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ARLINGTON, Texas — Before making an appearance for the first time at Big 12 media days at the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium, BYU coach Kalani Sitake asked for advice for someone who — unlike him — had been to a conference media day.
Fortunately, he knew a guy: his quarterback.
Starting quarterback Kedon Slovis visited the conference's media day, his third time in the former USC and Pitt transfer's lengthy college football career, which is two more media days for which Sitake has now held court.
"He's been through more media days than I have," Sitake joked.
Still, you might not know it by the looks of the eighth-year head coach as he fielded questions and interrogatories from national and regional media from outside his Utah footprint, offered to buy dinner for a few (on the company credit card, he joked, "because I like to eat"), and quipped other one-liners that local press have heard dozens of times but were brand new to everyone else.
"You know me, I like hanging out with people," Sitake said. "When I first walked in here, I'm like, 'Yeah, this is it,' and I was excited to talk to everybody. I knew I was going to be asked a bunch of different questions, a lot of the same questions … but I want everybody to feel the passion and excitement I have for being here.
"This is a really cool moment for me, for us, and I'm just trying to take it all in and show how much appreciation I have for it. It's really fun."
A lot has changed in Sitake's tenure as head coach of his alma mater, but he hasn't. Sitake is, after all, just a grown-up version of the BYU fan who used to peer through the knotholes at then-Cougar Stadium and played fullback for college football Hall-of-Fame coach LaVell Edwards from 1994-2000.
"This has been a great dream for me, so please don't wake me up," Sitake said. "I'm enjoying it. We're in the Big 12 now, and I am excited for everyone to get to meet our fan base and see how they've been a strength for us and our program, and definitely a strength for me as a head coach."
That's a good thing for BYU fans as they enter a new era of college football, with long-awaited Power Five status — and the soon-to-follow Power Five expectations that will certainly come along with them.
Head man takes the main stage. pic.twitter.com/2EURNW2ROn
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) July 12, 2023
But for now, on this Wednesday afternoon where temperatures swelled to 104 degrees in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Sitake enjoyed himself and showed off a side that his players (and most local reporters who cover the coach on a day-to-day basis) regularly see.
"His ability to embrace everybody around him, and allow everybody to be special truly sets him apart," said BYU receiver Kody Epps, one of BYU's five player representatives to visit media days and face more than 700 registered media in attendance. "In an environment like this, he's going to thrive and he's going to flourish. Everybody wants to ask him questions and pick his brain about certain stuff, but he's a great guy. He's a great guy to be around, to learn insight and wisdom from. I'm just excited for everyone to see that about him."
Added linebacker Ben Bywater: "He's a people person, the people's champ. This dude is butter smooth out here with everybody. I could not think of a guy who does a better job with other coaches, with the media, with everybody. And that's why he's so much fun to play for."
In some ways, it may just be a patch on the chest, but BYU's program has undergone radical change since its 24-23 win over SMU in the New Mexico Bowl in December.
Of course, part of that is a change near the top, with the addition of incoming defensive coordinator Jay Hill, a new defensive scheme, and dozens of newcomers via the NCAA transfer portal — tied with Cincinnati for the most in the conference.
Where those changes take the team is still unknown, and the end result won't be revealed until the fall. But Wednesday marked a significant change, as well: No longer were BYU players reporting to the BYU Broadcast building on campus for a day of interviews and video profiles with local reporters and television anchors.
Instead, there was media from CBS, FOX, ESPN, The Athletic, Sports Illustrated, the Dallas Morning News, the Oklahoman, and outlets as far away as Orlando, all wanting to shine a light on BYU for their respective audiences.
For a moment — before the wins and losses come, and both certainly will — it was the fulfillment of everything BYU has wanted for decades, since they became the first team from outside the current Power Five structure of college football to win a national title in 1984.
"It's a lot bigger, right?" said BYU defensive end Tyler Batty, an All-Big 12 preseason defensive third-team honoree by Lindy's Sports. "There are a lot more schools here, and a lot more energy, as well. It's just different, having all these other teams here, but it's been so cool to be here in AT&T Stadium — we don't have a facility like this in Utah — and everything that the Big 12 has done to put this one has been an experience. I've loved being here."
It's quite the change from the BYU Broadcast building for a day to planning cornhole rounds with Houston's team for a couple of Utah natives like Payson's Batty and Bywater, an Olympus High grad.
"This is remarkable; it's huge. It's super nice, it's bougie, it's the whole nine," Bywater said. "They could not have made a better stadium. I'm really impressed."
Still, for all the smiles and good vibes, football will soon come to the Cougars, whose first season in the Big 12 has many predicting a rough welcome to the league.
BYU was picked to finish 11th out of the conference's 14 teams in the annual preseason media poll. And while no one is putting stock in the preseason poll — not even Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, whose Longhorns were picked to win their first Big 12 title since 2009 a year before departing for the SEC with Oklahoma — the Cougars know they have plenty of work to do to compete with their new conference mates.
It's OK to be excited about a new chapter or a fresh start, but there's still work to do before the fall.
"It's a blessing. But to be honest with you, I don't feel any different," Epps said. "I woke up and saw Twitter and Instagram going crazy, but I can't tell the difference. I'm just excited to play some football and just have a logo on my jersey. ... But we're blessed and honored to be part of this conference, especially with the people we've come across so far. They've truly embraced us as a team and as players."
Big 12 media days continue Thursday in Arlington with players and coaches from defending conference champion Kansas State, Texas Tech, West Virginia, Iowa State and Oklahoma, as well as new members UCF and Cincinnati.
