Ken Niumatalolo
Ken Niumatalolo went 123–101 as a head coach, 2007–2026, at Navy and San José State. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 3–3); by them his record is 122–101. Share
- Record
- 123–101 career
- Seasons
- 19
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- May 8, 1965
- Best season
- 2015 11–2, No. 18
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Navy bowl game | 0–1 | Poinsettia Bowl L | |||
| 2008 | Navy | 8–5 | EagleBank Bowl L | |||
| 2009 | Navy | 10–4 | Texas Bowl W | |||
| 2010 | Navy | 9–4 | Poinsettia Bowl L | |||
| 2011 | Navy | 5–7 | ||||
| 2012 | Navy | 8–5 | Fight Hunger Bowl L | |||
| 2013 | Navy | 9–4 | Armed Forces Bowl W | |||
| 2014 | Navy | 8–5 | Poinsettia Bowl W | |||
| 2015 | Navy | 11–2 | T–1st (West) | Military Bowl W | 18 | |
| 2016 | Navy | 9–5 | 1st (West) | Armed Forces Bowl L | ||
| 2017 | Navy | 7–6 | T–3rd (West) | Military Bowl W | ||
| 2018 | Navy | 3–10 | T–5th (West) | |||
| 2019 | Navy | 11–2 | T–1st (West) | Liberty Bowl W | 20 | |
| 2020 | Navy | 3–7 | 7th | |||
| 2021 | Navy | 4–8 | T–7th | |||
| 2022 | Navy | 4–8 | T–6th | |||
| 2023: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2024 | San José State | 7–6 | T–5th | Hawai’i Bowl L | ||
| 2025 | San José State | 3–9 | T–9th | |||
| 2026 | San José State | 4–3 (Wikipedia: 3–3) | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
.jpg){kind=link}
Nick NashConsensus All‑American, 2024
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 29 | 6–23 | 21% |
| Against top-10 teams | 10 | 1–9 | 10% |
| Against rivals | 65 | 30–35 | 46% |
| Conference games | 81 | 44–37 | 54% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 12 | 6–6 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 100 | 55–45 | 55% |
| At home | 97 | 65–32 | 67% |
| On the road | 93 | 41–52 | 44% |
| At neutral sites | 34 | 17–17 | 50% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 133 | 93–40 | 70% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 91 | 30–61 | 33% |
His own 224 games on file, 2007–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troy Calhoun 2008–2025 | 8–9 | Air Force | 17 | |
| Brian Kelly 2010–2021 | 2–9 | Notre Dame | 11 | |
| Jeff Monken 2014–2022 | 4–5 | Army | 9 | |
| Philip Montgomery 2015–2022 | 7–1 | Tulsa | 8 | |
| Willie Fritz 2014–2020 | 5–1 | Georgia Southern, Tulane | 6 | |
| Rich Ellerson 2009–2013 | 5–0 | Army | 5 | |
| Sonny Dykes 2010–2021 | 2–3 | Louisiana Tech, SMU | 5 | |
| June Jones 2008–2011 | 4–0 | SMU | 4 | |
| Jim Grobe 2008–2010 | 3–1 | Wake Forest | 4 | |
| Ruffin McNeill 2010–2015 | 3–1 | East Carolina | 4 |
Ken Niumatalolo’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Air Forceseries | 17 | 8–9 |
| Armyseries | 15 | 10–5 |
| Notre Dameseries | 14 | 3–11 |
| SMUseries | 12 | 8–4 |
| East Carolinaseries | 9 | 7–2 |
| Templeseries | 9 | 5–4 |
| Tulsaseries | 8 | 7–1 |
| Memphisseries | 8 | 3–5 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–94 | Hawaii | Graduate assistant | |
| 1995–96 | Navy | Running backs coach | |
| 1997–98 | Navy | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 1999–2001 | UNLV | Tight ends and special teams coach | |
| 2002–07 | Navy | Assistant head coach and offensive line coach | |
| 2007–22 | Navy | Head coach | |
| 2023 | UCLA | Tight ends coach | |
| 2024–present | San Jose State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Bob WagnerHawai’i
- Charlie WeatherbieNavy
- John RobinsonUNLV
- Paul JohnsonNavy
- Chip KellyUCLA
Assistants who became head coaches
- Brian BohannonKennesaw State
- Buddy GreenChattanooga
- Jeff MonkenArmy, Georgia Southern
- Ashley IngramCarson Newman, VMI
- Joe DuPaixSouthern Virginia
- Brian NewberryNavy
Worked under (5)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Wagner | Hawai’i | 1990–94 | Graduate assistant | |
| Charlie Weatherbie | Navy | 1995–98 | 1995–96: running backs coach; 1997–98: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| John Robinson | UNLV | 1999–2001 | Tight ends and special teams coach | |
| Paul Johnson | Navy | 2002–07 | Assistant head coach and offensive line coach | |
| Chip Kelly | UCLA | 2023 | Tight ends coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (6)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Bohannon | Navy, 2007: wide receivers coach | Kennesaw State | |
| Buddy Green | Navy, 2007–14: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; 2015: defensive consultant | Chattanooga | |
| Jeff Monken | Navy, 2007: special teams and running backs coach | Army, Georgia Southern | |
| Ashley Ingram | Navy, 2008–22: offensive line coach | Carson Newman, VMI | |
| Joe DuPaix | Navy, 2008–10, 2018–22: SB | Southern Virginia | |
| Brian Newberry | Navy, 2019–22: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | Navy |
Other assistants under him (8)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Ivin Jasper | Navy, 2007, 2022: quarterbacks coach; 2008–21: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Shaun Nua | Navy, 2012–17: defensive line coach | |
| Dale Pehrson | Navy, 2015–18: defensive coordinator | |
| Brian Norwood | Navy, 2019: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach; San José State, 2026: passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach | |
| Bojay Filimoeatu | San José State, 2024–25: inside linebackers coach and running game coordinator; 2025: interim defensive coordinator; 2026: defensive coordinator | |
| Craig Stutzmann | San José State, 2024–26: offensive coordinator | |
| Derrick Odum | San José State, 2024–25: assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| Kevin McGiven | San José State, 2024: wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Niumatalolo’s teams went for it on 32% of fourth downs and on 52% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 24% of plays and took 27.2 seconds a play, 2008–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 13 g | Navy | 23 of 92 25% | 35% | 13% | 29.5 | +0.02 | |
| 2009 14 g | Navy | 32 of 99 32% | 51% | 15% | 27.4 | +0.03 | |
| 2010 13 g | Navy | 19 of 73 26% | 38% | 20% | 24.7 | +0.13 | |
| 2011 12 g | Navy | 32 of 83 39% | 57% | 18% | 24.2 | +0.12 | |
| 2012 13 g | Navy | 28 of 86 33% | 47% | 22% | 23.9 | +0.05 | |
| 2013 13 g | Navy | 27 of 80 34% | 53% | 16% | 25.6 | +0.18 | |
| 2014 13 g | Navy | 24 of 76 32% | 49% | 18% | 27.2 | +0.11 | |
| 2015 13 g | Navy | 26 of 82 32% | 56% | 16% | 28.9 | +0.24 | |
| 2016 14 g | Navy | 28 of 72 39% | 53% | 20% | 28.7 | +0.26 | |
| 2017 12 g | Navy | 33 of 87 38% | 57% | 12% | 29.9 | +0.15 | |
| 2018 13 g | Navy | 37 of 103 36% | 58% | 17% | 30.0 | +0.03 | |
| 2019 13 g | Navy | 34 of 86 40% | 64% | 14% | 29.2 | +0.21 | |
| 2020 10 g | Navy | 30 of 92 33% | 59% | 24% | 29.0 | −0.09 | |
| 2021 12 g | Navy | 36 of 108 33% | 57% | 16% | 30.9 | −0.01 | |
| 2022 10 g | Navy | 28 of 89 31% | 55% | 18% | 29.6 | 0.00 | |
| 2024 13 g | San José State | 16 of 86 19% | 44% | 65% | 23.5 | +0.06 | |
| 2025 12 g | San José State | 24 of 84 29% | 50% | 62% | 23.7 | −0.01 | |
| 2026 7 g | San José State | 11 of 61 18% | 59% | 53% | 23.3 | +0.04 | |
| All 220 g | 488 of 1539 32% | 52% | 24% | 27.2 | +0.09 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.