Kalani Sitake was rumored to be Penn State’s top target for its coaching job.
After seeing reports, Crumbl Cookies CEO Jason McGowan stepped in and used fan support and money to convince Sitake not to leave.
With its signature pink box, Crumbl is a dessert chain founded in Utah known for making big cookies and desserts.
It’s also now known for its big influence in Brigham Young football.
It was a wild week in Provo, Utah, with Cougars coach Kalani Sitake reportedly at the top of Penn State’s long coaching search. The Nittany Lions were pushing hard to hire him, causing panic for a program that is one win away from their first College Football Playoff appearance.
That was until some big-time donor decided to “get off the sidelines’ and get to work. That was Crumbl co-founder and CEO Jason McGowan, who got BYU to rally around its coach by baking up a sweet treat with a heavy dose of love and financial commitment.
The finished product out of the oven? A long-term extension for Sitake that keeps him at his alma mater – and Penn State still searching.
“Sometimes, you just got to get off the sidelines in life and just try your best to see what you can do to make a difference,” McGowan told USA TODAY Sports. “Every once in a while, it pans out.”
Crumbl helps BYU keep Kalani Sitake
It makes sense Sitake eventually got on Penn State’s radar. The Cougars have thrived in the Big 12 under him, going 11-2 last season and reaching this season’s conference championship game. He’s won double-digit games in four of the past six seasons. Penn State felt confident it had found its man.
The idea of Sitake leaving BYU was “gut-wreching” for McGowan, so he got to work. He posted a cryptic yet obvious message on X that he was going to do whatever he could to keep Sitake at BYU.
Not long after, he made another post that called for Cougars fans to show how much Sitake meant to the school and show him love and respect. He called it a love bomb, believing there would be a tremendous response. Just to incentivize it, McGowan said he’d give away four 50-yard line seats and airfare to the Big 12 championship game in Arlington, Texas, for the best responses.
“I wanted to remind Kalani just how much everyone loves him,” McGowan said. “I knew he would get a tremendous response.”
Maybe the prize helped, but It clearly had an impact. BYU fans flooded social media, and as McGowan put it, “it turned Kalani’s heart.” Sitake was emotional during the press conference announcing his extension as he recalled all the messages directed toward him.
“It was an amazing feeling of appreciation from everybody,” Sitake said. “I don’t know how you can leave that, man. I just don’t know how you can walk away from it.”
Love is a great way to convince someone, but ultimately, money does do quite a bit of talking. Luckily, McGowan is just one of several major donors for the Cougars with his company that made over $1 billion in sales in 2023, according to Forbes. After BYU beat Utah, he offered to cover the fine for rushing the field, and when the Cougars weren’t penalized, he ended up donating to the NIL fund and paying lunch debt in the nearby school districts.
It’s unknown how much McGowan, other donors and BYU offered up to keep Sitake. As a private school backed by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU doesn’t have to make its finances public.
But there was a bigger financial commitment. Athletic director Brian Santiago said Sitake didn’t talk much about his own compensation, but he wanted to take care of the people around him – assists, team staff and players.
“It’s not really about the money, but there is an opportunity for me to take care of my players and my staff and make sure that we’re all headed in the right direction of what we want to accomplish,” Sitake said.
Whatever the price was, it was right enough to slam the door shut on the Nittany Lions. Sitake proclaimed it was time to “quit all the drama” because “I’m here.”
With university and donor back, Santiago said it was a significant investment to “make sure that we do everything we can to retain Kalani Sitake.”
“I think Penn State offered some tremendous support,” McGowan said. “I think that was appealing to him, but I think we showed Kalani that we equally – BYU especially – and us donors in our small little way, to help out.
“We’ve got all these amazing donors behind us that just says we’re here. We’re all committed on BYU, too. It wasn’t just me. It was everyone just saying, ‘Yep, we’re here for you.’”
Why BYU wanted Kalani Sitake to stay
The week has revealed how greatly Sitake is viewed at BYU: a highly respected individual with love for the university and its fans. In McGowan’s eyes, there was no one else that could be in charge of the Cougars.
“Finding a coach who can help us win, that’s replaceable,” McGowan said. “Finding someone who can help us win, but also the character and the person he is and the values he’s trying to share, I had a hard time imagining anyone else that could come in and do what he did.
“We love him and we want him here, and you can see that.”
As if the Nittany Lions coaching search couldn’t get worse, salt was rubbed in the wound when Virginia Tech and its former coach James Franklin had Crumbl cookies at its signing day ceremony. It made sense to assume McGowan was involved in it, but don’t blame him.
“I didn’t have any part of it,” McGowan said with a laugh. “Seeing that happen, I laughed and thought it was really, really funny. I think we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously.”
Now that BYU has its guy, it can focus on trying to make the playoff. McGowan said to expect another version of love bombing, this time aimed at the playoff selection committee to remind them it belongs in the field.
There’s no better proof than teams coming up to bat for Sitake – and all striking out − thanks to the pink box.
“You know what else believes it?” McGowan added. “Penn State, and so does everyone else because they want our coach, right?’