San Jose State director of football operations Clesi Crochet gives head coach Ken Niumatalolo a sheet each week with statistics and tidbits about the upcoming opponent.
“I don’t need the sheet this week,” Niumatalolo said.
SJSU is facing an opponent very familiar to Niumatalolo Saturday in his Mountain West head coaching debut, the Air Force Academy (4 p.m., CBS Sports Network).
Niumatalolo, who won his Spartan debut last week against Sacramento State, faced the Air Force Academy 15 times throughout his head coaching tenure at the Naval Academy.
That’s more than double the amount that SJSU has played against Air Force even though they have both been in the Mountain West Conference since the Spartans joined in 2013.
Navy was 7-8 against Air Force during Niumatalolo’s time as head coach.
He also played Air Force every season while playing and coaching at the University of Hawaii from 1986-1994, his first stop at Navy from 1995-1998, coaching at UNLV from 1999-2001 and his return to Navy from 2002-2022.
Niumatolo’s 2023 season at UCLA where he served as director of leadership was the sole year when his team wasn’t scheduled to play Air Force. In total, this is his 38th meeting with the Falcons.
“I know exactly who they are, which can be good and can be bad,” Niumatalolo said. “The good is you know who they are so you respect them. The bad is you know how good they are.”
Niumatalolo understands the nuances of coaching at a service academy after 25 seasons with Navy, including time as running backs coach, offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, assistant head coach and head coach.
“When you have a break here (at SJSU), maybe you go home and see your family. These guys are out doing basic training stuff at the service academies, at Air Force they’re out doing wilderness survival stuff,” Niumatalolo said. “So the training is a little bit different in the offseason but when you’re lifting and running, when you’re here watching film and practicing, all of that’s the same.”
Recruiting is another ball game at a service academy, as players sign up to serve in the military after completing college.
“I have a ton of respect for those kids that go there and do that, recognizing after they’re done, they’re going to be in harm’s way to protect us,” Niumatalolo said. “Just because you do not serve in the military doesn’t make you a bad person but I think maybe the difference is (that) it’s a small percentage that go there, recognizing that they have to protect our freedoms when they’re done playing.”
Niumatalolo also acknowledged one advantage the academies have: larger rosters, because everyone at the academy is on scholarship.
The Spartans’ first-year coach may know Air Force, but the Falcons roster coached by Troy Calhoun, who is in his 18th season, returns only one starter on offense and three on defense. Despite those changes, a lot remains the same at the service academies.
Air Force, which went 9-4 last year and beat Merrimack 21-6 in its opening game last week, is synonymous with the triple-option offense, the same scheme Niumatalo ran at Navy.
Niumatalolo offered some insight on the scheme he ran.
“Everybody’s tried to stop the fullback against them and very few have stopped them because they’re so good at what they do,” Niumatalolo said. “They got so many different ways to run a fullback and so many nuances in how they’re trying to do things and trying to get the fullback established.”
Of course, the defense has to be physical and gap-sound according to Niumatalolo.
“But they do have all these different wrinkles,” Niumatalolo said. “Nobody does it better than (Air Force offensive coordinator) Mike Thiessen.”
Defensive coordinator Derrick Odum said Niumatalolo has a wealth of knowledge on the nuances of the triple option and its many variations, saying it comes down to a basic tenet of football.
“They’re going to come off the ball and hit you in the face, and you have to respond,” Odum said. “There’s no real secret sauce to it.”
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Odum has urged his defense to be patient this week.
“They’re going to get three yards, four yards and you got to just find a way to hang in there and make a play,” he said.
Senior linebacker and captain Taniela Latu said Niumatalolo has been harping on the players to be the more disciplined team in Saturday’s matchup.
“They’re a young team too,” Latu said. “But that doesn’t mean they’re not any better or any worse.”
Niumatalolo knows that the Falcons are not going to beat themselves.
“They don’t bust coverages, they’re gap sound on the run game,” he said. “They’re a tough team to play against because they don’t give you crap.”
