SAN JOSE– Ken Niumatalolo has always been known to be a tough, hard-nosed football coach.
But as San Jose State’s new head coach stepped to the podium for his introductory press conference Tuesday, he couldn’t help but be overcome with emotions.
“This profession is a ruthless profession,” Niumatalolo said while wiping away tears from his eyes. “I just want the players to know that I love them.
“I want to do whatever I can to continue to build this culture. Coach (Brent Brennan) did a great job of building this and I just want to continue to build and enhance. I’m not the greatest coach in the world. I’m not the best person in the world. But I feel like with the family and the people that we have here, I’m excited about the future of this program.”
San Jose State University introduces their new head football coach Ken Niumatalolo during a press conference, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, at CEFCU Stadium in San Jose, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Niumatalolo was officially announced as SJSU’s new head coach on Sunday after former coach Brent Brennan, who led SJSU to three bowl game appearances in four years, announced he was leaving for Arizona earlier that week.
The 58-year-old Hawaii native was the head coach of the U.S. Naval Academy from 2007 to 2022 where he amassed a 109-83 record. He is the winningest coach in the program’s history.
After he was fired in 2022, Niumatalolo accepted a job at UCLA where he was the team’s tight ends coach this past season.
During SJSU’s search, athletic director Jeff Konya said he wanted someone with prior success and experience as a head coach.
“It’s so difficult right now in college football if you don’t have coaching experience at the Division I level,” Konya said.
“If you look at Ken’s resume, he’s someone that I had on the list for a long time because of how much success he had at the Naval Academy. What he did setting that program up for success, winning coach of the year and winning the American Athletic Conference three times, that said a lot to me about his coaching acumen and how he could adapt the roster to get success.”
Niumatalolo’s Navy teams went to 11 bowl games during his time as head coach. He was often praised for his ability to recruit talent even with Navy’s academic and military service requirements.
But even with the excitement of Niumatalolo’s arrival, it has also come with questions about the future of the Spartans’ roster and coaching staff.
Since Niumatalolo’s arrival on Sunday, five SJSU starters have announced their intentions to enter the transfer portal: Running back Quali Conley, wide receiver Nick Nash, defensive end Tre Smith, middle linebacker Bryun Parham and defensive tackle Soane Toia.
The Spartans are returning just one of 11 offensive starters from last season.
Many of SJSU’s top assistants and recruiting coordinators from last season have also left, including running backs coach Alonzo Carter, offensive line coach Josh Oglesby and tight ends coach Matt Adkins who are all joining Brennan’s staff in Arizona.
Though Niumatalolo is still rounding out his staff, he is keeping some familiar faces and adding new ones.
Defensive coordinator Derrick Odum will come back next season in the same role while Kevin McGiven will move from offensive coordinator to passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach.
Under Niumatalolo, the Spartans will transition into a more pro-style offense with run-and-shoot principles.
“I love the Kyle Shanahan tree,” Niumatalolo said. “I love the motions and shifts and all the things that they do to distort things. Sean McVay, Mike McDaniel, I love what they do in the pass game and in the run game. Those are some of the tenants we’re going to do.”
Niumatalolo announced he has hired former Texas State wide receivers coach Craig Stutzmann to become his offensive coordinator. The 43-year-old has ties to current Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur as he served as an assistant in Green Bay in 2022.
When asked what his thought process was when taking the offensive coordinator role at SJSU, Stutzmann said, “It took about two seconds for me to say yes.”
“A lot of me taking this role has to do with the kind of person and man that (Niumatalolo) is. He’s one of those guys you hear nothing but great things about him wherever you go. The opportunity to work with him, you can’t pass that up.”
The culture of next season’s team is going to be something Niumatalolo still needs to build, but he made it clear that his coaching staff will be player-friendly. He acknowledged that the team is still recovering from Brennan’s departure, but said he hopes to rebuild relationships with the players who are currently on his team.
Niumatalolo has already set a lofty goal for himself and the program to achieve next season.
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“I want to be in the college football playoffs,” he said. “Before when it was four teams, that was probably wishful thinking. But with 12 teams, if you win your conference and are undefeated it’s possible. And why not? They were so close to winning their conference last year.”
Uncertainty at quarterback
When asked what SJSU’s biggest roster need was, Niumatalolo said he believes the Spartans need to find a quarterback.
The answer was surprising as former University of Oregon quarterback Jay Butterfield — the assumed successor to All-Conference quarterback Chevan Cordeiro — has not yet announced his intentions of entering the transfer portal and is still on the roster. Freshman quarterback Anthony Garcia, who the former coaching regime raved about this past season, is also still on the roster.
“I’ve talked to all (the quarterbacks) after the meeting and they were all excited,” Niumatalolo said. “But it’s also an opportunity for them because we come in with a fresh start and a clean slate. We got coach Stutzmann and we can go from there.”
Chubba Purdy, former Nebraska quarterback and brother of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, verbally committed to SJSU on Jan. 14, but flipped his commitment to the University of Nevada, Reno on Monday.
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NIUMATAOLO FILE
San Jose State introduced Ken Niumataolo as the 30th head coach in the football program’s history on Tuesday. The native of Hawaii played quarterback for the Rainbow Warriors in the late 1980s. He has been a head coach for parts of 16 seasons, all with the U.S. Naval Academy. Here is a look at his season-by-season records with the Midshipmen, where he left after the 2022 season as the winningest coach in program history.
2007 0-1*
2008 8–5
2009 10–4
2010 9–4
2011 5–7
2012 8–5
2013 9–4
2014 8–5
2015 11–2/7–1#
2016 9–5/7-1
2017 7–6/4–4
2018 3–10/2–6
2019 11–2/7–1
2020 3–7/3–4
2021 4–8/3–5
2022 4–8/4–4
Total: 109–83/37–26
* Served as head coach for the Poinsettia Bowl when Paul Johnson was hired as Georgia Tech’s head coach. Niumataolo has a 6-5 record in 11 bowl games.
# Navy joined the American Athletic Conference in 2015.
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