Niumatalolo aiming for 100th career victory
Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo is on the verge of a major milestone, and he’d certainly love to achieve it against service academy rival Air Force.
Niumatalolo is seeking his 100th career victory, and the first leg of the Commanderin-Chief’s Trophy series provides an ideal opportunity.
Niumatalolo long ago surpassed the legendary George Welsh as the all-time winningest coach in Navy football history. The 13th-year mentor enters Saturday’s showdown with a 99-61 record and is looking to become the 24th active coach with 100 career wins. The 55-year-old Hawaii native would only be the sixth active coach to reach the century mark at one school.
Niumatalolo downplayed the pending accomplishment when asked about it during a virtual news conference Monday.
“It’s never about me. I’m just the head coach. It’s a program deal,” he said.
However, the Navy players understand the significance of the milestone.
“We love coach Niumat — he’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around,” Navy safety Kevin Brennan said Monday. “He really cares about us and loves us, so getting that win for him would be a huge deal.”
Navy has lost its last three meetings with Air Force in Colorado Springs. Recordsetting quarterback Keenan Reynolds, then a freshman, replaced an injured Trey Miller and was the catalyst the last time the Midshipmen beat the Falcons on their home field, a 28-21 overtime victory.
Navy’s last trip to Falcon Stadium was disastrous, as a complete offensive meltdown led to a dismal 35-7 defeat in 2018, the low point of an eventual 3-10 campaign. Niumatalolo made a fateful decision in the wake of that rout, switching Malcolm Perry from quarterback to slotback.
Niumatalolo was not interested in talking about his team’s recent run of futility in Colorado Springs, where Air Force is 18-7 all-time against Navy.
“None of that matters. We’re trying to find a way to win this game. You can’t look back and you can’t look forward, you just look at the task at hand,” he said.
One of the major questions leading up to the Saturday’s showdown surrounded the Air Force roster makeup. Head coach Troy Calhoun reportedly had upwards of 40 players approved for an administrative “turnback” by the academy leadership, which allows cadets the opportunity to separate from the academy for a semester.
Air Force athletics released a depth chart Monday and it appears the defense has been hit hard by turnback program. Four returning starters — linebacker Demonte Meeks, defensive end Jordan Jackson, outside linebacker Lakota Wills and cor
nerback Milton Bugg III — are not on the roster. Several other projected impact players on the defensive side of the ball are also not on the depth chart.
Several sophomores and freshmen are listed on the Air Force two-deep and Niumatalolo admitted the difficulty of developing a scouting report for players that have never played in a collegiate game.
That said, the Navy coaching staff is going to prepare the offense to face a typical Air Force defense that is quite familiar with triple-option football.
“Even if they’re new guys, they’ve grown up in the program. We just don’t know who they are,” Niumatalolo said. “They’re going to be good players who are tough and well-coached. Nothing changes for us.”
Meanwhile, the Air Force offense remains largely intact with such standout skill position players like tailback Kade Remsberg, fullback Timothy Jackson and slot receiver Brandon Lewis all available. Left tackle Parker Ferguson and left guard Nolan Laufenberg, a pair of Outland Trophy watch list members, lead a veteran offensive line.
“It looks like they’ve got pretty much their whole offense coming back, so it will be a challenge,” Niumatalolo acknowledged.
Air Force’s offense will be without two-year starting quarterback Donald
Hammond III, who is considered a cadet not in good standing. Hammond remains at the academy and allowed to practice but is not allowed to play in games.
Junior Warren Bryan and sophomore Haaziq Daniels are listed as co-starters on the Air Force depth chart. Freshman Ben Brittain could be in the mix as well.
“We’ll see if those are the guys. Who knows, Hammond may show up,” Niumatalolo said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Hammond comes trotting out there on game day.”
Air Force Academy, after consultation with state and local public health officials, is only allowing the Cadet Wing to attend the game. Cadets will be seated in twos (roommates) and will be socially distant and wearing masks.
“I’m not sure if they’ll have the cadets right behind our bench like they normally would. I imagine with social distancing stuff they’ll have to spread them out,” Niumatalolo said. “We really don’t know what to expect. We’ve played there many times when it’s been a full stadium, so this will be different.”
Air Force closed the 2019 campaign on an eight-game winning streak capped by a victory over Washington State in the Cheez-It Bowl at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. That is the longest active streak in the country.
Air Force was thrown a curveball Thursday, however, when the Mountain West Conference announced its members would play an eight-game slate this fall, reversing a decision in August to play in the spring.
Air Force originally planned to play only Navy and Army during the 2020 season but now must also play its eight conference games beginning Oct. 24. Calhoun, in his 14th year at the helm, most certainly did not anticipate that development when the massive amount of varsity football players were allowed to withdraw from the academy.
The Falcons have spent the past month preparing for the Midshipmen, which some might consider an advantage.
“Obviously, we haven’t seen them play a game this season. We really don’t know what they look like,” Brennan said. “They’ve been preparing for a while now, so I expect them to be ready for us.”
Meanwhile, Navy has two games under its belt although it was supposed to have been four by this point.