Then-Naval Academy football Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo, attends the Commander in Chief’s Trophy award ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 27, 2016. According to reports on Friday, March 31, 2023, Niumatalolo has accepted a support staff position at UCLA, just over three months after he was fired as Navy’s football coach. (EJ Hersom/Defense Department)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Tribune News Service) — It did not take Ken Niumatalolo long to get back into Division I football.
Just 3 1/2 months after being fired as Navy football coach, Niumatalolo is employed again after accepting a support staff position at UCLA.
Niumatalolo has been appointed as the Bruins’ director of leadership by coach Chip Kelly. It is a newly created position that entails Niumatalolo serving as an advisor to the UCLA football coaching staff and players, a news release issued by the school said.
Niumatalolo told The Capital on Friday he was “fired up” about joining the UCLA football program. He acknowledged receiving several other college football offers and felt this was the best opportunity.
“I’m 57 years old and I’m not ready to retire. I still have a ton of energy,” Niumatalolo said. “I wanted to stay in the game, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I just knew I didn’t want to sit out for too long.”
Niumatalolo spent a total of 25 years at the Naval Academy, including the last 15 as head coach. He is the all-time winningest coach in Navy football history with a 109-83 career record. He was fired immediately after the Army-Navy game on Dec. 10 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
He said he took some time off, returning to his home state of Hawaii where he has a home and also traveling to Guam to visit with his wife Barbara’s family there. Niumatalolo said he engaged in exploratory talks with several networks about becoming a color analyst for college football telecasts.
Niumatalolo was intrigued upon learning that UCLA had interest in his services. He and Kelly forged a friendship when they were coaching at Navy and with the Philadelphia Eagles, respectively. Kelly visited the academy and attended Navy practices several times while with the Eagles from 2013 to 2015.
Their friendship led Kelly to hire several staff members away from Navy. Bryce McDonald, a former Navy player who served as director of player development after serving as a Marine Corps officer, is currently chief of staff for UCLA football.
Marcus Thomas, another former Navy player who now holds the title of player personnel director with the program, worked as an offensive analyst at UCLA in 2020-21.
Brian Norwood left Navy to become assistant head coach and passing game coordinator at UCLA. Norwood and Niumatalolo have been best friends dating to their days playing football and basketball together at Radford High in Hawaii.
Topping off the ties is the fact Kelly just hired Niumatalolo’s youngest child, Ali’i, as a graduate assistant. Niumatalolo was in Westwood on Friday because he just helped Ali’i, a former Utah football player, move there from Salt Lake City.
Niumatalolo also liked the fact Los Angeles is somewhat equidistant between Honolulu and Annapolis. His daughter Alexcia lives in Oahu and his son Va’a is still an assistant coach with the Navy football program.
“I just felt this position was the best thing that could happen for me and my family. All the stars aligned and it just felt right,” Niumatalolo said. “What a great opportunity to learn from Coach Kelly, who is one of the most innovative minds in all of college football. It’s definitely a win-win situation for me.”
Niumatalolo said he will definitely lean into the vast experience he gained during a quarter century of working at the Naval Academy in his new role as UCLA director of leadership. He worked under multiple Superintendents of the Naval Academy who were admirals and became close with numerous other high-ranking officers over the years.
“ The Naval Academy prides itself on being the premier leadership institution in the world. I always embraced that and tried to do my part to help develop our football players into leaders,” he said.
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