Nearly two years ago, Ken Niumatalolo, the winningest football coach in Navy history, was fired immediately after the Midshipmen lost to Army in double overtime on Dec. 11, 2022.
The abrupt dismissal marked the end of a 25-year era for Niumatalolo and his family at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Looking back, Niumatalolo, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, isn’t bitter about how things ended but can clearly see the Lord’s hand guiding his life.
“When I first became the head coach, I knew it was going to be more than football,” he told the Church News.
During that period of their lives, Niumatalolo said, they were blessed with many experiences that helped them grow spiritually. He was one of six Latter-day Saints featured in a Church-produced documentary film, “Meet the Mormons.” He and his wife, Barbara, raised their family and fulfilled a variety of Church callings. He served as president of the Annapolis Maryland Stake, and she served as a regional communications director leading up to the rededication of the Washington D.C. Temple on Aug. 14, 2022, a few months before Niumatalolo’s final game at Navy.
“I’ve always looked at it from a football standpoint, but it’s almost like when that came to an end, our time there and the Lord’s purposes for us in that part of the vineyard were done,” he said.
Two years later, Niumatalolo is in the middle of his first year as the head coach at San Jose State University, where as of Nov. 3, the Spartans are 5-3, one victory away from bowl eligibility.
“Eight games in, I’m OK with where we are at. I’m not going to say I’m happy because I really feel like we should be 7-1, but I’m happy, and we are pressing forward, and our guys are working hard,” the coach said with a grin.
With his team on a bye week, Niumatalolo reflected on the series of meaningful personal experiences that led him to San Jose State during an interview with the Church News.
Lessons as a stake president
After 11 seasons as a college head football coach, Niumatalolo was surprised to be called as a stake president in 2019. He knew it would be a significant challenge to balance his duties as a coach and Church leader. He found comfort and reassurance in realizing his work, his home and the meetinghouse were all located within minutes of one another.
“The Lord had already thought all that stuff out,” he said.
The 2019 season was the best of Niumatalolo’s coaching career. The Midshipmen went 11-2, finished with a No. 20 national ranking and capped it off with a victory over Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl.
“The Lord had showed me that I could be successful being a stake president and a head coach,” he said.
The next three years were the “worst” of his career.
“Those were just things I had to go through,” Niumatalolo said. “They caused me to be on my knees a lot, praying for guidance. Those trials allowed me to be close to the Lord. I was able to hear the Lord’s voice clearly during the pandemic.”
Prepared for change
Knowing his job was in question, Niumatalolo humbly petitioned the Lord for help going into the Army-Navy game at the end of the 2022 season.
One night he had a dream in which he saw the Army sideline storm the field in celebration. Niumatalolo woke up in dismay and told himself it was just a dream — not reality — then continued to plead with the Lord.
His team was going in for the go-ahead touchdown in double overtime when a Navy player fumbled the ball inches from the goal line. Army then kicked the game-winning field goal, and just like in his dream, their team rushed the field.
While devastated by the loss, Niumatalolo knew what was coming.
“I look back at it now, it was a tender mercy,” the coach said. “I was at peace because the Lord already showed me things. He had already prepared me.”
After Niumatalolo was let go, he and his wife decided it was best to leave Annapolis and move closer to family. He was released as stake president, and a new one was called.
The new stake president told Niumatalolo that when the fumble occurred, the man received a spiritual impression that he would be called as the new stake president.
“It was a tender mercy from the Lord for both of us, to help us both recognize and both prepare ourselves for the will of the Lord,” said Niumatalolo, who also told the story while speaking at a BYU–Hawaii devotional in February 2024.
‘Tender mercies’ at UCLA
After leaving Navy, Ken Niumatalolo was hired as the director of leadership at UCLA under then-head coach Chip Kelly during the 2023 season. He considered his year with the Bruins to be a major blessing, the “perfect job” for him at that time in multiple ways.
With his wife often traveling to visit the couple’s other children and grandchildren, Niumatalolo, “a 59-year-old man walking around UCLA with a backpack,” said he learned from Kelly, “one of the smartest offensive minds and college coaches” in the country. He also observed how the transfer portal and “NIL” (“name, image, likeness”) functioned with college athletes, which helped prepare him for his next head coaching job.
Another blessing was Kelly allowing Niumatalolo the opportunity to attend weekly Church meetings on Sunday and the Los Angeles California Temple during the week, something he had never been able to consistently do during his adult life and decades-long coaching career.
Perhaps the biggest blessing was the opportunity to live and work alongside his son, Ali’i Niumatalolo, then a graduate assistant coach at UCLA.
“I loved living with him. I don’t know if he loved living with me, but it was awesome,” Ken Niumatalolo said. “All these, for me, were tender mercies and blessings.”
Coaching family tree
Before leaving Navy, Niumatalolo’s other son, former BYU player Va’a Niumatalolo, was an assistant coach on the staff — he is now in his fifth season at Navy, and Ali’i Niumatalolo is currently an assistant coach at Utah Tech.
Although his sons grew up watching their father coach in big games against storied programs like Notre Dame and Ohio State, Ken Niumatalolo didn’t expect them to follow in his footsteps.
But now as coaches with a special family bond, they love to talk about everything from football to spiritual things. He reminds them all the time to “keep molding your guys, keep mentoring, keep developing them, keep building them.”
“I am so proud of them. They are both full-time coaches at the Division I level, which is hard to do. It’s hard to get into this profession,” Niumatalolo said. “I’d have been proud of whatever they did.”
In an interview with the Deseret News, Va’a Niumatalolo said one thing he has learned from his father is there’s no need to compartmentalize one’s life. Wear many hats comfortably, which he demonstrated at Navy when he was simultaneously a college football coach, a stake president, a husband, a father and a grandfather.
“But he always remains the same person — he’s consistent,” Va’a Niumatalolo told the Deseret News. “Now my dad might be a bit more intense in the locker room than he is when teaching a Sunday School lesson. But he’s always the same guy. He doesn’t change.”
San Jose State
At the end of the 2023 season, Kelly offered Ken Niumatalolo an assistant coaching position on the UCLA staff. Niumatalolo wasn’t initially sure he wanted to return to coaching in that capacity but, after consideration, accepted the job in January 2024.
Shortly thereafter Niumatalolo received a call from his agent about the opening at San Jose State. Head coaching jobs are rarely open that time of year, but the ripple effect started when Nick Saban retired at Alabama and was replaced by Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, who was replaced by Arizona’s Jedd Fisch, who was replaced by San Jose State’s Brent Brennan.
The university officially announced the hire of Niumatalolo on Jan. 21.
Now settled in at San Jose State, Ken and Barbara Niumatalolo have embraced school and community. He serves as Sunday School president, and together they teach gospel doctrine class in the Rose Garden Ward of the San Jose California South Stake. Niumatalolo maintains his early morning routine of scripture study and exercise, which he considers essential in his life.
“I’ve definitely seen the hand of the Lord, from Navy to here. I’m supposed to be here, and that brings me and my family great peace,” he said. “I’m grateful to be a head coach again. There are only 130 of these jobs, and they are hard to get. Hopefully we can continue to play well, win more games and get to a bowl game.”
