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Ken Niumatalolo Position: Head Coach Experience: 11th season at Navy Alma Mater: Hawai'i Graduated: 1989

Navy head football coach Ken Niumatalolo had one of the most successful first seasons as a head coach in school history. He is the first coach to lead Navy to a bowl game in his inaugural season and, thanks to a 33-27 victory over Air Force and a 34-0 win over Army, he became just the second Service Academy coach to win the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy in his first year.

Niumatalolo led the Midshipmen to an 8-5 record, the most wins for a first-year coach at Navy since 1934. Included in those eight wins was a 24-17 victory over 16th-ranked Wake Forest, which was Navy's first win over a team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 since 1985. Navy also beat teams currently in the BCS in back-to-back weeks (Rutgers and Wake Forest) for the first time since 1981 and defeated a program-record four bowl teams.

Niumatalolo (44) was promoted to head football coach at the Naval Academy on Dec. 8, 2007, 00 by Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk.

He is the second Polynesian head coach in Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) history and the first Samoan collegiate head coach on any level.

Prior to being named head coach, Niumatalolo had two coaching stints at the Naval Academy for a combined 10 seasons, including the last six where he served as assistant head coach and offensive line coach.

Niumatalolo and the majority of his coaching staff have been part of a staff that has brought the Midshipmen back into the national spotlight with a 51-25 (.671) record over the last six seasons. During that time, Navy has made a school-record six-consecutive bowl game appearances, won six-consecutive Commander-In-Chief's Trophies, earned 13-consecutive wins over the other two Service Academies and claimed an NCAA-record four-consecutive NCAA rushing titles.

In 2007, with Niumatalolo as the Assistant Head Coach, he saw the Mids post an 8-5 record, won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy, appeared in a fifth-straight bowl game (Poinsettia Bowl, which was Niumatalolo's first game as a head coach), set a school record for rushing (348.8 yards per contest) and defeat Notre Dame for the first time since 1963.
In 2006, Navy averaged a then school-record 327.0 yards per contest, won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy and participated in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. One of Niumatalolo's pupils, Antron Harper, was named to the ESPN.Com All-Bowl Team for the second-straight year.

In 2005, Niumatalolo helped develop an offensive line that, despite having just one returning starter, paved the way for the nation's best rushing offense (318.7 yards per contest), went to a bowl game for a third-straight year, won a second-straight bowl game and won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy.

In 2004, Niumatalolo's efforts helped an offensive line that was hampered by injuries all year to perform well enough for the Midshipmen to finish third in the country in rushing (289.5), win a school-record tying 10 games (the most wins since 1905), go to back-to-back bowl games for the second time in school history, win the Emerald Bowl and win the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy.

Despite a lack of experience up front, the Mids led the nation in rushing (323.2 yards per contest) in 2003 and set seven school records as Navy went 8-5, won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy and earned a berth in the Houston Bowl.

In 2002, the Navy offensive line helped the Mids to the third-best rushing average in the country (270.75).

Niumatalolo was also an assistant at Navy from 1995-98, serving as the offensive coordinator in 1997 and 1998.

As the offensive coordinator, Niumatalolo tutored Chris McCoy, who set the then-NCAA record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a season with 20 in 1997 and became just the 10th player in NCAA history to rush for more than 1,000 yards and pass for more than 1,000 yards in the same season. In addition, Navy finished among the nation's top five in rushing his last-two years and broke 38 school offensive records during his tenure.

Niumatalolo coached at UNLV for three seasons (1999-01) and called the plays his final year (2001) in Vegas. He also worked with the kickoff return unit and under his guidance, UNLV ranked sixth in the nation in kickoff returns in 2001 and finished second in 1999.

A 1989 graduate of Hawai'i, Niumatalolo lettered three years as a quarterback and was a part of Hawaii's first bowl team in 1989. He was hired as a fulltime assistant by his alma mater in 1992 and spent three seasons coaching on the offensive side of the ball.

A native of Laie', Hawai'i, Niumatalolo and his wife, Barbara, have three children, Alexcia (19), who attends the University of Maryland and is a junior on the women's lacrosse team, Va'a (16), who starts at linebacker at Broadneck High School and Ali'i (11).