PROVO, Utah. Dec. 23, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) — Brigham Young University’s newly announced head coach, Kalani Sitake, is bringing Oregon State linebacker coach Ilaisa Tuiaki with him.
In a post on Ilaisa Tuiaki’s Instagram, he released the following statement:
“I want to say thank you to everyone for the love and support in this exciting transition that my family and I are going through.
“Thank you, Gary Anderson, for the opportunities through the years to grow. Gary has been like a coaching father to me during my time as a graduate assistant at Utah to my first opportunity at a Division I job at Utah State.
“A big thank you to the many coaches that have helped me through the years, and players and players’ families whose lives I’ve been fortunate to be a part of.
“Thank you Oregon State Beavers and Beaver Nation for the opportunity to contribute to this great program. I am excited to see you exceed next year.
“And thank you BYU and Cougar Nation for the hospitable warm welcome you’ve extended me. I am excited for the future and can’t wait to meet and work with the team. We’ve got a great man and head coach in Kalani and I couldn’t be more excited to be with him on this journey. Go Cougs!”
Tuiaki even changed his employment status from Oregon State to BYU to share his good news.
Tuiaki has a history here in Utah as a former player at Timpview High and Snow College. He also coached at Utah State and Utah before heading to Oregon State.
Tuilaki is joining Kalani Sitake, a BYU alum and former Utes assistant coach who spent last year as Oregon State’s assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.
Sitake is the first native of Tonga to head coach in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, and the first player coached by the 30-year veteran LaVell Edwards to accept a head coaching position.
The position became available after BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall announced in November he had accepted a job at the University of Virginia and would be taking four of his assistant coaches with him.
