The talks are real. The position has been discussed multiple times.
So, too, have loose parameters of a contract offer.
Penn State and BYU head coach Kalani Sitake are continuing to discuss the Nittany Lions's head football coaching vacancy, which has been open since midseason when Pat Kraft fired 12th-year head coach James Franklin amidst a 3-3 start to a season that eventually concluded last weekend at 6-6 following a 40-36 win at Rutgers.
Perhaps also complicating matters? BYU, now 11-1 with Saturday's regular-season ending win against UCF and No. 11 in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings, faces No. 5 Texas Tech Saturday at the Dallas Cowboys's AT&T Stadium in the Big 12 Conference title game. The winner secures an automatic CFP bid; BYU also is seeking to avenge its only regular-season loss.
Still, the two sides, per numerous sources, have engaged in more and more conversations the past 10 days as the Nittany Lions's search has wound a circuitous route.
From speaking with a source deeply connected to the Penn State search and with ties at all level of the sport, FootballScoop can share talks between Penn State and BYU head coach Kalani Sitake are very real.
“Anyone who understands football can turn on the tape and see tremendous schematics in all three phases of the game and players who play with great discipline," said this source. "Like any step up, the question is will he be able to assemble a staff that can recruit to the Northeast.
"But, as we all know, the bigger the rev-share (revenue-sharing dollars) and NIL, that mitigates the risk to some degree.”
Additionally, three different agents, all from different companies, told FootballScoop over the weekend and into Monday morning that the "talks are real."
"I think it's real but (is it) all for leverage," one source said. "Why leave BYU, your school as well as your church, when you have it rolling now better than ever?"
But Sitake's salary has lagged drastically behind his contemporaries, per published reports. As a private institution for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, BYU does not have to publicly disclose any coaches' salaries, operating expenses or revenues; various published reports have tabbed Sitake's salary in the $3 million range, plus bonuses and performance incentives.
Penn State, meanwhile, was paying Franklin more than $8.5 million annually, had committed more than $50 million to his contract and also had additional performance escalators, such as College Football Playoff-appearance bonuses, increasing financial rewards for each CFP win and a seven-figure bonus for a CFP Championship.
Nothing about this is a done deal at this point, but it has advanced enough that potential staff composition has been a topic of discussion, and sources indicated Sitake is strongly considering staff options should they come to an agreement.
Sitake last year signed an extension with BYU on his existing deal that ran through the 2027 season; sources indicated this revamped pact carried Sitake's deal through the 2029-30 range.