FRISCO, Texas – Brigham Young football coach Kalani Sitake discussed his school’s controversial honor code here July 8 and said he loves his quarterback Jake Retzlaff even though he violated it for having premarital sex. But Sitake also mostly sidestepped questions about the controversy even after it threw his team into a bind on the eve of the 2025 season.
“First of all, I love Jake Retzlaff,” Sitake said at the annual preseason Big 12 Conference media days event north of Dallas. “We love Jake Retzlaff and appreciate all that he’s done for our program. I think it would be inappropriate for me to make a statement in his situation first. I think that’s his right. I think it’s a private matter that he can speak for himself, and I’m going to give him the opportunity to do that.”
Retzlaff is looking to leave BYU after getting caught up in a scandal for having premarital sex. He faces a seven-game suspension because it violated the school’s honor code, which calls for living a “chaste and virtuous life.”
Before that, he had been sued by a woman in May who accused him of sexually assaulting her at his home in 2023 – an allegation that was denied by his attorney.
His attorney said their relations instead were consensual, which helped his case in court but still got him into trouble with a school that is run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).
RULES TO LIVE BY: Everything to know about the BYU honor code
The lawsuit recently was dismissed. Retzlaff also is Jewish, not LDS, but it didn’t matter.
“Every school has their standards,” Sitake said. “We have ours too. … And we expect our students to live, to live according to what they what they signed up for.”
BYU running back LJ Martin echoed that notion Tuesday when asked his opinion of the BYU honor code.
‘My opinion of the honor code is if you’re a Christian and you believe in Christian beliefs, that’s pretty much what the honor code has,’ Martin told USA TODAY Sports.
Martin said he’s not LDS but ‘what Christ wants us to do is part of the honor code.’
When asked what he was told about Retzlaff’s status on the team, Martin also echoed his coach’s message, which implied the decision is up to Retzlaff whether he wants to stay with BYU.
‘He hasn’t said nothing,’ Martin said of Retzlaff. ‘So I’m just going to leave it up to him.’
In March 2011, BYU men’s basketball player Brandon Davies was kicked off the team for the same reason, even as the Cougars were making a run to the NCAA tournament.
In the case of Retzlaff, his loss also puts his team into a bind after he led them to an 11-2 season last year, including a win over Colorado in the Alamo Bowl. After serving as co-captain of last year’s team, he’s now looking for a landing spot elsewhere to avoid the suspension.
A transfer quarterback or two is poised to replace him at BYU: McCae Hillstead from Utah State, Treyson Bourguet from Western Michigan or Bear Bachmeier from Stanford. Hillstead and Bourguet were on the roster last year for the Cougars but did not play.
Sitake noted that at BYU “you have to be able to throw the ball” and that the position is up for grabs in preseason practices.
“Let’s settle it on the field,” Sitake said. “Let them compete.”
Asked if the situation was disruptive to the team at this point of the year, Martin said, ‘It really shouldn’t matter.’
‘There’s 10 other guys also out there too,’ Martin said.
BYU receiver Chase Roberts gave a similar response to ESPN earlier Tuesday.
‘We’re confident that any of the quarterbacks that step in that they’re going to take leadership as they have been and take control of the team and go win some games,’ Roberts said.
The Cougars open the season at home Aug. 30 against Portland State.
(New information was added to this story.)
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com