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USA Today Grades the Kalani hire -- "C"

by snoscythe · 12/21/2015

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scott715
I heard the writer is a Ute so take it for a grain of salt.
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snoscythe
scott715 wrote:
I heard the writer is a Ute so take it for a grain of salt.


Nope. He's pure east-coaster--a Vanderbilt Commodore.



https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-wolken-0761b5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Ddawg
I read the short assessment of the Kalani Sitake hire. I think the "C" rating comes from the fact that he has never been a Head Coach. Nothing to rate him on. BYU is stepping into the "great unknown" here.



Interestingly, in the article they praised the job he did at Utah.

"Sitake, a BYU alum, did a great job as Utah's defensive coordinator between 2008-2014 before going to Oregon State with Gary Andersen last season. Whether that translates into head coaching success, particularly at a high-profile job like BYU, is unclear."



IMHO - just the Polynesian recruiting power that Kalani brings - it's a home run. The real key here is, who does Kalani hire as his OC, etc? The assistant hiring is crucial for a smooth transition. I think the hiring Kalani is much better than the USA article gives credit for.



But then again - Mongo's not smart.
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pikoi
So you aren't a fan of Sitake. We get it. Who could we have hired? It is not simple to hire a head coach at BYU. Many factors at play- it isn't even a desireable job to many of the candidates one might suggest as the highest priority. All things considered, the BYU program just isn't a desireable landing place for more established candidates. We may end up rolling the dice on coordinators with no head coaching experience for the foreseable future. That is going to land us a "C" grade every time. In fact, I'd imagine by similar criteria Bronco, and even Lavell, given their pre-head coach at BYU resumes weren't much better than a "C" either. Here is to hoping that Coach Sitake lead us to a long and prosperous era of good, clean BYU football.
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ABYUFAN
I'd rate it a "C" too. Although honestly, it has to be an "incomplete." Bronco's hiring on the date of his hiring was a "C-" at its absolute best, so it's not like we haven't been here before.

Niumatalolo would have been an “A.” A proven successful head coach; Whitingham would have been an “A” (but an F in my book) for the same reason. Sark a “B” Sitake cannot be anything higher than a “C” now, but he can earn his way to A status. I’m willing to support him as he tries.
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snoscythe
Ddawg wrote:
IMHO - just the Polynesian recruiting power that Kalani brings - it's a home run.


I think the poly-pipeline is oversold by folks like Vai Sikahema shilling for a Polynesian to be hired, and by white people who think all Polynesians flock together.



My brother-in-law is Tongan (75%), and was recruited to play linebacker by BYU, among other schools. He liked BYU and always wanted to play there, but was turned off by how BYU recruited him. The coaches who recruited him were BYU's two Polynesian coaches on staff. The problem was, he is a linebacker. His future position coach (Tidwell, white) only was involved in the process when and if my B-I-L was on campus. Otherwise, all he got was the Polynesian coaches, and his primary contact was the one who wasn't even a defensive coach. That was the turnoff for him. He feels that BYU saw him as a poly first, and a linebacker second and that's how they recruited him. He now starts at linebacker for a perennial PAC12 power.



An honest assessment of BYU's Polynesian pipeline reflects that when BYU is winning 10+ games a year, BYU is getting all the Polynesians they want. When BYU struggles to win, we lose out on those guys to schools that are winning. It's about wins and losses and talent, not race or ethnicity.
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Isola
snoscythe wrote:
I heard the writer is a Ute so take it for a grain of salt.


Nope. He's pure east-coaster--a Vanderbilt Commodore.



https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-wolken-0761b5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He may have gone to Vandy, but it seems like he has a soft spot for the Utes.



http://www.usatoday.com/staff/2455/dan-wolken/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



There is only one line on his USA Today page and it reads "Dan Wolken is a national college football writer who doesn't think there's a better press box view in the world than from Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium."



But I also agree, that without proven head coaching experience, it is tough to go higher than a C. And the paragraphs after the grade were pretty complimentary of BYU.
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stuckinbig10country
What were they supposed to give them? An A because people like him and he's a good recruiter?



He was average at best at calling defense at Utah and was below average at Oregon State. He's not as good as the coach we just lost, but I'm not sure he has to be with how good Bronco left it for him.



His assistant hires are going to need to be slam dunks, if not he's screwed. I hope he brings in a DC that's better than he is at coordinating a defense. Cause I like him as the face of the organization, but I don't trust him to run the defense.
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EM_Puma
snoscythe wrote:
The outside reviewers aren't as excited as the Derik Stevenson acolytes:



http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2015/12/20/college-football-coaching-carousel-grades/77628580/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


"BYU — Kalani Sitake

The Cougars were working from a very limited pool because of school requirements that the head coach be an active member of the Mormon faith. Navy's Ken Niumatalolo would have been a home run, but once he turned BYU down, the options were much less attractive for athletics director Tom Holmoe.



Sitake, a BYU alum, did a great job as Utah's defensive coordinator between 2008-2014 before going to Oregon State with Gary Andersen last season. Whether that translates into head coaching success, particularly at a high-profile job like BYU, is unclear."


Meh. I think his explanation is a bit weak. Of the 18 coaches he reviews, 11 did not come from the head coaching ranks and not much more of a resume than Sitake. He gave South Carolina likewise a "C" and they hired the highest paid college coordinator and the former head coach at Florida, Will Muschamp. It almost seemed like his slam was that they could have hired one of the up-and-coming HC's over those that have P5 head coaching experience.



On his list, 5 of top 6 came from teams that were not official P5's (BYU is kind of officially a fence rider with some P5's saying yes, and other P5s saying no). Those 5 had all been successful at those non-P5 teams. That covers A+ down to B+. I get that.



If he would have said something like "the jury is still out" until at least Sitake has a chance to get assistants in-house, I could have bought that, but just on the surface, his arguments were weak in comparison to similar circumstances at the other 17.



Interesting that of the 18, as noted, 5 of the top 6 were non-P5 hires. Of the next 12, ALL were P5 hires. Personally, I like it that he listed him at #17 of the 18 hires. Only way to go from the bottom is up and maybe such a view will have Sitake coaching with a little chip on his shoulder.
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Ddawg
snoscythe wrote:
IMHO - just the Polynesian recruiting power that Kalani brings - it's a home run.


I think the poly-pipeline is oversold by folks like Vai Sikahema shilling for a Polynesian to be hired, and by white people who think all Polynesians flock together.



My brother-in-law is Tongan (75%), and was recruited to play linebacker by BYU, among other schools. He liked BYU and always wanted to play there, but was turned off by how BYU recruited him. The coaches who recruited him were BYU's two Polynesian coaches on staff. The problem was, he is a linebacker. His future position coach (Tidwell, white) only was involved in the process when and if my B-I-L was on campus. Otherwise, all he got was the Polynesian coaches, and his primary contact was the one who wasn't even a defensive coach. That was the turnoff for him. He feels that BYU saw him as a poly first, and a linebacker second and that's how they recruited him. He now starts at linebacker for a perennial PAC12 power.



An honest assessment of BYU's Polynesian pipeline reflects that when BYU is winning 10+ games a year, BYU is getting all the Polynesians they want. When BYU struggles to win, we lose out on those guys to schools that are winning. It's about wins and losses and talent, not race or ethnicity.


Great assessment and diagnosis Sno. Agreed.
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Mars
pikoi wrote:
We may end up rolling the dice on coordinators with no head coaching experience for the foreseable future. That is going to land us a "C" grade every time. In fact, I'd imagine by similar criteria Bronco, and even Lavell, given their pre-head coach at BYU resumes weren't much better than a "C" either.

I'd have given Bronco a C+, and LaVell a C- at the times of their hiring. Nationally, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are A+s. For BYU, considering our smaller pool, Sitake is an A-, IMO.
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pikoi
Well, the "N of 1" argument that you make can just as easily be interpreted as evidence that Bronco's staff was botching the recruiting Polynesian athletes and that a staff more in touch with the culture and perspectives of those athletes might do better. As part of the Polynesian community here and in Hawaii I can tell you that this hire has created an excitement that has already changed the attitude of the community toward BYU (it has skewed toward the negative in the last few years). As BYU fans I think we can all agree that given that Coach Sitake is already hired, we should hope that this will be among the many aspects of his success.
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pikoi
Mars wrote:
We may end up rolling the dice on coordinators with no head coaching experience for the foreseable future. That is going to land us a "C" grade every time. In fact, I'd imagine by similar criteria Bronco, and even Lavell, given their pre-head coach at BYU resumes weren't much better than a "C" either.

I'd have given Bronco a C+, and LaVell a C- at the times of their hiring. Nationally, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are A+s. For BYU, considering our smaller pool, Sitake is an A-, IMO.


Agreed.
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scott715
He's only been on the job for a few days. We know nothing about how it will work out. Every comment has been guess work. Let's see how signing day goes and then spring practice and his first season before we pass judgement.



Right now I am excited to see how the recruits respond. So far he has them thinking about it. He needs his assistants who will be focused on recruiting to help reel them in.
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