Kalani Sitake, the head football coach for Brigham Young University (BYU), visited the greater Chattanooga Area over the last several days. In honor of his visit, Mayor Andy Berke and the city of Chattanooga named April 25, 2017 as Kalani Sitake day.
Governor Bill Haslam named Coach Sitake an honorary Tennesseean, and the state of Tennessee’s House of Representatives issued a proclamation. The Hamilton County Commission also paid tribute to Coach Sitake. Official presentations were made at a meeting held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) on Ooltewah-Ringgold Road on Tuesday. City, county and state officials representatives, including Judge Russell Bean, Assessor Marty Haynes, Judge Neil Thomas, and Joan Carter representing her husband, State Rep.
Mike Carter, attended the meeting.
Coach Sitake is the first Tongan to become a collegiate football head coach. He was a star player at BYU in Provo, Utah, and played under the legendary coach Lavell Edwards. Sitake was BYU’s Impact Player of the year in 1999 and, in 2000, was named team captain and BYU’s most valuable running back. He signed with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2001, but was forced to retire due to an injury. He became BYU’s head coach in 2015.
After his freshman year at BYU in 1994, Sitake took a break from football to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the California Oakland Mission where local Chattanoogan Phil Smartt, and his wife, Gloria, were presiding over missionaries serving in that mission. Phil Smartt had the privilege of introducing coach Sitake on Tuesday, more than two decades after their service together in California. When introducing Sitake, Phil Smartt spoke of what a great missionary Elder Sitake had been. He said Elder Sitake was "hard-working, dedicated, obedient, and committed to following in the steps of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."
Speaking to all in attendance – youth and adults alike – Coach Sitake emphasized that coaching is about teaching. It’s about character building. “Life is not about money and fame,” he said, “but about helping each other and being an angel in the lives of those who need uplifting.” Life is about serving as the Savior would have us serve, and doing as the Savior would have us do, Sitake taught.
Coach Sitake went on to share stories of faith from his own life, about what it was like to grow up in a single-parent home, raised by his father. He bore testimony" of how the Ten Commandments shaped his life – especially the commandment to 'honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee' (Exodus 20:12). Coach Sitake said he determined as a youth to honor his father and mother, although they were divorced, and said that now, as a coach, in the recruitment process, he always looks to how a player treats his parents. He said if a player doesn’t listen to his mother and father, most likely a player will not listen to his coach, either.
Coach Sitake stressed the importance of prayer. He said he prays about everything, and urged those in attendance to do the same. He also spoke of humility and said that he is where he is today "not because he is anyone special but as a result of a lot of people caring about him – and because Heavenly Father had sent angels to him when he needed them the most – especially his wife, Timberly, who he prayed would say yes when he asked her to marry him. Timberly, he said, is a Southern girl from Florida, and he is thankful that he can now lay claim to Southern roots." Sitake spoke of how much he loves his wife and kids. And he also expressed thanks for his two angels from Chattanooga – Phil and Gloria Smartt.
At a reception held prior to his speaking engagement, Coach Sitake spoke of the service projects that are an integral part of the BYU football program, and noted that some BYU football players will be traveling to Harlem next month to provide community-based service. While in Chattanooga, Coach Sitake was a featured speaker at the Rotary Club, and CBL’s national convention. He was interviewed by Sports Talk radio and the local ESPN. Coach Sitake also participated in a golf tournament held at Windstone by the local BYU-alumni chapter on Monday to raise scholarship funds for local youth to attend BYU. Coach Sitake conveyed how deeply touched he was for the warm hospitality that was extended to him during his stay in the city and said he looks forward to returning to Chattanooga, to “take care of the day that was named after him.”