What Kalani Sitake said on ‘The Jim Rome Show’

Given BYU’s surprising 6-0 start, plenty of people around the country are talking about the Cougars.

Among those in the conversation is longtime radio personality Jim Rome, who was joined by Kalani Sitake Tuesday for an interview on his self-titled talk show.

Here are some highlights from Sitake’s appearance on ‘The Jim Rome Show.’

On BYU’s hot start to 2024

“I’m just pleased with the players, the leadership on our team. We have great young men here, and so I’ve been so blessed to be their coach. I love seeing them teach each other and learn. This whole process from the last year to now has been a great learning experience for our players, and the leadership has stepped up. The guys are doing a great job, we’re having a lot of fun and playing some good football too.”

On improving from last year’s 2-7 inaugural Big 12 record

“We knew going into the season that it was going to be tough last year, but we also needed some deficiencies. We didn’t know exactly where to get better at. As we went through that experience, I mean, I don’t think we were getting overwhelmed physically by people, we just were making mistakes and weren’t doing a lot of good. We weren’t playing complimentary football. We weren’t playing fundamentally sound. That can happen when you’re going against tough teams.

“... So that was a learning experience for all of our guys, and it just put a sense of urgency for them. Now they know what to compare it to.

“I compare it to becoming a father for the first time. You think you can know everything about being a parent until you actually become one. Anyone can warn you, you have your opinions, but when you actually go through it, it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, this is way different than I thought.’ So now that these guys know what to compare it to, I think it’s easier now to go through the offseason, the conditioning, the importance of learning the playbook and everybody doing their one-eleventh.”

On staying humble and hungry throughout success

“We talk about love and learn, and that’s the culture that we’re trying to put here at BYU. This is what LaVell (Edwards) did for me when I was a player for him. He was such a legend, he did it the right way. So we’re trying to incorporate the same ideas in 2024, you know, decades later.

“But the concept is that you’re unique to learn, and in order to learn, you need to be humble. A lot of times you can get lose sight of (improvement) with the excitement, the energy and for the praise that we’re getting, we get caught up in it. We need to humble ourselves and know that we there’s still room for improvement.

“I think it’s important to celebrate the victories, but then all of a sudden you get back to it, we gotta get back to work. That’s always been our mantra, regardless of the result of the game. We can’t get too high on ourselves and we can’t get too low, or we can’t learn. We’re committed to learning and getting better. I want to see these guys improve. I think week to week, I’ve seen them improve every week as we go along.”

On facing a slumping Oklahoma State team after losing to the Cowboys in 2023’s season finale

“(The 2023 loss) stayed with me just because that was the last game that we played last year ... We weren’t able to get that bowl game (eligibility) in that game, and it’s not Oklahoma State’s fault, it’s our fault. We made mistakes in that game.

“They’re a really good team and they played for the conference championship last year, so they have our attention, but I don’t think you get into this revenge factor type of game. We have a lot of respect for Mike Gundy and his coaching staff and that team. They have talent all over the place, and their backs are against the wall. We know we’re going to get their best shot. I want our team to get the best shot too. I mean, we know we’re going to get there. They’re coming off of a bye week. We know what that’s like to prepare an extra week. So we’re expecting their best.”