About how the UH game means a lot to him, Ken Niumatalolo said:
"I could stand here and tell you it's just another game, but it's more than just another game. I've tried to hold back the emotions and excitement, but it's going to be hard once I finally walk into that stadium. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of emotion, a few tears." (CG)
CG Note: "Aloha Stadium, the 50,000-seat facility that opened in 1975, serves as a patchwork for Niumatalolo's life. As a youngster, he crossed the overpass from Halawa to sell newspapers at the stadium and try to sneak into games. He remembers watching Hula Bowl and Pro Bowl practices with rapt interest. As a senior at Radford High, Niumatalolo was the starting quarterback for a team that captured the annual Prep Bowl at Aloha Stadium. The left-handed thrower accepted a scholarship to the University of Hawaii and played many more games in the multi-purpose facility that has hosted everything from concerts to car shows to state fairs."
About how Aloha Stadium is important to him, Niumatalolo said:
"That stadium holds a lot of great memories for me. In high school, my team won the state championship there. I played and coach there when I was at Hawaii. As a young boy, I used to sell newspapers there. I remember rooting for the Warriors and hanging out by the locker room
hoping someone would throw you up a wristband." (CG)
CG Note: "Niumatalolo's coaching career began in the press box high atop Aloha Stadium - first as a lowly graduate assistant who carried video equipment and brought box lunches to the coaching staff then later wearing a headset while sitting alongside offensive coordinator Paul Johnson as he called plays. It was Johnson who recognized Niumatalolo's strong understanding of the triple-option spread offense and suggested the 26-year-old Hawaiian pursue coaching after graduation. It was Johnson who brought Niumatalolo to Annapolis after he was hired as offensive coordinator at Navy. It was Johnson who brought Niumatalolo back to the academy as assistant head coach after the former took over as head coach in 2002.
Niumatalolo spent four seasons at Navy during his first stint, replacing Johnson as offensive coordinator after his mentor took the head coaching job at Georgia Southern. That stint ended abruptly after just two seasons when head coach Charlie Weatherbie fired Niumatalolo due to ongoing professional and personality conflicts. Niumatalolo failed to land a high school coaching job and tried his hand at sales before latching on as an assistant at the University of Nevada-Las
Vegas and resurrecting his career in 1999. A decade later, he is only the second Polynesian head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision and the first collegiate head coach on any level of Samoan descent."
About the importance of winning their game against UH, Niumatalolo said:
"As excited as I am about this game, I also know how long a flight it is. I don't want to come back a loser. That would really spoil the entire trip." (CG)
CG Note: "Niumatalolo wants the Midshipmen to achieve a balance between sight-seeing and preparing. The Navy traveling party will visit the Arizona Memorial and probably take an island tour aboard an air-conditioned bus."
About how he's been preparing their schedule of events for Hawaii for a long time, Niumatalolo said:
"I've been working on the schedule a long time because I know what a great home-field advantage Hawaii has. You don't want your guys to get distracted, but you also can't pull down the shades and lock the doors and not let them outside. It's paradise and I want the players to be able to enjoy the experience." (CG)
CG Note: "On the field on Saturday, the memories will come pouring back. Niumatalolo played for and worked alongside George Lumpkin, who has been an assistant at Hawaii for 33 years. Niumatalolo has known three other assistants - Hawaii natives Rich Miano along with brothers
Ron and Cal Lee, for years. Tuika Tufaga, a starting defensive tackle for the Warriors, is Niumatalolo's nephew. Simi and Lamala Niumatalolo will be in attendance at Aloha Stadium to see their son coach Navy against his alma mater. Older brother Jim, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Navy now stationed at the Pentagon in D.C., is traveling back for the game. Three sisters who still live in Hawaii are also going to the game along with their children."
Looking forward to seeing his son coach Navy against UH, Simi Niumatalolo (retired after serving 23 years as a Chief Petty Officer in the US Coast Guard) said:
"We're very, very excited and looking forward to seeing Kenneth. This is a day we would never dream of. We're very proud of Kenneth and what he has accomplished." (CG)
About his lifelong friend and former UH teammate, Darren Hernandez (Kapolei High head coach) said:
"Kenny is a favorite son who will have a lot of friends and fans there to support him on Saturday. It's tough because everyone wants Hawaii to win and for Kenny to do well. It's a tough situation." (CG)
Remembering when Niumatalolo left Oahu in 1984 to coach, Hernandez said:
"I chose to stay here and coach at the high school level, but Kenny made the leap of faith to leave the island to try to make it in the coaching profession. For Kenny to come back as the head coach of the Naval Academy, it's just amazing. Everybody in Hawaii is very proud of how far Kenny has come, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer person." (CG)
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/nas/2009/11/25-11/Proud-coach-heading-for-home.html
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