BYU Cougars' Kalani Sitake Recounts Close Relationship With Texas Longhorns Coach Steve Sarkisian

Friendships form outside of coaching conferences and times in meeting rooms. Most names at the highest level of coaching cross paths from their playing days.

That's how the friendship of Texas Longhorns' Steve Sarkisian and BYU Cougars' Kalani Sitake started. Sarkisian, a former quarterback in Provo under legendary coach LaVell Edwards, never called Sitake, a fullback in the late 1990s, a teammate, but they did spend a weekend together while the former was looking for a full-time after electing to transfer.

Sitake put up Sarkisian during a recruiting visit before serving a two-year mission in Oakland, Calif. Ultimately, he's put up with the third-year Longhorns' coach as a friend for over two decades.

"His friendship and just his love and care is something special," Sitake said during his Monday press conference. "And it's nice that he's doing great things in football. I'm really, really excited about seeing him again and being out there and seeing our teams compete."

The No. 7 Longhorns (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) host the Big 12 new-coming Cougars (5-2, 2-2 Big 12) Saturday at Royal-Memorial Stadium. The meaning of the matchup goes well past the reunion of two former colleagues who once shared a space over a weekend.

Texas, which departs for the SEC next season, must navigate its way through quarterback concerns now with Quinn Ewers sidelined if it hopes to remain a College Football Playoff contender. BYU, a prominent Independent program for decades, looks to prove it's the next big-time hitter in the conference under the Big 12's new realignment.

Sarkisian knows Sitake is a no-nonsense coach with a veteran roster ready to pull off the upset. On the flip side, Sitake knew from the second the two met that Sarkisian was destined to give his life to the game.

“Sark is all about ball, man, and he saw a really good team,” Sitake said Sitake. “I think the biggest concern for him during that time was if John Walsh was going to come out early for the draft or return for his senior year. I think all Sark was waiting for was that moment. I don’t want to sit here and act like I did a great job.”

After spending two seasons at El Camino College, Sarkisian began looking elsewhere to play. Maybe his time with Sitake convinced the now Longhorns' coach that Provo was more than a place, but rather a home.

Whatever positioned Sarkisian into committing to the program, consider it a blessing. It's been nearly 30 years since he last suited up, but his name remains prominent in the BYU record books. Sarkisian is one of six Cougar quarterbacks to throw for 4,000 yards in a season. He still ranks No. 2 all-time in career completion percentage (66.9) and No. 11 in passing touchdowns (53).

After a brief stint in the Canadian Football League, Sarkisian wanted to get into coaching. Norm Chow, who recruited Sarkisian as BYU's quarterbacks coach, was recently hired as USC's offensive coordinator and needed an assistant.

Sitake, who returned to BYU after a one-year stint with the Cincinnati Bengals, always remembered how Sarkisian treated him for his hospitality throughout their early tenures.

“When we got into coaching, he was a GA at USC,” Sitake said. “We’ve always been in contact with each other and that’s because Sark cared to do that. Sark was a great quarterback, I’m just a fullback. For him to allow me opportunities to connect with him and then he had this trajectory in coaching that put him in a great spot."

The pathway to stardom differed for the two coaches, just like their positions. Sarkisian, 49, became a high-rising name in the industry after developing quarterbacks like Matt Lienart, Matt Cassel and Mark Sanchez. He rose from being a position coach to coordinator in six seasons and later took over at Washington at age 35.

Stiake, 48, bounced around the Beehive State, taking various roles on staffs at Southern Utah, and Utah before becoming Oregon State's defensive coordinator in 2015. A year later, after Bronco Mendenhall left for Virginia's open position, BYU made one phone call to Corvalis to bring Sitake home for good.

Throughout their paths, Sitake and Sarkisian have remained in contact. Sitake praised Sark for always looking out for those he encountered, never losing sight of where the journey began.

"He would hit me up and communicate with me and see how I’m doing. He didn’t just do this with me. He did this with a lot of people. He became a head coach and a coordinator way faster than I did and was the same guy. Always the same, friendly, cared about me.”

Sarkisian, who never returned to Provo as a coach, couldn't be more pleased with who is running his alma mater.

"They have a veteran football team and they play extremely hard," said Sarkisian. "They're tough-nosed, they're hard-nosed. They play the game with a real mentality, a real effort-first team.

"We got our work cut out for us."