"BYU is in great hands" Colorado HC Deion Sanders believes his Big 12 rival Kalani Sitake is the guy for the Cougars

The BYU Cougars are ready to shake off their first year in the Big 12 Conference, as they did not perform as well as they would have liked. However, Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders gave some words of encouragement regarding Cougars coach Kalani Sitake.

While being interviewed with BYU TV at Big 12 Media Days, Sanders discussed how BYU Cougars coach Kalani Sitake is the right man to lead the program in the right direction.

"First of all, your head coach is awesome, amazing. Let me tell you something, man, at the Big 12 Meetings, just sitting beside him, and he was so welcoming, he was so kind. He was like one of the best dudes ever. The spirit that he had illuminated the entire room... I love that BYU is in great hands because that man right there does not only love the program, but loves the kids and loves the game," Sanders said.

Kalani Sitake has been the head coach for the Cougars since the 2016 season and the team has gone 61-41 as well as 4-2 in bowl games under his leadership. The Cougars went 5-7 (2-7 Big 12) in their first season with the new conference after being an independent program.

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What should we expect out of coach Kalani Sitake and the BYU Cougars in 2024?

The Cougars and coach Kalani Sitake will have a new starting quarterback in the 2024-25 season. All signs are pointing to quarterback Jake Retzlaff and Baylor transfer Gerry Bohanon competing for the starting job. The way those two perform is going to be important for the program as the offense was their weak link in the last season, scoring 23.1 points and outside of the top 90 teams in both passing (205.4) and rushing (104.3) yards per game.

Going into a power conference takes some time to get used to and the Cougars still going 5-7 is a good baseline. Their schedule for the upcoming season is listed below:

Date	Opponent
8/31	vs. Southern Illinois
9/6	at SMU
9/14	at Wyoming
9/21	vs. Kansas State
9/28	at Baylor
10/12	vs. Arizona
10/18	vs. Oklahoma State
10/26	at UCF
11/9	at Utah
11/16	vs. Kansas
11/23	at Arizona State
11/30	vs. Houston