Following one season on staff as director of leadership, Ken Niumatalolo will return to the sideline in the role of tight ends coach for UCLA football, head coach Chip Kelly announced. Niumatalolo joined the Bruins from Navy, where he accumulated a program-record 109 wins as head coach.

As director of leadership, Niumatalolo was an advisor to the staff and student-athletes of UCLA football. He briefly returned to coaching in December, guiding the tight ends during bowl preparation and in the Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted By Gronk. Hudson Habermehl found the end zone in the Bruins' 35-22 win against Boise State.

"Ken is a tremendous example for our program off the field through his character and experiences at the Naval Academy," said Kelly. "We are thrilled with the opportunity to add his knowledge and leadership to our tight ends room and coaching staff."

Niumatalolo completed his 15th season at the helm of the Naval Academy's program and 25th overall on the Annapolis, Md. campus in 2022. During his head-coaching tenure, the Midshipmen went 109-83 (.568) and won six of 10 bowl games played, both also school records.

No head coach had been on the winning side of eight consecutive games in the historic Army-Navy series until Niumatalolo accomplished the feat to start his career (2008-2015). His 10 wins overall stand as the most in the history of the rivalry. Niumatalolo's squads earned the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, awarded annually to the military service academy team with the best regular-season record against the other two teams, a program-record six times.

Off the field, 11 Navy student-athletes received Academic All-America recognition during Niumatalolo's tenure. That matched the school's total across the previous 56 years.

Niumatalolo's 2015 team won a program-record 11 games, an accomplishment later equaled by his 2019 group. Both teams finished in the top 20 of the final AP Top 25. No Navy team had previously completed a season in the top 20 since 1963. Niumatalolo guided the Midshipmen into the American Athletic Conference (AAC) in 2015 and had immediate success, with the 2015 and 2019 teams tying for first place in the AAC West and the 2016 group winning the division outright. The 2015 Midshipmen earned the Lambert Trophy as the best Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team in the East, another first since 1963.

In 2016, the Midshipmen set school records for points (531), touchdowns (73), touchdowns per game (5.2), rushing touchdowns (61), total offense (6,136 yards) and yards per play (6.8). Niumatalolo joined Wayne Hardin as the only Navy head coaches to beat Notre Dame three times.

Niumatalolo was named a finalist for The Dodd Trophy and the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award in 2015. He was tabbed again as a Dodd finalist in 2016 and for the Bryant Award in 2019.

Niumatalolo was selected the American Football Coaches Association Region 1 Coach of the Year in 2016 and, in 2019, earned the Stallings Award for his efforts as "both a humanitarian and an exceptional coach." He was named AAC Coach of the Year three times (2015, 2016 and 2019) and the Eastern College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year twice (2015 and 2019).

Niumatalolo was promoted to head football coach at the Naval Academy on Dec. 8, 2007. Each of his first three teams won eight or more games. In 2008, Niumatalolo became the first head coach to lead Navy to a bowl game in his inaugural season and just the second Service Academy head coach to win the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy in his initial year.

Just the second Polynesian head coach in FBS history and first Samoan collegiate head coach on any level, Niumatalolo was selected to the inaugural class of the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

Niumatalolo had two stints as an assistant coach at Navy, including a stretch as assistant head coach and offensive line coach from 2002-07 during which the Midshipmen went to five bowl games. The 2007 squad averaged a program-record 348.8 rushing yards per game, eclipsing the mark of 327.0 set one year earlier. Four Navy teams put up more than 300 rushing yards per game during this time.

Niumatalolo coached Midshipmen running backs in 1995 and 1996 before taking over as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 1997 and 1998. In 1997, signal caller Chris McCoy set a then-NCAA record for single-season rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 20. McCoy also became just the 10th player in NCAA history to accumulate more than 1,000 passing yards and more than 1,000 rushing yards in the same season (also 1997). Niumatalolo went on to tutor the tight ends while guiding the special teams unit at UNLV from 1998-2001.

A 1989 graduate of Hawai'i, Niumatalolo lettered three years as a quarterback and was a part of the program's first bowl team in 1989. He immediately jumped into the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant at his alma mater before becoming a full-time assistant and spending three seasons coaching on the offensive side of the ball.

A native of La'ie, Hawaii, Niumatalolo and his wife, Barbara, have three children, Alexcia, Va'a and Ali'i, and five granddaughters, Aussie Keanani, Rosie Momi, Jada Keala, Barbara Lilia and Ivory Meli.