Penn State thought their seven-week coaching search would finally end with Sitake, but in bold Texas A&M style, mirroring their massive move of signing a six-year extension with Mike Elko to save him from going to other teams, even BYU pulled a massive move to keep Sitake in.

“There has been a rapid growth in optimism on BYU’s side that they got Sitake to stay,” Barstool Sports’ Liam Blutman said on X. “A number around $8-9 mil plus the NIL benefit is I spoke about earlier. Sitake also advocate for a bigger assistants pool.”

Multiple sources suggest that Kalani Sitake intends to stay at BYU, despite Penn State’s continued optimism about hiring him. As per Blutman, Penn State’s confidence comes in from a handshake agreement allegedly made the day before BYU made a strong push to retain its head coach with a contract extension. Well, BYU had just two losing seasons during Sitake’s tenure and has won at least 10 games in four of the past six seasons, holding an 83-46 record. There’s no way the Cougars are letting Sitake go.

And their athletic director made it pretty clear.

“He is a proven leader, and we are grateful he is once again choosing BYU,” Athletic Director Brian Santiago said. “His legacy of building a championship program the BYU way will continue on. He is one of the best people in the business. We are excited to continue to ride the wave of positive momentum with him.”

Now, BYU is going to invest $9 to $9.5 million a year on Kalani Sitake under his new contract extension, and they will also commit around “$10 to $15 million of NIL on top of revenue sharing” as part of his deal, as per On3’s Pete Nakos. This decision comes in to save BYU’s breakout campaign, as right now they sit at 11-1 overall and 8-1 in the Big 12, which is their first-ever title game; they are playing against Texas Tech.

BYU also has an emotional connection with Sitake, as he played fullback at BYU back in 1994 and from 1997 to 2000 under LaVell Edwards. Even his religious and cultural ties are pretty strong, with BYU being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So, it’s pretty evident that the pull of his alma mater ultimately outweighed Penn State’s influence.

Before coming to BYU, he was at Oregon State and also served as an assistant coach at Utah for a decade. When BYU got him, he became the first Tongan to be the head coach at the top level of college football. Even with all the adversity, he kept the momentum alive; since going 2-7 in conference play in his first season in the Big 12 in 2023, BYU has only gone up with a 15-3 record.

So, an extension was the last thing BYU could have done to keep him close. Now, with his move, let’s talk about Penn State’s future options.

Penn State’s possible options after Kalani Sitake’s denial

Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft continues to search for a head coaching job after Kalani Sitake made his stance clear on BYU. Now, there’s a long list of coaches that they focus on, like Kalen DeBoer, Brent Key, Jeff Brohm, Bob Chesney, and their interim coach, Terry Smith.

Smith seems a perfect choice, as he knows the program in and out, and he took a 3-3 program to a 6-6 record and a bowl appearance under his leadership. Now, if high-profile coaches don’t agree to the job, Kraft might also have his eye on Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, Brian Hartline.

Even Iowa State’s head coach, Matt Campbell, with a 107-70 career record, can be a perfect fit for them. Then there’s Kliff Kingsbury, who could also draw interest from Penn State. Now, he’s the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders, but he brings in head coaching experience from Texas Tech and the Arizona Cardinals. On top of that, his resume is filled with developing elite quarterbacks like Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, Kyler Murray, Patrick Mahomes, and Johnny Manziel.

Now, let’s wait and see who becomes Penn State’s ultimate leader.