I got this note this morning from the same sources:
They are going to spin this as Sitake asking for boosts to NIL, facility upgrades, etc., and that Santiago is unable to promise those things because those decisions are made by the board (again, the Prophet and Apostles have to agree to those). So he said it’s probably not going to happen.
Then he, the VP of Athletics (Vorkink), and the President of BYU (Reese) started meeting with Sitake to have those conversations instead of Santiago, because it was above Santiago’s pay grade to make promises on those requests.
They even had one of the Apostles meet with Sitake at his house to discuss the requests so that he could pitch them directly to the First Presidency.
Vorkink and Reese also arranged a meeting with Sitake and Patti Edwards (LaVell Edwards’ widow) to talk about how important BYU football is, etc.
Now, those events did happen. But my guys continue to say Santiago was ready to move on to Jay Hill. There are also some who say they will claim Jay Hill was going to get paid between $3–4 million to be PSU’s DC and wouldn’t have taken the HC job. They can’t say whether that’s true or not.
With all of this being said, it sounds like Sitake has agreed to stay at BYU, and they are working out the agreements for church funds to be spent on stadium upgrades with classrooms and other additions to allow those expenditures. They are also working on building a top-20 NIL fund through boosters. Everything should be finalized soon.