention to that. Because you’re right, they are not a whole lot of people east of the Rockies that probably had a chance to witness that, and to look at it on a stat sheet is very different from actually seeing it and taking it in. [Allgeier]’s had an incredible year,” said Herbstreit.
KALANI SITAKE IN THE HOUSE🤙 pic.twitter.com/7dG8Bmlwnf
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) September 12, 2021
He added, “Kalani Sitake is one of the great coaches in the profession. I covered him as a player and he played the game just like he coaches. He’s a great dude, love that guy. You’d want to play for him. He’s that kind of coach. Man, he is taking over this program and has built consistency. It’s been good to see. They’ll go in the Big 12 as a real threat with him at the helm.”
With BYU experiencing success this season after losing five NFL draft picks, including No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson, Sitake has been an under-the-radar name for the USC coaching vacancy. Herbstreit weighed in on that.
“People say, ‘what about USC for him?’ I don’t know; maybe something will come up. But I can’t imagine him leaving his alma mater,” said Herbstreit. “He just loves it there. They love him. He’s got an identity with the style of ball they play.”
Sitake is in his sixth year as head coach at BYU. He has an overall record of 45-28. The 2021 BYU Cougars are 7-2 overall and ranked No. 15 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
