But as for Thursday, with the media along with participating Cougar coaches and players having just completed 18 holes of golf at Timpanogos Golf Club as part of the annual BYU media day golf tournament, Sitake wanted to focus on other things. Like he always does, the Cougar head coach proved remarkably affable and forthcoming while expounding on the topics that truly are unique to him within the framework of his responsibilities as BYU’s head coach.

When asked regarding any certain theme for this coming season, Sitake again presented his oft-used phrase of staying, “humble, but hungry,” and how that won’t change from year to year. He then delved into the overall mission of BYU football as he sees it while on the cusp of his 11th season as the Cougar head coach.

“I Want our guys to be faith-driven, but I want them to be focused on on learning and opportunities that you can learn with love,” Sitake explained. “And I mean, we’re in a situation now where you know people talk about mistakes and things like that. Like guys, I want all our guys to do everything perfectly. So when when as a leader and as a head coach, that’s my emphasis — to try to get these guys to be at their best all the time, and whether that’s on the field or off the field or in the classroom. That’s the goal.”

As Sitake mentioned, no one is perfect and BYU has always had to deal with with off-the-field issues and what not, with the recent arrest of BYU linebacker Ephraim Asiata as the most recent incident. News broke of Asiata having been arrested and charged for a DUI just the day prior to the golfing event, and was in no doubt fresh on the mind of everyone gathered.

“Our emphasis has always been to them being the best person they can be,” Sitake continued. “Football is not a is not on the priority list. Football is actually a privilege that they get to enjoy by being at their best. So I know there’s a lot of there’s a lot of frustrations, and a lot of people that are upset and angry about it. But we’re teaching the right concepts, and in times of adversity, and in times of when things are going well, the culture of love and learn — it thrives. It really does, and and it definitely thrives if things aren’t going well. When we’re  going against some adversity, it thrives as well. And the concept is have to love them and teach them to avoid catastrophic mistakes. And and for the most part, they will do it. The majority of them will do it.”

Of course accountability has to a big part of it, which Sitake was forthright in explaining.

“Just because we love you doesn’t mean that you escape accountability and responsibility,” he explained. “Seek(ing) restitution and the road to redemption is usually tough and and it’s hard, but we focus on what makes us right and what makes us different … We want to handle things the Christ-like way and that means that you bring accountability and then you bring appreciation, but then (you) also teach these young men why why behavior is happening a certain way. It’s not (to) focus on the actual deed, but focus on why is this behavior happening and what can we do to help the young men, our student athletes, and so that’s been our focus.”

It’s an approach that his players both recognize and embrace. Take linebacker Cade Uluave, as just one example. A standout for Cal, Uluave chose to finish out his football career at BYU for what will be his final season in large part due to the culture Sitake administers.

“There’s coaches I’ve seen this over the years (and) there’s coaches that care about you just on the field, but they don’t really care about you off the field. And I feel like Coach Kalani is a guy that cares so much for both,” Uluave said. “Obviously he wants you to be the best you can at your position, and what you do on the field, and he’s literally going to do whatever he can to help you do that … And then he’s always checking up on us, you know, outside of football … He knows about our personal life … So just being able to play for a coach that really cares about you on and off the field and just cares about you as a person and how your well-being is makes a huge, huge difference. And that’s what I love. It’s just been awesome.”

“I get paid for what we do on the football field, but that’s never going to be my emphasis,” Sitake concluded. “You guys have been around me long enough to know, and we’re going to emphasize other things first. And yeah, I’d love for everything to go perfectly off the field in the classroom and on the field, and that’s my goal. I want to get that going, but we’re always gonna we’re always going to be there and we’re gonna embrace these young men. I promised all their families that I would be there for them in whatever capacity I can do, and that usually means love them up, you know, and use the means teach them as well.”