Win or lose, BYU football is having fun under Kalani Sitake

PROVO — The BYU football team showed a lot of itself on the field with a 31-14 win at Michigan State, namely being in a line-it-up and run-hard offense that can win games behind Jamaal Williams and a strong offensive line.

It also showed something after the game in the visitors locker room in East Lansing, Michigan; these Cougars (3-3) are having fun.

Head coach Kalani Sitake was caught on camera in a dance off with football director of alumni relations Jack Damuni in the middle of a screaming, laughing, exuberant football team after the biggest win of Sitake’s first year as head coach.

“They all got into the game because it was fun at one time,” said Sitake, who celebrated his 41st birthday Monday with cheers, cake and song after practice. “Whenever it becomes a job, it becomes a little harder to deal with. The more we can remind these guys to keep having fun with what they do — just like your job — it becomes easier in life.”

Of course, winning is always easier than losing. But there are ways to make the lessons learned from a loss fun, as BYU has had to do three times in losses to Utah, UCLA and West Virginia before its most recent two-game winning streak.

“There are a lot of good things to celebrate in a loss: progress, and things to build off,” Sitake said. “Having a positive outlook is the most important thing, and realizing the opportunity they have to compete. It’s important to represent their family on the field.”

The fun side of college football is made more evident by Sitake, showing a personality that players want to play for. The first-year head coach has made plenty of friends in stops at Utah and Oregon State, and his personality warrants a fun-loving atmosphere around him.

“Coach Kalani is the man,” said offensive lineman Tuni Kanuch, one of the team’s strongest personalities who put in a top shift Saturday. “I look up to him a lot; he’s a father figure to me. I think a lot of players see him as our leader. We know that he loves us. To be able to celebrate with him means more to us because it shows a team win.

“I was tired, but it was fun. We’re all about having fun and getting the job done. We play better when we are having fun.”

Sitake’s personality is also one that knows there is a season for everything: to have fun and celebrate, to kick back, to work hard — and also to mourn, such as they did with Saturday’s pre-game tribute to fallen Michigan State alumni Mike Sadler and Mylan Hicks.

“I think we all realize that the game is just a game,” quarterback Taysom Hill said. “There’s more to life than just football. We were trying to show the deep loss for the Michigan State program, and we realize that and wouldn’t wish it upon anybody.”

Marking the good times in the game becomes even more important, then. Even Ty Detmer, the former BYU star and Heisman Trophy winner who still speaks with a dry Texas drawl, got in on the fun with a Saturday Macarena — like any BYU student who spent part of the ’90s in Provo.

“Coach Sitake has come in here and brought an atmosphere of ‘this is football, and we are going to do everything we can to win,’” Hill said. “But it’s football, and it’s a lot of fun to be a part of a team. These are moments you’ll remember for the rest of your life.

“He’s really brought that atmosphere in, and we’ve had a lot of fun this season.”

Saturday was a well-wrapped early birthday present to Sitake from the BYU football team. Friday presents another opportunity for a gift — a rare win over a Southeastern Conference school in Mississippi State.

“I hope I can get a few more of those (wins) as we go along,” Sitake quipped, “especially one this weekend.”

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