PROVO — In three consecutive days, BYU's Kalani Sitake signed a new long-term contract, added the highest-rated recruiting class in the program's modern era, and now has some hardware to show for it.
The 10th-year head coach of his alma mater was named Big 12 Coach of the Year, the conference announced Thursday morning after a vote of league coaches who were not allowed to vote for their own players.
Sitake received the honor, which is officially called Big 12 Chuck Neinas Coach of the Year after the former commissioner of the Big 8 Conference from 1971-80. The former BYU fullback guided the Cougars to an 11-1 record in 2025 including an 8-1 mark in Big 12 play and the Cougars' fourth double-digit win season in the past six years.
Overall, Sitake's teams are 17-10 in three seasons of Big 12 play, including a 15-3 mark the past two years.
He wasn't alone in the honors.
Running back LJ Martin was also named Big 12 offensive player of the year, and true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier took league offensive freshman of the year honors.
Martin ran for a career-high 1,229 yards in his junior seasons, currently the 12th-best mark in the country. He also leads the Big 12 with 102.4 yards per game and 1,453 all-purpose yards.
The El Paso, Texas, native is on pace to be just the third BYU rusher in the past 30 years to finish in the top 10 nationally in rushing yards.
Bachmeier, the true freshman from Murrieta, California, joined BYU in the summer after initially signing with Stanford and became the first true freshman starting quarterback in a season opener in BYU history. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound dual-threat signal caller completed 208-of-322 passes for 2,593 yards and 14 touchdowns with just four interceptions, and was named Big 12 freshman of the week seven times during the regular season.
He also ran for 529 yards on 137 carries, the second-highest rushing total on the team.
BYU junior center Bruce Mitchell, senior linebacker Jack Kelly and senior safety Tanner Wall joined Martin on the All-Big 12 first team, which also included four players from the Cougars' opponent in Saturday's Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (10 a.m. MST, ABC).
Top of the list was Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, the Wichita Falls, Texas, native and Virginia transfer who is Texas Tech's first-ever Big 12 defensive player of the year honoree. The senior and darkhorse Heisman Trophy candidate is the first FBS player in 20 years with five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and four interceptions in the same season.
Red Raider defensive line teammate David Bailey earned league defensive newcomer and defensive lineman of the year honors, while Utah quarterback Devon Dampier was named offensive newcomer of the year after leading the Utes to a third 10-win season in the last five years.
Dampier also earned All-Big 12 third-team honors.
Utah tackle Spencer Fano was selected as the league's offensive lineman of the year after paving the way to the second-most rushing yards in school history with 3,237. Fano, a junior who is a projected first-round NFL draft pick in some circles, allowed just 11 sacks all year, which ranks eighth nationally.
Fellow offensive lineman Caleb Lomu was also named to the All-Big 12 first team. Sack artist and pass rusher John Henry Daley earned a spot on the All-Big 12 first-team defensive line, as well.
