Kalani Sitake will reportedly be named BYU head coach

Now everyone wants LDS recruits, and you have to scrap to get them.

On its 15th day, the search for BYU’s next head football coach ended, as it was reported Saturday that the Cougars have hired former player Kalani Sitake to replace Virginia-bound Bronco Mendenhall.

The Salt Lake Tribune’s Jay Drew confirmed the news, citing multiple sources.

Sitake has helped guide two Pac 12 defenses at Utah and Oregon State, though his first-year unit struggled to a last-place finish in the Pac 12 in scoring defense (37 points per game), total defense (481.5 yards allowed per game) and rushing defense (225.5 yards allowed per game).

Sitake had moved to Oregon State with new Beavers coach Gary Andersen.

Prior to coaching at Oregon State, Sitake was a defensive assistant at the University of Utah for nine seasons.

Sitake made 0,000 as OSU’s defensive coordinator this year, making him the 27th-highest paid assistant coach in the country. Utah’s defense had been in the top 30 in S&P+ from 2014-2010, an impressive feat. Harmon also reports that Sitake is currently negotiating with possible staff members now, and that the move is quite popular with some BYU alumni and former players.

And, at just 40, he could be BYU’s next Lavell Edwards (adding continued stability to the BYU football program.) As a former coordinator with the Utes, he could have staff connections that would benefit the Cougs and hurt the Utes, a win/win for any fan of BYU.

BYU met with a range of other candidates nationally, including Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo as late as Monday morning.