SAN JOSE, Calif. >> San Jose State has hired former Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo to replace Brent Brennan as the Spartans head coach.
Athletic director Jeff Konya announced the hiring on Sunday, saying Niumatalolo is the “right fit” for San Jose State and can make the Spartans consistent contenders in the Mountain West.
“We are thrilled that Coach Niumatalolo has accepted the opportunity to lead our football program,” Konya said in a statement. “He is a proven winner and brought the Naval Academy to unprecedented heights by winning eight or more games in nine seasons during his tenure. It’s impressive when you see that he had success against national brands like Notre Dame, Virginia, Kansas State and Pittsburgh, and even finished ranked inside the top 25 twice.”
San Jose State needed a replacement for Brennan, who took the Arizona job after seven seasons with the Spartans. Brennan’s teams reached bowl games in three of the last four seasons and finished 7-6 in 2023.
Niumatalolo is the winningest coach in Navy history, going 109-83 in 15 seasons before being fired after the 2022 game against Army. During his time with the Midshipmen, Navy ran the triple-option offense. Niumatalolo has said that if he got another chance to be a head coach, he would likely move away from the run-heavy scheme.
A former Radford and University of Hawaii player as well as a Rainbows graduate assistant, Niumatalolo spent last season at UCLA in an off-field role for Bruins coach Chip Kelly, but was elevated to tight ends coach after the season.
Niumatalolo has been a practitioner of the triple option throughout his career, which began as a graduate assistant at Hawaii.
Niumatalolo followed UH offensive coordinator Paul Johnson to Annapolis when the latter accepted the same position at Navy under coach Charlie Weatherbie. When Johnson left to become coach at Georgia Southern, Weatherbie promoted Niumatalolo to offensive coordinator. Weatherbie fired Niumatalolo in 1998 over differences in the direction of Navy’s offense.
Johnson returned to Navy in 2002 as coach and successor to Weatherbie and immediately rehired Niumatalolo as assistant head coach. Niumatalolo got the top job when Johnson left Navy following the 2007 season to take over the program at Georgia Tech and led the Midshipmen to winning records capped by bowl berths in 10 of 12 seasons from 2008 through 2019.
However, the program took a downturn beginning with the coronavirus campaign of 2020, and Navy went 11-23 in Niumatalolo’s last three seasons.
The Midshipmen had a disappointing 4-10 record against service academy rivals Army and Air Force from 2016 to 2022.
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