Kalani Sitake Admits His 'Country Roads' Blunder, Praises the WVU Tradition

Three years ago, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake made a huge blunder in his weekly press conference leading up to their matchup with West Virginia, and didn't even know it.

Sitake is a very respectful person, who really appreciates the traditions and passion of fans at other schools, and while trying to tip his hat to WVU, he may have spoken a loss to the Mountaineers into existence.

"Looking forward to the cool traditions they have. They have a passionate fanbase that loves their team, and talking to a lot of different people, it's a hard place to play. Looking forward to that. I like fans that care about their teams and have a lot of passion for it. Looking forward to hearing them all sing. It's going to be nice to hear them sing Country Roads. That's a cool song. I think there's a lot of really cool things about college football and it's cool that we get to go be in that environment and to compete against West Virginia."

At the time, Stiake had no clue that WVU only plays the song after a win, and he found out later in that week when the Cougars were pummeled by a 37-7 score.

During his time with reporters at Big 12 Media Day, he was asked about that moment, given how "Take Me Home, Country Roads" has seemingly become the hit song of the summer.

I asked BYU coach Kalani Sitake about Country Roads and looking back at my tweet below three years later + the national spotlight the song has garnered. #WVU https://t.co/1HSubb3aVW pic.twitter.com/7MMYBo5ZIc
— Taylor Kennedy (@Taylor_Kennedy7) July 7, 2026

“I made the mistake, and I said, I’m looking forward to seeing them play Country Roads at West Virginia. But they only play it when they win. That’s kind of messed up," he said. "Someone should have told me that. But even after we lost that game, I thought it was important, I kept the team out there so they could see it. What a cool experience. It’s such a cool moment that even the (United States) soccer team has adopted that and made it their own. That’s one of those iconic songs and those moments that it’s beyond the game. When we lose, I don’t plan on losing very often, but when we do, I still hope we can be appreciative and loving of the game that you can stand there and show respect to West Virginia and their traditions. I would just encourage, next time we play at West Virginia, sing the song more often, guys. It’s a pretty cool song. You don’t have to sing it at the end. But if in fact we do lose, I don’t mind having our guys be a part of seeing that experience.”

WVU and BYU don't face each other this year, but Sitake and the Cougars will make the trip to Morgantown next year.

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