When Kalani Sitake arrived as BYU’s new coach after the 2015 season, there were two words that swept in with hurricane-force winds alongside him.
Optimism and energy.
Shy of two years later, those words have been sucked out a window with equal force to a faraway place, that place where good football things go when bad football things happen. How distant that place is, how clear the pipeline is to suck them back, depends on what Sitake and his assistant coaches do next.
The 92 days between now and Feb. 7, national signing day, are 13 of the most important weeks in the history of BYU football. This year’s early signing date, Dec. 20, makes positive action even more urgent.
After calamity, Sitake must rebuild.
And that rebuild starts right now.
The initial steps he takes at the nadir of his coaching career will set the stage for determining not only the length and future of his tenure at BYU, but also the future of the program. If the hole BYU football has tumbled into is perceived to be the truth, Sitake won’t last.
If he turns around those results, proves they can be redirected, it will be because he hasn’t wasted another minute. Talent, attitudes, discipline, work habits, acumen and mentorship must be upgraded, wedged as they are now between desperation and despair.
It starts with brain power, with enlightenment, by identifying what BYU football can be and what it can’t be, what it should be and what it shouldn’t be, and constructing from there.
Assistant head coach Ed Lamb candidly and correctly pointed out during an interview last week that he and other coaches, including Sitake, have done a lousy job in structuring and executing their plan for their players in matters on and off the field.
“We as coaches have failed the team,” he said. “… We’re building a culture and it’s not yet built in any way, shape or form in the way we see it being built. We’re behind schedule.”
Yeah, you think?
BYU is one of the worst teams in the FBS. That’s true statistically and eye-test-ically. They look bad, they play bad, they are bad.
It’s as though after last season’s 9-4 record, Cougars football was loaded into the back of a garbage truck and hauled off to the dump, where it has been broken into pieces and chucked — bobbing and sinking — in a sea of trash.
Those are harsh words. These are college kids. We get that.
But the coaches are professionals, rightfully exposed to criticism. May the spirit of Knute Rockne bless Kalani Sitake. I love the man. But his team features one of the worst offenses in college football, and his defense isn’t much better.
The talent, especially at certain key positions, is poor, the organization of that talent worse. What can you say about a team that 10 games into the season has an opportunity to score in a close game with a first down at the opponent’s 9-yard line, and the huddle breaks with 12 players in it? Or later, when the team is penalized for having two players wearing the same number on the field at the same time?
What is this … Shamrock Meats’ Mighty-Mite football?
No, it’s B-freaking-Y-freaking-U football. Used to be.
There are few playmakers on this team. At last count, there were two — linebacker Fred Warner and tight end Matt Bushman.
The receivers have been particularly underwhelming, but so has the run game. Tanner Mangum could not find any kind of groove before his season-ending injury.
BYU’s offense regularly is required to maintain 15-play drives to score, a requirement that has been too difficult. Mistakes — a dropped pass, a missed block, a wayward throw, a stupid penalty — have been enough to rupture drives and underscore futility.
Play along both lines must improve. But that lack of playmakers has been the season-killer. Think back to the good BYU teams of the past. There were adequate receivers who had sticky hands and ran precise routes, targets who quarterbacks could count on. The running backs have shown just a few hints of promise. Injuries haven’t helped.
Looking back, BYU coaches misjudged many things, including the need for JC talent. Looking ahead, where are the difference-makers? USU transfer TE Joe Tukuafu? Notre Dame transfer OL Tristen Hoge? Oregon transfer DL Wayne Tei-Kirby? JC transfer OL Taipe Vaka? What else? Who else? Mission guys?
Sitake must recruit like a maniac, even out of those JCs, identifying undervalued talent that can fill in gaps and survive the honor code. Some promising recruits already have flipped away. The mission hang time is an issue, but ... no excuses. Kalani has a reputation as a gifted judge of talent and a great recruiter.
Time for him to prove it.
Meanwhile, in the final games, Sitake must circle and play guys who can help him win next season, if they exist, giving them time now, utilizing schemes that match their strengths. Winning is only a side benefit. What’s left of 2017 is about development, about building.
Rebuilding.
Because if BYU has more seasons like this one, optimism and energy won’t be the only things sucked out the window to a faraway place.
GORDON MONSON hosts “The Big Show” with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone.