San Jose State has finalized a five-year deal to hire Ken Niumatalolo as its next head football coach, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Sunday.
The deal runs through the 2028 season.
Niumatalolo, 58, replaces Brent Brennan, who left for Arizona on Thursday, and brings extensive experience to the Spartans but will vary his offense and is not expected to run the triple option, sources told ESPN.
Niumatalolo is Navy‘s all-time winningest coach. He went 109-83 in 15 full seasons there through 2022, took the Midshipmen to 11 bowl appearances and had eight campaigns with eight or more wins.
He is expected to tailor his staff around youthful energy and West Coast ties. San Jose State officials prioritized a wide-open system to take advantage of the Bay Area’s recruiting resources of strong quarterbacks and skill position players.
Niumatalolo’s role at UCLA in 2023 included the title director of leadership. He spoke openly about going to UCLA to learn the nuances of the transfer portal and NIL to prepare him for another head-coaching opportunity.
San Jose State won the Mountain West title under Brennan in 2020. He led them to three of the school’s 11 total bowl births, which included the Hawaii Bowl this season and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl last year.