According to the American Bar Association (and I don’t know how they found the time for this study what with all the lawsuits and litigation), the average tenure for a college football head coach is 3.8 years. Less than 32% of them make it to their tenth season.

Right now, Sitake is the the third-longest tenured BYU football coach in school history behind LaVell Edwards (29 seasons) and Bronco Mendenhall (11 seasons).

But you don’t need all those stats to understand that Sitake is a rare breed.

Sitake was announced as BYU’s new head coach after the Cougars wild 35-28 loss to Utah in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl, Mendenhall’s last game before heading off to the University of Virginia. The rumors built up all day that Sitake, a former Utah assistant then the defensive coordinator at Oregon State, was taking the job.

While I was walking to Sam Boyd Stadium from the parking lot, BYU Athletic Director Tom Holmoe drove by in his car with his window down. I said, “Hey, Tom, when are you going to introduce the most popular man in Las Vegas?”

He smiled and simply said, “See you later, man” as he rolled up his window.

Gangster move, Tom. Gangster.

Holmoe made some pretty good choices for coaches over his career, and Sitake has been a stellar one. Sure, there were some not-so-great-years but he seems to be coming into his own as the Cougars wrap their arms around the Big 12 for Season 3.

In nine years, Sitake has posted a 72-43 record (63%) and is 5-2 in bowl games (71%). He’s 9-12 against the AP Top 25, has had 13 NFL draft picks and five seasons of eight or more wins.

But, again, Sitake is more than just about wins and losses.

It’s always been that way at BYU when it comes to athletics but Sitake’s “love and learning” approach, which has its detractors, appears to be working pretty well. The Cougars were 11-2 last season and won their first nine games. Keeping that momentum isn’t going to be easy, especially since Jake Retlzaff is now competing for the starting quarterback spot at Tulane. Playing in an ultra-competitive Big 12 and, as we found out this week, starting a true freshman at quarterback, will all add to the intrigue.

When he took the job in 2015, Sitake said, “I’m living proof that BYU is a special place. I never left. I always bled blue.”

Lest we forget, the last BYU football coach to actually play for the Cougars before Sitake’s return was Eddie Kimball back in 1937. Kimball was followed by Chick Atkinson, Hal Kopp, Tally Stevens, Hal Mitchell, Tommy Hudspeth, Edwards, Gary Crowton and Mendenhall.

It means something that Sitake has lived the life he’s asking his players to live. It means something to the players he recruits and to the ones he convinces to stay when the transfer portal and NIL come calling.

At the start of his tenth fall camp as BYU head coach, Sitake said, “I’m still learning. I’m still open to trying to find ways to get better as a coach and as a person. I have a lot of resources, a lot of people around me that can help me get there and these players make it a lot easier for me to get that done.”

Everything seemed to be lining up for a huge year in 2025 before Reztlaff’s issues. The national media, which had the Cougars as a likely Top 15 team, has cooled considerably.

The Cougars were picked to finish 13th in the Big 12 last season and worked that chip on their shoulder to 11 wins. Similarly disrespected this year, BYU has a lot to prove … again.

Which leads to Sitake’s locker room mantra, “They don’t know but they ’bout to find out.”