Coach Prime On Kalani Sitake After BYU’s Alamo Bowl Win: ‘I Love Him To Life’
Dec 29, 2024, 9:09 AM | Updated: Dec 30, 2024, 9:36 pm
SAN ANTONIO – Colorado head coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders was gracious after BYU defeated his Buffs in the 2024 Alamo Bowl.
The Cougars pounced on Colorado, handing the Buffaloes a 36-14 loss. It was a wire-to-wire victory in favor of Kalani Sitake’s squad.
BYU’s win was its 11th of the season. Meanwhile, Coach Prime’s Buffs finished with a record of 9-4, an eight-win improvement from the team he inherited two years ago. Still, very few expected this outcome heading into the All-Big 12 matchup.
This was a cool moment between Coach Prime and BYU Head Coach Kalani Sitake ❤️
🎥 : @ABC pic.twitter.com/sJ1Lg1RChA
— We Coming 🦬 (@SkoBuffsGoBuffs) December 29, 2024
As the final seconds ran off the clock inside the Alamodome, Coach Prime and Sitake met at midfield and had a heartfelt exchange.
The two coaches were very complimentary of one another throughout the bowl festivities in San Antonio this week.
Coach Prime praised BYU head coach Kalani Sitake after the 36-14 Alamo Bowl
Even after the loss, Coach Prime remained complimentary of Kalani Sitake and his team.
“Wonderful job by BYU. They’re well-coached. They did a phenomenal job of running the football,” said Coach Prime. “Special teams kicked our butts. We couldn’t do [anything] offensively much at all. Defensively, I think we had some sound stops, but we didn’t eat enough, and we came up short.
“Not to take [anything] away from them. They played a heck of a football game. If I’m going to get my butt kicked, I’d rather get my butt kicked by that coach. I love him to life, man. He’s a good man.”
Kalani and Coach Prime pic.twitter.com/4uEBQYuh4D
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) December 27, 2024
BYU and Colorado will meet again in the 2025 regular season during Big 12 Conference play. The date has not been established yet, but the game will occur in Boulder.
Respect between the two programs
Maybe this is the beginning of a friendly conference rivalry between the two programs.
“I think we found something in ourselves knowing that we had to prepare for them,” said Sitake after his team’s 36-14 victory. “I think there’s some great talent on that [Colorado] team. I think we have some great talent, too. But I have to give a lot of credit to Deion, Coach Prime, and his staff; they’re a talented team.”
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
