Rich Rodriguez has Bested Kalani Sitake Over the Years

West Virginia University head coach Rich Rodriguez and BYU head coach Kalani Sitake will square off for the sixth time, dating back to the 1998 Liberty Bowl

In the first meeting between the two, Rodriguez was in his second year under Tommy Bowden at Tulane and served as the interim head coach in place of Tommy Bowden, who had resigned to take over the head coaching job at Clemson. Rodriguez would soon follow but not before he hammered the Cougars 41-27. Kalani, as a fullback, had five receptions for 77 yards.

Rodriguez, on the trajectory of his offense philosophy taking college football world by storm, reflected on meeting one of the great college football minds of all time, Hall of Fame coach and BYU legend LaVell Edwards.

“Norm Chow, who’s a friend of mine, was their offensive coordinator and LaVell Edwards was their head coach. They invited me to come out and talk some ball with them. And so, a few weeks after the bowl game, I went out to Provo (UT) and spent two or three days with them. I wanted to learn from them too. Lavell was a guru on the pass game and so was Norm Chow.”

Kilani was in his fourth season as the linebacker coach for Utah, a year prior to becoming the Utes defensive coordinator, he avenged the Liberty Bowl loss. In 2008, Rodriguez’s first year at Michigan started off with a loss as the Utes knocked off the Wolverines in the home opener 25-23 towards a perfect 13-0 record.

After Rodriguez was relieved of his duties at Michigan, he took over an Arizona program desperate for relevance and his first season in Tucson (2012), went to Utah and knocked off the Utes 34-24 in the midst of Pac 12 Conference action (2012), marking the first of four-straight for Rodriguez against Kalani.

Arizona handled Utah 35-24 the following season, and hammered the Utes in 2014, 42-10.

Kilani went to Oregon State in 2015 as an associate head coach and defensive coordinator and Rodriguez go the best of Kilani once again 44-7.

“When he was out here in the West, I competed against him – I coach against him. The guy makes his mark anywhere that he goes and finds ways to get things going,” Kalani said.

“He’s an innovator, so he’s going to do things different, and the guy knows football. He knows how to put points on the board,” Kalani later added.

Nov 23, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Brigham Young Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Kilani has been immersed in college football since the early ‘90s and remembers the impact Rodriguez had on college football.

“Anyone that knows anything about college football saw what Rich Rod was doing back in the day,” Kalani stated. “He’s been a head coach for a long time, and he had things rolling for quite a long time, especially there at West Virginia. So, anyone that liked football, knew all the talent and the things they were doing offensively there.”

Kalani also added, “I think Rich Rod is a great coach and one of the well-known coaches out there in our profession. I look forward to seeing him. We’ve had great interactions. He’s always been super good to me, so I’m excited to for him to be here in Provo and be in our stadium named after my mentor LaVell Edwards.”

West Virginia and BYU kickoff Friday night at 10:30 with the action broadcasting on ESPN2.

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