Ken Niumatalolo gets fresh start at UCLA after he was fired by Navy
LOS ANGELES — Typically at this time of the college football calendar, Ken Niumatalolo would be roaming the practice fields at Navy, perhaps uplifting a player or position group with words of encouragement or offering guidance in executing the prolific triple-option attack he oversaw as head coach for 15 years.
In other instances, Niumatalolo might have been providing impassioned, scathing reminders about ball security or other fundamentals that contributed to unmatched prosperity for the Midshipmen during his watch, which ended abruptly with his dismissal following a loss to Army last year.
Some eight months later, the coach with the most wins in the service academy’s history continues to be joyfully present in the sport that has consumed his professional life for more than four decades, albeit on the opposite end of the country as a consultant for whom traditional football instruction is, by rule, not part of the job description.
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As UCLA’s director of leadership, Niumatalolo holds an advisory position on Coach Chip Kelly’s staff, supplementing the program off the field with his extensive background in the development of former Midshipmen players into officers in multiple branches of the military.
“It’s been like the perfect job,” Niumatalolo, 58, said last week while relaxing on a spacious terrace, just paces from his office, overlooking the Bruins’ practice field. “I mean, I’m a competitor, but I recognize that in life you have different stages, and if I’m never a head coach again, it is what it is.”
With UCLA at the maximum allotment of assistants permitted for skills training, Niumatalolo instead serves as a makeshift life coach to players, offering emotional, mental and spiritual support amid the rapidly evolving landscape of college athletics.
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Recent meetings have included conversations about the wildfires on Maui, the deadliest such event in U.S. history. Niumatalolo is a native of Hawaii, and although he does not have family on Maui, he referenced the tragedy to impart broader perspective throughout the locker room.
During practices he might observe a player’s body language after a fumble, missed tackle or other miscue and pull him aside for a quick morale boost, occasionally including a gentle reminder to consider their good fortune in attending college in Westwood’s idyllic surroundings.
On some days, Niumatalolo simply retrieves footballs during warmups. Those moments transport him back to the genesis of his coaching career in the early 1990s as a graduate assistant at Hawaii, his alma mater, before he accepted his first full-time job in 1995 as an assistant at Navy.
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He still attends offensive meetings, out of curiosity rather than necessity, but makes himself as inconspicuous as possible, sitting in the back row or a corner seat away from players.
“Because of his vast knowledge and experience — not only just in football but then specifically at the Naval Academy for leadership — there wasn’t a better guy for us to bring in here,” Kelly said. “He’s a voice for all of us. He also meets with our coaching staff, and just talking about leadership, not talking about scheme, not talking about X’s and O’s, but has brought a lot of different stuff to our staff from that standpoint and has really made an impact.”
‘He’s revered in the coaching profession’
When Navy opens the season Saturday in Dublin against Notre Dame, it will be the Midshipmen’s first game since December 2007 without Niumatalolo at the helm.
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Niumatalolo replaced Paul Johnson, who departed for Georgia Tech following the regular season finale, as coach for the Poinsettia Bowl that year. The Midshipmen lost to Utah, 35-32, in San Diego before Niumatalolo embarked on a record-setting run in Annapolis.
Over the next decade and a half, he went 109-83 with six bowl victories and was selected American Athletic Conference coach of the year three times after Navy relinquished its status as a football independent in 2015. The next closest to Niumatalolo for career wins at the academy is the late George Welsh, who had 55.
In the first 12 seasons under Niumatalolo, the Midshipmen finished no lower than sixth nationally in rushing offense, including in the top two six times, most recently in 2019 when Navy led the country and established a school record with 360.5 yards per game on the way to an 11-2 record.
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“Obviously you just mention his name, and people know of him,” Kelly said. “He’s revered in the coaching profession. I think when the players get to know him and understand his personality, how much he truly cares about individuals and how much he truly cares about helping people grow, it’s evident from the first time you have a conversation with him.”
Niumatalolo became the first Midshipmen coach in nearly a half-century to beat Notre Dame in consecutive seasons (2009 and 2010). The quarterbacks he recruited and developed include Keenan Reynolds, Chris McCoy and Malcolm Perry. They rank first through third in career total offense at Navy.
Over the past three seasons, however, the Midshipmen won 11 games combined, including going 1-5 against Army and Air Force. The pandemic factored into the downturn, according to Niumatalolo, because the academy, unlike most schools, did not grant players an extra year of eligibility.
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The Midshipmen finished 52nd nationally in rushing offense (177.6 yards per game) in 2020, by far their lowest ranking under Niumatalolo, and went 3-7. They were 4-8 in each of the next two seasons, prompting Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk to contemplate a coaching change with one year remaining on Niumatalolo’s contract.
The end came in the immediate aftermath of a 20-17 double-overtime loss to Army on Dec. 10, 2022, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Niumatalolo was in the locker room still trying to process the crushing outcome when Gladchuk approached him with his decision.
“It was just such a blur,” Niumatalolo said. “Everything happened so fast, but I’ve come to peace with it. I knew coming into this profession, it’s a tough, ruthless profession. That part of it at the end when it happened, that was kind of like — it went from I still couldn’t believe that we lost, and I felt like we had them on the ropes, and all of sudden I’m talking to Chet.
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“We actually ended on good terms, Chet and I. Like I said, I’m a grown man, and I told him I was appreciative of all we’ve done. I told him, ‘Hey, I hope the 15 years that I gave you — I’m proud of it.’”
‘I don’t have anything to prove to anybody’
A month later, Niumatalolo went back to Hawaii to spend time with his family and decompress. He interviewed with several television stations for analyst positions, but no offers emerged. He spoke with other head coaches, Maryland’s Michael Locksley among them, about serving as an assistant.
Retirement crossed his mind, too, but only briefly. Niumatalolo concluded he was too young to retire. He and his wife, Barbara, then flew to Guam to visit her family. It was there he received a call from Bryce McDonald, Kelly’s chief of staff and a former player and assistant coach at Navy, about a potential opening.
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At the time, Niumatalolo’s younger son, Ali’i, was exploring joining the Bruins as a graduate assistant. Niumatalolo had spent the past three years at Navy with his older son, Va’a, on staff, and the opportunity to work with Ali’i for the first time piqued his interest at UCLA.
Also part of the Bruins’ staff was Brian Norwood, Niumatalolo’s closest friend since high school. Norwood is an assistant head coach, defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator at UCLA and spent 2019 as Navy’s co-defensive coordinator.
Kelly has had a handful of former Midshipmen on staff since he took over at UCLA in 2018 after stints in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. When Kelly was with the Eagles, Navy conducted walk-throughs at their facility before its annual game against Army, and he and Niumatalolo grew close.
“It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Chip and Ken are very similar,” said McDonald, who played fullback at Navy from 2000 through 2003 and has been at UCLA since Kelly’s first season. “Chip saw the value, based on their friendship and Ken as a man, and he’s obviously a fit for the program since they have similar values.”
How long Niumatalolo stays at UCLA remains fluid. He and Barbara rent an apartment on Wilshire Boulevard, and Niumatalolo has aspirations of getting another crack at a head coaching job. Working with Kelly is acutely preparing him, particularly when it comes to navigating the transfer portal and the emerging name, image and likeness landscape, which he didn’t deal with much at the Naval Academy.
But seeing Ali’i each day at the office is unequivocally the most rewarding piece to his job, said Niumatalolo, a deeply spiritual man who held back tears when discussing what he described as the unique blessing of having worked with his sons and leaving a family legacy in college football.
“I don’t have anything to prove to anybody,” he said. “I came to help and learn, whatever Chip wants me to do, be with my son, which has been awesome. I don’t know how long this will go. Chip and I have talked. I want to make one more run at it, and I feel like coming here has helped me from that perspective.”
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