Watch the Christ-centered speech Kalani Sitake gave after BYU’s win over Utah

Amid the rambunctiousness in the BYU football locker room following the team’s dramatic 22-21 victory over Utah last weekend, Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake quieted the group and delivered a speech about being Christ-centered and loving others.
As shown in “The Cut,” the weekly highlights video the Cougars athletic department puts together following football games, the theme of Sitake’s speech was Helaman 5:12 from The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
The verse reads, “And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.”
Said Sitake of the passage: “It’s important that we stay humble, it’s important that we love even our opponents, so we’ve been teaching that to you guys. We lay the foundation. We talk about Helaman Chapter 5, verse 12, you build the foundation and it will not fail. You guys are the foundation. The people that you represent that are here and that are no longer here, you guys did a great job representing yourself out there.”
Sitake went on to tell his players that opponents believe in the same tenets of success as he, his players and staff do, so “that’s why it’s important to respect them and love ‘em.”
He added that legendary BYU coach LaVell Edwards taught him that concept when he played for him (from 1994-2000), and sometimes there were questions about why Edwards would teach about love in a football setting.
“It’s what tough guys do,” Sitake said. “He taught me that lesson, and then all I did was try to love as many people as I could, and now they’re here with me and I call them my brothers, and so who knows what can happen and the relationships you can have by just being kind and being Christlike. … That’s the beauty of the gospel in football. There’s nothing like it, and that’s what tough guys do.”
At the end of the speech, Sitake said, “If it weren’t for this place I wouldn’t be your coach” and pointed to examples of defensive coordinator Jay Hill, defensive tackles coach Sione Po’uha, linebackers coach Justin Ena and offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick as being in the same position.
“Don’t you guys agree that they are ours, they’re our family?,” Sitake asked, putting his hands toward his heart. “That’s the beauty of following Christ and living your life that way, even playing the game of football.”
The entire episode of this week’s “The Cut,” which runs 16:44, can be seen here.