Nov. 26, 2009
By Bob Socci
Soon after the young assistant coach suggested to the kid quarterback that he rethink his career plans, the mentor harvested a pearl of wisdom that stayed with the protégé for the next 20 years.
"Never get into the ticket business," says Ken Niumatalolo, reciting a creed he's lived by since following the recommendation of Paul Johnson, and forgoing the broadcasting business in favor of the business of coaching.
Lately, Niumatalolo has been reminded a lot of those words, looking ahead to a Hawaiian homecoming this weekend.
On Saturday, as only the second Polynesian and the first descendant of American Samoa to become a major college football head coach, he leads his Navy Midshipmen against his alma mater, the University of Hawaii.
In many ways, the native of Laei' owes what will be a very emotional return to Aloha Stadium to Johnson, who as the Rainbow Warriors' offensive coordinator envisioned Niumatalolo on the sideline instead of in the press box.
Under Johnson's tutelage as an assistant to Bob Wagner, Niumatalolo earned his third letter in 1989, a season in which he came off the bench to direct Hawaii to a pair of victories. Among them was an early-October triumph over San Diego State, two days before his wife, Barbara, gave birth to daughter Alexcia.
A bit later that season, as reporter Ferd Lewis recounted Tuesday in the Honolulu Advertiser, Johnson summoned Niumatalolo to his office. That's when Johnson offered his career advice. Eventually, Niumatalolo agreed.
Trying to raise a young family on a graduate assistant's stipend was cause for some hardship. But what might have been more difficult were some of the duties that went with his role. Even if they seemed easy - like the time Niumatalolo's job entailed delivering 100 boxes of fried chicken to the locker room at Utah.
It was some way to savor victory.
Full-time work led to full-time pay, and food runs were left to someone else, when Niumatalolo was promoted in 1992. Three years later he followed Johnson to Annapolis to coach under Charlie Weatherbie.
In 1997, after Johnson became head coach at Georgia Southern, Niumatalolo succeeded him as Navy's offensive coordinator. They were reunited in December 2002, when Johnson was hired as Weatherbie's replacement.
Together - Johnson for six seasons, before leaving last year for Georgia Tech, and Niumatalolo for the last two - they helped build Navy into, and maintained it as one of college football's most consistently successful programs.
Throughout all those years, and during others in between, Niumatalolo gained from Johnson's expertise in option offense. And from those six words kept close to heart: never get into the ticket business.
Yet, as he spoke on Tuesday, about 24 hours before boarding a plane that was homeward bound, that's exactly where Niumatalolo found himself.
"I broke my vow when I got into coaching," he chuckled, in his typical self-deprecating fashion. "Over 20 years, I've been pretty good."
At last check, his personal ticket list was around 70. Family, friends, excited to see the return of the native son. Who could blame them? And who could fault him?
As this week's drawn closer, Niumatalolo's schedule has been occupied by everything from interview requests to reviewing team itineraries, in an effort to ensure that the Mids aren't preoccupied with anything but winning their ninth game of 2009.
"Because of the distance and logistics, those things can't wait," Niumatalolo said of determining Navy's travel and practice schedules, as well as the steps his staff's taken to keep the Mids rested and hydrated. "I don't want to lose focus and forget the main reason we're going there."
Whether playing or coaching, he knows first hand the inherent advantage the Warriors have when at home. Opponents seem to have too little time to adapt to the drastic change in time zones, and entirely too much time to get distracted by the paradise around them.
And oh yeah, Hawaii's a strong enough program to put itself in position to play for an eighth bowl appearance in the last 11 years. Only two years ago, it reached the Sugar Bowl under the same June Jones whose SMU Mustangs extended Navy into overtime earlier this season.
"You try to prepare the best you can," Niumatalolo reiterated. "I don't want to leave any stone unturned."
Nevertheless, he can't avoid thinking about all those stepping stones that brought him from there to here, across the Pacific to the edge of the Atlantic.
"I'm very excited," he said. "Ultimately, I know the game is not about me. But I'm excited to go home, and I'm very grateful to be a head coach at a great institution like the Naval Academy, with such great players and people.
"It's made me reflect on my own journey to get here. I'm humbled."
Preparing to reenter Aloha Stadium this weekend, Niumatalolo's thought about the childhood Saturdays he used to spend selling newspapers outside the stadium's gates, hoping to earn a way inside.
And no doubt, he's enjoyed flashbacks to celebrations he and teammates staged there - from winning a state title with Radford High to routing nationally-ranked BYU with the U of H.
Of course, Annapolis is home now. He and Barbara have watched Alexcia grow into a lacrosse standout at the University of Maryland, while younger sons Va'a and Ali'i have shown their own athletic prowess.
The present is very good, the future very promising. But there's also a past to be very proud of, and Hawaii is where Niumatalolo's roots are.
It's where he grew up and decided to stay for college, after being recruited by a U-H alumnus and ex-assistant coach named Rich Ellerson. By the way, they'll be reacquainted in a couple of weeks at the Army-Navy game.
Our 50th state is also where he fell in love with his wife. She was from Guam attending BYU-Hawaii. They met at a dance at her campus on Oahu's North Shore.
On Saturday, they'll be back at Aloha Stadium. So will Niumatalolo's parents, watching him in person as a head coach for the first time since his home debut against Towson in 2008.
Thanksgiving weekend will be, as it should be, a reunion of family - both immediate and extended.
"It's a big part of who I am," said Niumatalolo. "It's very exciting to take our players back to a place I love."
