San Jose State has hired former Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo to replace Brent Brennan, who accepted the Arizona job amid a wave of openings stemming from Nick Saban's retirement at Alabama. Niumatalolo's deal is for five years, according to ESPN.
Niumatalolo recently accepted the tight ends coach job at UCLA after he spent the 2023 season in a support staff role with coach Chip Kelly and the Bruins. He will bring ample coaching experience to SJSU after a 15-year run with Navy from 2007-22, during which he compiled a 109-83 record. Niumatalolo is Navy's all-time wins leader and has six bowl victories. He also posted a 10-5 record vs. Army.
Niumatalolo will not bring Navy's triple-option offense to San Jose State, however. According to ESPN, Niumatalolo is targeting an offensive coordinator who will install more of a wide-open offense with an emphasis on the pass.
Though largely successful during his tenure, Navy took a downturn under Niumatalolo amid the sport's changing landscape. The Midshipmen limped to an 11-23 record during his final three seasons after going 11-2 in 2019. Precautions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic left Navy ill-prepared in 2020, and Niumatalolo struggled to find a winning formula for a program with stringent admissions standards in the transfer portal era.
No such challenges will await him at San Jose State, a program which has earned bowl game berths in three of the past four seasons under Brennan.
San Jose State's hire ends a busy late lap for college football's coaching carousel, although things could start spinning once again if Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh leaves for an NFL job. After Saban retired earlier this month, Alabama hired Washington coach Kalen DeBoer as his replacement. Washington then hired Arizona coach Jedd Fisch as DeBoer's replacement, resulting in Brennan taking the vacancy with the Wildcats.
Additionally, DeBoer hired South Alabama coach Kane Wommack as his defensive coordinator and Buffalo coach Maurice Linguist as a defensive assistant. South Alabama has since promoted offensive coordinator Major Applewhite while Buffalo continues its search for Linguist's replacement.
