Five Things We Learned From Kalani Sitake’s BYU/SMU Presser

PROVO, Utah – BYU football kicked off week two of the 2024 season with a virtual press conference from head coach Kalani Sitake.

The ninth-year head coach spent 24 minutes with the media as his team gets set for a road trip to Dallas to face SMU.

Here are five key things we learned from Sitake’s press conference.

BYU DC Jay Hill is back and expected to call the defense against SMU

Kalani Sitake was asked about the health status of defensive coordinator Jay Hill. The second-year coordinator at BYU suffered a heart attack on Thursday and two days later, was in the box during the Southern Illinois game wearing a headset.

Kalani Sitake said he's unsure if Jay Hill will be back in the press box or down on the field this week against SMU.#BYU #BYUFootball

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 2, 2024

Sitake was the defensive coordinator against the Salukis. However, Hill was still involved.

“Jay’s doing great. We’re off and working and getting ready for SMU,” Sitake said.

Later in the press conference, Sitake was asked if Hill would call the defense against the Mustangs. The plan is for Hill to return to his usual role as defensive coordinator.

“This is his defense. I mean, we all work together. The setup was so that anyone could have called the [Southern Illinois] game. That’s a huge compliment to our staff on defense and the way they set it up, but I thought the prep was nice. It was a good, clean call sheet. That’s the way Jay does it. He does a great job leading the group. So I anticipate him returning to his role as D-Coordinator and doing his part.”

Sitake said he didn’t know if Hill would be in the press box or back at the field level. That is still to be determined.

No opinion on playing an All-Power Four schedule

This week’s matchup between BYU and SMU pits two teams from Power Four conferences against one another. BYU is in its second season in the Big 12 Conference, while SMU is in its first year in the ACC.

KSL Sports asked Sitake if he would eventually like to see Power Four programs play an all-Power Four schedule (nine league games, three nonconference power foes).

“I think that’s a question for Big 12 leadership and BYU administration. Whatever they line up, that’s what we go play,” Sitake said. “I like playing the best, so I don’t mind it. But yeah, I’m not sure. I don’t know where it will go from here, but I don’t mind playing against teams from [Group of Five or FCS].”

Relationship with SMU coach Rhett Lashlee

In his opening remarks, Sitake said that SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee was a “good friend.”

The @SMU_TheStampede student section was incredible last night! Let’s get ready to do it again this Friday night and crank it up even more!! pic.twitter.com/bBiiAnQeBi

— Rhett Lashlee (@rhettlashlee) September 2, 2024

Sitake was later asked about his relationship with the third-year SMU head coach.

They first met during the 2022 New Mexico Bowl, when BYU and SMU faced off. BYU won that game 24-23.

“We were able to hang out and share a meal together. I was really impressed with him and being around him and his family. Then there’s these coaching events that you do, Pebble Beach and things like that. He’s a great golfer. I’m not. There are a lot of things that I can learn from him, especially in the golf world. He’s got a brilliant mind when it comes to football.”

Rhett Lashlee has a record of 20-9 overall as SMU’s head coach. Kalani Sitake is 62-41 in his ninth season at BYU.

BYU needs to control the QB run game against SMU

One area where Kalani Sitake wants to see improvement coming out of week one is controlling the quarterback’s run game.

“We’re gonna see a lot of that, especially this week,” Sitake said.

Sitake was asked for more particulars on controlling the QB run game.

“Well, I think that’s just kind of difficult in football. If you watched over the weekend, a lot of people had a hard time doing that. So I think more specifically, looking at game one, we had a difficult time … quarterback run game, I think that’s where they got most of their run yards.”

Southern Illinois QB DJ Williams finished with 121 yards on 15 carries and scored the Salukis two touchdowns.

“It’s hard to simulate that pocket presence. Even if you go hit the scout quarterbacks and try to do that, you’re not going against the same O-line and the same type of scheme,” said Sitake. “So it’s really difficult to simulate it, but it’s why we’ve tried to have quarterbacks be live in the past and maybe we need to liven up the quarterbacks this week against the scouts so we can get used to it. But I think that’s the adjustment. I think there’s a lot of variables that go into it, but we’re addressing them right now because we’re going to see it this week and we need to have an answer for it.”

How the linebackers graded out

BYU lost Ben Bywater for the season due to a shoulder injury he suffered last year. In replacing of Bywater at the MIKE linebacker spot was Harrison Taggart in the starting lineup. Plus, BYU had Isaiah Glasker and Jack Kelly in the first unit.

Sitake was asked how he felt the linebackers graded out after week one against the Salukis.

“They graded out really good. There are still some plays to be made. But overall, they did some really good things. They feel really comfortable in the system and the scheme. It’s just a lot different having those guys there that know what they’re doing now. It’s a night and day difference.

“I like that we rotated and used fresh bodies. You had Choe (Bryant-Strother) coming in and playing, you had “Ice” Moa playing, Sione Moa playing. So there’s a lot of guys that we can bring in. Siale Esera was playing that position, too. We feel like that’s a deep position group for us and a lot of guys that have playmaking ability. So I feel really good about the entire front seven.”

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.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.

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