Kalani Sitake is playing the leverage game... again.

If Kalani Sitake said that the locker room needed to be lit up exclusively with lava lamps, I would support him and say BYU needs to get it done.

Before I say anything that I am about to say, I want that to be perfectly clear. As the head man of the premier program at Brigham Young University, I want to see the University spend all available resources to give him whatever he feels he needs to win football games. I don't care if it seems lavish or unnecessary, I want BYU to make everything under the sun available to Kalani.

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Obviously, there are limitations. BYU cannot pay for what they cannot afford. So, if Kalani asks for SpaceX trips to the moon for recruits on official visits, the answer probably has to be no. But, I want the answer to be no because BYU says they cannot afford SpaceX trips for players, not because some dude in a suit says that it isn't necessary. I don't care if that dude in the suit is Shane Reese, Keith Vorkink, Brian Santiago, or anyone else under BYU's employ.

I want Kalani to make football decisions and determine what football needs to win. I want someone else to manage the budget and say yes as much as possible, until the funds are gone.

That's the preface. Now let's get into what I want to talk about today.

For the second time in just a few months, Kalani is putting some pressure on the BYU administration, particularly directed towards Santiago. As we've already discussed this week, I don't know the specifics of what is and what is not true in the midst of this rumor storm this week, but I do know that Kalani has taken aim at Santiago and has not shied away from it.

I mean, just listen to his response to the question about his relationship with Santiago.

"How is my relationship with everybody? I'm easy to get along with as long as you just take care of our football team and take care of the boys."

To break that down, Kalani is directly asked about his direction relationship with Santiago specifically. He answers by saying he gets along with everyone (he does), but then speaks specifically to the one person who is responsible for taking care of the football team, and he gives him a kind of threat. "As long as you just take care of our football team and take care of the boys."

That's not a comment directed towards Jeff Hansen – I can't take care of the football team or the boys.

That's not a comment directed towards Kevin Young – he can't take care of the football team or the boys.

That's not a comment directed at Bear Bachmeier – it isn't his responsibility to take care of the football team or the boys.

There is only one person whose literal job is to take care of the football team and the boys, and that's the BYU Athletics Director.

It goes without saying that Kalani is trying to turn up the heat and put some pressure on Santiago to do whatever Kalani believes needs to be done. This isn't the first time he has done this.

Last December, Santiago faced the same kind of situation when it became clear that Kalani was making his move towards Penn State. Rumors spread the week before the Big 12 Championship Game and Santiago had to pass an early test. Whatever he did, he did enough to keep Kalani in Provo.

Now Kalani is doing it again, publicly pointing the finger on Santiago and putting some pressure on him.

There are some similarities between this time and last time. In December, it was before the Big 12 title game, arguably the biggest game for BYU since 1984. BYU needed to avoid distractions, but the coach's dealings became the talk of the town. Ultimately, Kalani got what he was asking for, or at least enough of what he was asking for, and decided to stay in Provo. He capitalized on his leverage and got what he wanted.

Good job, Kalani.

Oh, but BYU did get the butts handed to them in the Big 12 title game, losing to Texas Tech by a final score of 34-7.

Would Tech have beaten BYU without Kalani's sideshow? Maybe, Tech was really good. But we'll never know for sure. We do know that BYU dealt with distractions and uncertainty and got their backsides handed to them in the ensuing game.

Kalani is following a similar path right now, but instead of the biggest single game in 40 years of BYU football, it's the biggest season in 40 years of BYU football.

The Cougars have an excellent quarterback coming back, an All-American caliber center, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year in the Big 12, and as many as 10 NFL draft picks on their roster. They bring back most of their defense, and added the top linebacker in the transfer portal into the mix. BYU is loaded this year, and have an opportunity to make national noise at a historic level for the program.

Perfect time for Kalani to use that leverage, eh?

But it is a little different this time. Last year when Kalani flexed, the downside was still as 12-win season. This year, the downside is a really disappointing season.

The Cougars are widely expected to compete to win the conference this year, with many analysts picking them to win the conference. If the Cougars come up short of that, the season will be disappointing. If the Cougars come up way short of that, the season would be an outright disaster.

Hell of a time to try and use that leverage...

Right now, the fanbase has their crosshairs set on Santiago. That's what Kalani wants to have happen, and that's why he is speaking out publicly about the things he's choosing to speak out about. To suggest that he doesn't want to put the public screws to Santiago would be foolish. If that's not true, then why is he talking publicly about any of this at all? So yeah, he's trying to put the pressure on Santiago and it is working.

But if Kalani doesn't follow up with wins then this whole thing could backfire. That September 12 game against Arizona looms large. The Wildcats are a good team this year. Noah Fifita is a great quarterback and they just got stud running back Ismail Mahdi back as a fifth-year. The 'Cats are absolutely good enough to beat BYU. If they do, then you're going to start to see some people direct their frustrations back at Kalani. If they drop the October 3 game at TCU, then you'll really start to hear it.

Kalani is playing a dangerous game. The fanbase looked past the blowout loss in the Big 12 Championship Game because Tech was so good. But they won't look past it again.

To be clear, Santiago needs to get his house in order. Whether he's right or wrong in this scenario is kind of irrelevant at this point because his head football coach is upset and making it known to anyone who will listen. Santiago must get the mess cleaned up (or BYU must clean up the mess that is Santiago).

There is a timeline to this feud though. The date isn't determined, but it won't last much longer than the first loss.

One thing is for sure, this season is going to be fascinating.