Courtesy of BYU Photo
Kalani Sitake Identifies And Develops NFL Talent Along The Defensive Front Better Than His Peers…
Note: some of the players listed below played other positions in the NFL or even in college, but they were all defensive linemen under Sitake at one point or another. Some also transferred away to other schools. We’ve also included the first NFL team they signed with, not where they currently are. We did not count minicamp invites as “making the NFL”.
Even if the 26 players listed didn’t initially commit to Kalani Sitake out of high school, each of the players listed below were identified, recruited, developed and eventually coached by Kalani Sitake.
Utah
Koa Misi (Miami) — 2nd round
Trevor Reilly (NY Jets)
Derrick Shelby (Miami)
Christan Cox (New England)
Joe Kruger (Philadelphia) — 7th round
David Rolf (San Diego) moved to tight end
Dave Kruger (Cleveland)
LT Tuipulotu (New England)
Star Lotulelei (Carolina) — 1st round
Sealver Siliga (San Francisco)
Nate Orchard (Cleveland — 2nd round
Tevita Finau (Arizona)
James Aiono (Indianpolis)
Hunter Dimick (Jacksonville)
VJ Fehoko – Transferred to Texas Tech (Cleveland)
Tenny Palepoi (San Diego)
LT Filiaga – transferred to Utah State (Philadelphia)
Jason Fanaika (San Francisco)
McKay Murphy-transferred to Weber (LA Rams)
Stevie Tuikolovatu – transferred to USC (Tampa Bay) — 7th round
Sam Tevi (LA Charger) moved to OL — 6th round
Kylie Fitts (Chicago) — 6th round
Oregon State
Kyle Peko (Denver)
BYU
Harvey Langi (New England)
Sae Tautu (New Orleans)
Tomasi Laulile (Indianapolis)
If there are others that I missed, please comment below with their information.
(The BYU Athletic Communications office helped in the research and accumulation of data for this article)
