“It’s part of football,” Sitake said. “It’s why we try and get our team as deep as possible. The game of football is violent. Injuries happen, so we can’t just rely on just one person to try and make it work for us.”

But quarterback isn’t just any position, and while Sitake acknowledged as much, he also pointed out that his coaching staff is well-versed in determining starting quarterback competitions during fall camp.

“We’ve been through quarterback battles before. This isn’t a new thing,” Sitake said. “We’ve seen quarterback battles. This time last year it was between Gerry Bohanon and Jake Retzlaff, so we’ve been through it before…Luckily I think we have an offensive system that (Roderick) has been able to establish where the players can all be themselves.”

Indeed both Bohanon and Retzlaff battled throughout fall camp with Retzlaff separating himself during the final week of the practice session.

Oh, and if any fan out there wants to share an opinion with Sitake regarding who should start at quarterback this season, he may actually listen.

“If you’re a good fan then you’re going to have an opinion, and I don’t mind hearing them,” Sitake said. “I was on a cruise with all BYU fans (for a week), and they gave me a bunch of advice and a bunch of opinions. I didn’t mind it at all. This is what I love to do.”

Sitake also spoke at length regarding his team’s recruitment and subsequent retention efforts, both of which have gone relatively well in recent years. While financial opportunities have played a big role with regards to recruiting, Sitake has done his best to focus on the traditional benefits BYU offers as a program while tackling the new prospect of teaching players to manage whatever financial gains they make responsibly.

“The goal for me is to focus on the culture and focus on what I can control,” Sitake said. “I think if you’re focused on money then that’s what the culture will be about. These kids now have an opportunity…to make money, so their (financial) education becomes fast-forwarded…It’s our job to teach them investment funds and to think about retirement.”

The primary goal, from Sitake’s perspective, will always be developing his players in their pursuits, both on and off the field of play.

“They’re still amateurs and they still need to go to class and get a degree,” Sitake explained. “They still need to develop in a lot of different ways, physically, mentally, and spiritually, and then get a degree. That’s what it still comes down to.”

Accomplishing those goals at BYU takes on unique challenges, given the program’s standards, which Sitake believes can work as a benefit rather than a detriment.

“If you want to go party, then that’s great, but I want people who love ball and love this culture,” Sitake said. “I want people that want to be here for the right reasons. Sometimes we have to tell some guys, ‘No, this isn’t the place for you,’ but I’m okay with that. I want to coach the guys that want to be here and want to do it our way.”

BYU did a lot of the right things last season in providing an 11-2 record while exceeding just about every preseason expectation. It was the type of progression that Sitake, along with the BYU athletic administration has had in mind with some time. The challenge now will be to sustain last season’s success and perhaps even build on the progress while competing in what looks to be a very challenging Big 12 Conference schedule.

Regardless of what the 2025 season has in store, Sitake has been grateful for the often arduous process to lift the Cougar program to its current status.

“This was a plan put into place when Tom Holmoe hired me,” he concluded. “We said that we needed to get ourselves ready, so that when we do enter a power conference, we’ll be able to create some momentum. This was all Tom’s vision and I’m lucky and honored to become part of that…All I had to do was sacrifice some of my (win and loss) record.”