Navy made right pick with Niumatalolo

Which in a sense makes it strange a "Poly" coach hasn't arrived earlier. Norm Chow, now a Tennessee Titans assistant, has surfaced as a head coaching candidate for decades, yet never become one. Chow, who coached Sitake at BYU, "was my mentor and he told me to be a great coach who happens to be Polynesian, rather than be labeled."

Sometimes that isn't easy. Sitake, for instance, is in charge of recruiting in the Hawaiian Islands, Samoa, Tonga and Los Angeles. Obvious, right? Yet he emphasizes he has recruited numerous white and black players from Los Angeles, too.

Utah has thrived on Polynesian players for years. Including walk-ons, about a fourth of this year's team is Polynesian.

If there is a stereotype that really bothers Sitake, though, it might have to do with his playing background, not his ethnicity. He's a crossover, like fellow Ute assistant Aaron Roderick and head coach Kyle Whittingham, all of whom played at BYU. Sitake was also a graduate assistant at BYU before eventually landing a job in 2005 at Utah.

The dual loyalty has caused angst among fans at both schools. When he visited BYU this year for the annual rivalry game, Sitake said a section of BYU fans were calling "Judas!"

"I don't blame them, but I've never said one bad thing about BYU," said Sitake. "I'm loyal to Kyle, but at the same time, I'm also a BYU graduate."

Sitake said when he first came to Utah, he was "in no man's land."

"Utah fans were like, 'Aw, he's one of those BYU guys,' and BYU fans were, 'Oh, look at him, going to Utah.' I'm like, 'I got to prove myself. What else do I need to do?' But Utah fans seem to be kind of warming up to me a little bit more."

Sitake says he too wants to be a head coach some day. Based, of course, on merit, not quotas.

"The job should go to the best qualified and best candidate for a good school," he said. "Kenny being Polynesian or being black or white shouldn't hurt the situation. I like to think the ADs are taking the best coaches."

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E-mail: rock@desnews.com