Kalani Sitake Address the Penn State Coaching Vacancy Rumors

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake against TCU | BYU Photo

Ever since BYU ended the regular season with a win over UCF on Saturday, rumors have been swirling around BYU head coach Kalani Sitake and the Penn State coaching job. Minutes before the press conference for the Big 12 championship game, Sitake was publicly linked to the job in a report from FootballScoop.

Sitake did not deny that the two sides are speaking in his response.

"Well I have to address it cause the world is small now and people can see stuff on social media and everything," Sitake said. "And [the media] does a great job at covering things, so yeah I'll address it. But [the players] are used to me saying this is a good sign things are going well for us. But I will say that this isn't about me. What I've asked our team to do is to be focused on what we're trying to accomplish. There are marks of finishers and that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to finish the season the right way...it's required of us to be at our best to play against Texas Tech...I've asked our team to be focused on what we can control....this is a great distraction to have, let's be honest. But right now we need to be focused on giving our best shot against Texas Tech."

Later in the press conference, Sitake was asked directly about the report from FootballScoop.

"I think I already commented on that before," Sitake said. "I'm all about the Big 12 championship and [getting] the team focused on that. We're going to avoid all the distractions."

To end the press conference, Sitake was asked whether he was happy with his financial compensation at BYU. Sitake somewhat addressed the question in his response.

"I've gained weight, you can tell I'm living a good life."

Kalani SItake has led BYU to a 22-3 record over the last two seasons. He is about to lead BYU to its first Big 12 championship game. The timing of these Penn State rumors, frankly, could not come at a worse time. BYU is preparing for one of its biggest game in program history on Saturday while rumors surround their head coach. Another subplot is Wednesday's national signing day. BYU currently has the best class in school history and a top 25 class in the country. A potential Sitake departure could complicate Wednesday's signing day.