New Coach Hot Board

[Alieberman]

At this point it looks like Brennan or Niumatalolo and it probably doesn’t go further than there.

I can live with that.

[Sid]

Hire Mark Harlan away from Utah, the guy bleeds red & blue. The entire culture would change immediately and for the better. Disgusting that former players feel unwelcome when they show up on campus, complete bullshit!!!

[DrWildcat]

If it is between Ken N and Brennan then I would prefer Brennan personally. Ken N has just been around so long that it is a little concerning that he hasn't moved on from Navy before. I also question how much recruiting he actually does. What does recruiting to a military academy actually look like? I'm sure it is hard but just because you're limited on the guys that want to go to an academy. I was under the assumption that the players are at least interested in the military above being interested in college football. Could be wrong on that, but why go to a military academy to play football if you have no interest in the military? Yes, I think he would be a good leader but is that enough? Also, and probably the biggest factor, he would require a higher salary as he already makes north of $2 million a year and a higher buyout if he fails at UA. This also likely equals less money for assistants.

I get there is risk with Brennan and the lack of HC record but he is on an upward trajectory, just won COY in the mountain west which is a pretty good G5 conference and would likely be cheaper. I'm thinking we could get him around $1.8-$2 million which would hopefully leave more room for the assistant coaching pool which is a big deal.

Could be completely wrong and I sure have been before but just my thoughts.

[Spaceman Spiff]

At this point it looks like Brennan or Niumatalolo and it probably doesn’t go further than there.

I'm ok with that. I liked Niumatalolo back when Sumlin was hired and, although this is a down year for them, he had 11 wins in 2019.

Brennan seems like an up and coming guy who will be low cost and higher potential.

I don't know why we're paying a search firm when those were two of the leading names in the first articles about our vacancy.

[Spaceman Spiff]

If it is between Ken N and Brennan then I would prefer Brennan personally. Ken N has just been around so long that it is a little concerning that he hasn't moved on from Navy before. I also question how much recruiting he actually does. What does recruiting to a military academy actually look like? I'm sure it is hard but just because you're limited on the guys that want to go to an academy. I was under the assumption that the players are at least interested in the military above being interested in college football. Could be wrong on that, but why go to a military academy to play football if you have no interest in the military? Yes, I think he would be a good leader but is that enough? Also, and probably the biggest factor, he would require a higher salary as he already makes north of $2 million a year and a higher buyout if he fails at UA. This also likely equals less money for assistants.

I get there is risk with Brennan and the lack of HC record but he is on an upward trajectory, just won COY in the mountain west which is a pretty good G5 conference and would likely be cheaper. I'm thinking we could get him around $1.8-$2 million which would hopefully leave more room for the assistant coaching pool which is a big deal.

Could be completely wrong and I sure have been before but just my thoughts.

The recruiting thing is one reason I like Niumatalolo. Arizona is a tough recruiting job where you can't rely on your backyard to get talent and you don't have a ton of resources.

Navy requires you to recruit nationally and limits your pool to kids who realize their future isn't football and are willing to commit to service. Niumatalolo would be one of the few coaches where Arizona is really an expansion of his recruiting talent pool.

It's one reason I forgive his record being a little up and down at Navy. It's much harder to keep a consistent talent pipeline at a place like Navy.

Brennan's a better money deal, but Niumatalolo is more proven. I can see the upside in both.

[Carcassdragger]

Hill would be a better choice than Brennan.

[azgreg]

[In re UofA]

Niumatalolo is interesting in that his triple option system will be a major pain for our opponents. I dont know him any better than Brennan but it comes down to this for me: Does he want to come here just to escape the annoyances of football at an academy or is he motivated to kill it here? It better be the latter.

[AzCatFan2]

I think Ken N would be another failure if he's hired at Arizona. Seems like a great guy, but not a consistent winner at Navy, and has never coached a team that didn't run a triple option. Oregon State hired Jerry Pettibone, a triple option guy who had success at Northern Illinois. Didn't translate at all in Corvallis, as he went 13-52-1 as the Beaver Head Coach.

If it is Ken N., he's going to need one heck of an offensive coordinator that will be able to play modern football. And not clash with Coach N. at the same time. Possible, but I just don't see it likely working out well.

I'd prefer Brennan or Hill from Weber State. They are building winners at schools where you need to build a program from the ground up. I believe that experience would translate well to Tucson. Ken N's experience at Navy? Not so sure.

[DrWildcat]

If it is between Ken N and Brennan then I would prefer Brennan personally. Ken N has just been around so long that it is a little concerning that he hasn't moved on from Navy before. I also question how much recruiting he actually does. What does recruiting to a military academy actually look like? I'm sure it is hard but just because you're limited on the guys that want to go to an academy. I was under the assumption that the players are at least interested in the military above being interested in college football. Could be wrong on that, but why go to a military academy to play football if you have no interest in the military? Yes, I think he would be a good leader but is that enough? Also, and probably the biggest factor, he would require a higher salary as he already makes north of $2 million a year and a higher buyout if he fails at UA. This also likely equals less money for assistants.

I get there is risk with Brennan and the lack of HC record but he is on an upward trajectory, just won COY in the mountain west which is a pretty good G5 conference and would likely be cheaper. I'm thinking we could get him around $1.8-$2 million which would hopefully leave more room for the assistant coaching pool which is a big deal.

Could be completely wrong and I sure have been before but just my thoughts.

The recruiting thing is one reason I like Niumatalolo. Arizona is a tough recruiting job where you can't rely on your backyard to get talent and you don't have a ton of resources.

Navy requires you to recruit nationally and limits your pool to kids who realize their future isn't football and are willing to commit to service. Niumatalolo would be one of the few coaches where Arizona is really an expansion of his recruiting talent pool.

It's one reason I forgive his record being a little up and down at Navy. It's much harder to keep a consistent talent pipeline at a place like Navy.

Brennan's a better money deal, but Niumatalolo is more proven. I can see the upside in both.

My point about recruiting is that I'm not even sure that Ken N has to recruit against the teams in his own conference. Basically, there is a specific type of recruit that is going to Navy and he just has to find out who they are. That's not the case at Arizona. Sure we are not getting high profile football recruits but we still have to compete against those higher profile teams in our conference. Maybe I'm wrong on this and Ken N is out there having to sell the football team and military service but I'm just not so sure.

Not that I wouldn't be fine with Niumatalolo, I just don't think its such a sure thing (if there is such a thing) and he will cost more.

[TheCatInTheHat]

I also question how much recruiting he actually does. What does recruiting to a military academy actually look like? I'm sure it is hard but just because you're limited on the guys that want to go to an academy. I was under the assumption that the players are at least interested in the military above being interested in college football. Could be wrong on that, but why go to a military academy to play football if you have no interest in the military?

This is an interesting angle.

All I know is that the typical applicant to a service academy needs their congressman/woman to write a letter of support. I assume that's not the case for intercollegiate athletes, but there's still the service requirement at graduation. As pointed out, it's certainly hard to compete against top programs when you're limited to the various stringent requirements for admission. So you can make the case that if you can succeed to a certain level with those constraints, you'll probably do great without them. But, it's a different animal and may not be a good fit, otherwise why doesn't everybody go after the more successful military academy coaches? You wouldn't necessarily have the "normal" recruiting contacts, because you're going after a very narrow segment who want to accept a naval commission and likely pursue a military career. So he may know more high school counseling office people than football coaches. I don't think you can assume that, just because his name is Niumatalolo, every good polynesian player will come running to Tucson to play for him. And then there's the option. It's necessary in the academies with brush-blocking because you can't get the really big o-linemen. But, the consensus is that he'd have to change his system in the Pac-12, so his success with such a change is another unknown wild card.

I'm not rejecting him at all; he's obviously a quality individual. I just think there are some interesting aspects to consider.

[cerec_cat]

I saw one of our former players mention Rex Ryan on instagram.

[RondaeShimmy]

Football scoop confirming this

Probably won't run the option

[azcat49]

Both those guys excel at building relationships that are genuine and that’s what it takes to recruit to AZ. We start there snd wins will come but it’s going to take time.

Duck Tomey was both their mentor and Tomey was Ted Lasso before we knew about Ted Lasso

[Spaceman Spiff]

If it is between Ken N and Brennan then I would prefer Brennan personally. Ken N has just been around so long that it is a little concerning that he hasn't moved on from Navy before. I also question how much recruiting he actually does. What does recruiting to a military academy actually look like? I'm sure it is hard but just because you're limited on the guys that want to go to an academy. I was under the assumption that the players are at least interested in the military above being interested in college football. Could be wrong on that, but why go to a military academy to play football if you have no interest in the military? Yes, I think he would be a good leader but is that enough? Also, and probably the biggest factor, he would require a higher salary as he already makes north of $2 million a year and a higher buyout if he fails at UA. This also likely equals less money for assistants.

I get there is risk with Brennan and the lack of HC record but he is on an upward trajectory, just won COY in the mountain west which is a pretty good G5 conference and would likely be cheaper. I'm thinking we could get him around $1.8-$2 million which would hopefully leave more room for the assistant coaching pool which is a big deal.

Could be completely wrong and I sure have been before but just my thoughts.

The recruiting thing is one reason I like Niumatalolo. Arizona is a tough recruiting job where you can't rely on your backyard to get talent and you don't have a ton of resources.

Navy requires you to recruit nationally and limits your pool to kids who realize their future isn't football and are willing to commit to service. Niumatalolo would be one of the few coaches where Arizona is really an expansion of his recruiting talent pool.

It's one reason I forgive his record being a little up and down at Navy. It's much harder to keep a consistent talent pipeline at a place like Navy.

Brennan's a better money deal, but Niumatalolo is more proven. I can see the upside in both.

My point about recruiting is that I'm not even sure that Ken N has to recruit against the teams in his own conference. Basically, there is a specific type of recruit that is going to Navy and he just has to find out who they are. That's not the case at Arizona. Sure we are not getting high profile football recruits but we still have to compete against those higher profile teams in our conference. Maybe I'm wrong on this and Ken N is out there having to sell the football team and military service but I'm just not so sure.

Not that I wouldn't be fine with Niumatalolo, I just don't think its such a sure thing (if there is such a thing) and he will cost more.

That's not really what I've heard. It's more like a coach has to sell recruits on both football and Navy service.

Navy (the college) isn't just general enlistment, it's officer training, so the applicant pool is already fairly selective.

There will be some people who want to be Naval officers and have football talent, but there are fewer than 5,000 cadets in total. If a coach just relies on whoever wants to come out, that's a tiny population.

Sort of point being, if you can't identify guys who can do it and convince them, you'll have some trouble.

[RondaeShimmy]

Looks like it's between Ken and Brennan

I probably trust Ken more to run a hard and disciplined team that will translate almost every single week.

12/16 Update: We continue to move Steve Sarkisian down on the board. Weber State head coach Jay Hill has been removed because there's just not a lot of chatter there. Former Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn makes his first appearance on the Hot Board and Ken Niumatalolo has now moved to second.

12/16 Update: Brennan will very likely interview with Arizona after the Mountain West title game and as soon as this upcoming Sunday.

12/16 Update: There's a lot of smoke with Niumatalolo right now to the point where it may be a two horse race between him and Brennan. The alumni have made it clear he would have the support he felt he did not have the first time and the timing to leave Navy is right. We expect him to get an interview if he has not gotten one already

12/16 Update: Salave'a remains a candidate because of his background, but there are two candidates at least that are clearly ahead of him. We still believe the more likely scenario is he becomes defensive coordinator.

[TheCatInTheHat]

I don't think it's happening this time around, but there's a mistake that seems to be made way too often. Some AD looks at the top couple of booster/alumni complaints about the coach he just fired, and he seems to focus primarily on hiring the opposite to "fix" that. The prime example I can think of was when Tomey was fired. He was known to "run-right-up-the-middle" (as the student section chant went) on a make-able 3rd and 7 in order to "set up for a punt." Or maybe just get on with it and punt on third down. And, he was criticized for not suspending or booting players off the team for off-field issues. So Livengood hired Mackovic. Mr. Passing Game. Although when you're losing big because you have no defense and you're throwing to catch up, you're going to put up some numbers. But it's still not fun. And also Mr. Discipline. Scream at the players and tell them they're an embarrassment to their family, and then prevent players from having their pre-game meal. Nice guy. And you get the revolt and exodus. So, going to opposite extremes doesn't work; you need balance. Sumlin's biggest sin was his failure to recruit, and I wouldn't complain if they somehow brought in a super-recruiter. But, while that can work great with some big personality in hoops during a quick turnaround with the small rosters, I'm not sure how well that works in football, other than players betting on your future success, as with Stoops.

[Chicat]

For many of the same reasons I was less than enthused about Niumatalolo three years ago, I'm less inclined to be excited about him now.

- Can he really recruit against the likes of ASU, UCLA, Utah, and Colorado?

- Will he be married to the Triple Option and can that system be successful in the Pac-12?

- Can he excite the fans enough to put butts in the seats when we start to allow crowds at games again?

- Will he inspire the football alumni to the point where they will want to be a part of the program and visible to the fanbase?

If the answers to these questions don't add up to what we want to see out of the next regime, go with Brennan. Yeah, he may be more of an unknown quantity, but he would seem to answer questions about recruiting and buy-in better than Niumatalolo.

[ChooChooCat]

Hill would be a better choice than Brennan.

I like Hill, but the success rate for a guy jumping from FCS to FBS (especially P5) is extremely extremely low.

[ChooChooCat]

For many of the same reasons I was less than enthused about Niumatalolo three years ago, I'm less inclined to be excited about him now.

- Can he really recruit against the likes of ASU, UCLA, Utah, and Colorado?

- Will he be married to the Triple Option and can that system be successful in the Pac-12?

- Can he excite the fans enough to put butts in the seats when we start to allow crowds at games again?

- Will he inspire the football alumni to the point where they will want to be a part of the program and visible to the fanbase?

If the answers to these questions don't add up to what we want to see out of the next regime, go with Brennan. Yeah, he may be more of an unknown quantity, but he would seem to answer questions about recruiting and buy-in better than Niumatalolo.

Very good questions and I don’t have the answers for 1,3, and 4, but he’s not married to the triple option whatsoever. He’s not married to any offensive or defensive system. He’d hire a very good OC with a normal offense if he gets the job.

[PieceOfMeat]

really wish jay hill had gotten more consideration, but it is what it is

[ChooChooCat]

If it is between Ken N and Brennan then I would prefer Brennan personally. Ken N has just been around so long that it is a little concerning that he hasn't moved on from Navy before. I also question how much recruiting he actually does. What does recruiting to a military academy actually look like? I'm sure it is hard but just because you're limited on the guys that want to go to an academy. I was under the assumption that the players are at least interested in the military above being interested in college football. Could be wrong on that, but why go to a military academy to play football if you have no interest in the military? Yes, I think he would be a good leader but is that enough? Also, and probably the biggest factor, he would require a higher salary as he already makes north of $2 million a year and a higher buyout if he fails at UA. This also likely equals less money for assistants.

I get there is risk with Brennan and the lack of HC record but he is on an upward trajectory, just won COY in the mountain west which is a pretty good G5 conference and would likely be cheaper. I'm thinking we could get him around $1.8-$2 million which would hopefully leave more room for the assistant coaching pool which is a big deal.

Could be completely wrong and I sure have been before but just my thoughts.

The recruiting thing is one reason I like Niumatalolo. Arizona is a tough recruiting job where you can't rely on your backyard to get talent and you don't have a ton of resources.

Navy requires you to recruit nationally and limits your pool to kids who realize their future isn't football and are willing to commit to service. Niumatalolo would be one of the few coaches where Arizona is really an expansion of his recruiting talent pool.

It's one reason I forgive his record being a little up and down at Navy. It's much harder to keep a consistent talent pipeline at a place like Navy.

Brennan's a better money deal, but Niumatalolo is more proven. I can see the upside in both.

My point about recruiting is that I'm not even sure that Ken N has to recruit against the teams in his own conference. Basically, there is a specific type of recruit that is going to Navy and he just has to find out who they are. That's not the case at Arizona. Sure we are not getting high profile football recruits but we still have to compete against those higher profile teams in our conference. Maybe I'm wrong on this and Ken N is out there having to sell the football team and military service but I'm just not so sure.

Not that I wouldn't be fine with Niumatalolo, I just don't think its such a sure thing (if there is such a thing) and he will cost more.

That's not really what I've heard. It's more like a coach has to sell recruits on both football and Navy service.

Navy (the college) isn't just general enlistment, it's officer training, so the applicant pool is already fairly selective.

There will be some people who want to be Naval officers and have football talent, but there are fewer than 5,000 cadets in total. If a coach just relies on whoever wants to come out, that's a tiny population.

Sort of point being, if you can't identify guys who can do it and convince them, you'll have some trouble.

Also when it comes to the service academies, so much is dependent on how good their QB is. Truly is the difference between 3 wins and 11.

[scumdevils86]

Yea I am really worried about how Ken can recruit successfully to a program outside of navy if the triple o is his system still...

[RondaeShimmy]

The asu dude?

[Spaceman Spiff]

For many of the same reasons I was less than enthused about Niumatalolo three years ago, I'm less inclined to be excited about him now.

- Can he really recruit against the likes of ASU, UCLA, Utah, and Colorado?

- Will he be married to the Triple Option and can that system be successful in the Pac-12?

- Can he excite the fans enough to put butts in the seats when we start to allow crowds at games again?

- Will he inspire the football alumni to the point where they will want to be a part of the program and visible to the fanbase?

If the answers to these questions don't add up to what we want to see out of the next regime, go with Brennan. Yeah, he may be more of an unknown quantity, but he would seem to answer questions about recruiting and buy-in better than Niumatalolo.

No disrespect, but I think the focus on sex appeal and exciting people is where our previous hiring has lacked.

Arizona is not an easy place to win at. We saw the exciting guy in Sumlin, and how fast that excitement vanished when we sucked ass.

People get excited and support a winning team. Niumatalolo has proven he can produce a winning team.

On recruiting, I don't understand the idea Brennan is a recruiting wizard. SJSU's 2020 class is 118th nationally. Their 2019 class was 127. 2018 was 94th nationally. All those ranks are from 24/7, fwiw.

In fairness to Brennan, SJSU is a tough place to recruit to, but I don't get why he's supposed to be a sure thing when his classes have been near the bottom nationally every year. Brennan's recruiting classes have been basically the same rank as Niumatalolo's, without being a service academy.

Don't get me wrong, Brennan has upside. I like him, but both guys have upside.

[Merkin]

Didn't Georgia Tech abandon the Triple Option? Pretty sure Cal Poly did too. Last CP game I went to the Mustangs only threw one pass the entire first half, and that was at the end of the half.

[Chicat]

For many of the same reasons I was less than enthused about Niumatalolo three years ago, I'm less inclined to be excited about him now.

- Can he really recruit against the likes of ASU, UCLA, Utah, and Colorado?

- Will he be married to the Triple Option and can that system be successful in the Pac-12?

- Can he excite the fans enough to put butts in the seats when we start to allow crowds at games again?

- Will he inspire the football alumni to the point where they will want to be a part of the program and visible to the fanbase?

If the answers to these questions don't add up to what we want to see out of the next regime, go with Brennan. Yeah, he may be more of an unknown quantity, but he would seem to answer questions about recruiting and buy-in better than Niumatalolo.

No disrespect, but I think the focus on sex appeal and exciting people is where our previous hiring has lacked.

Arizona is not an easy place to win at. We saw the exciting guy in Sumlin, and how fast that excitement vanished when we sucked ass.

People get excited and support a winning team. Niumatalolo has proven he can produce a winning team.

On recruiting, I don't understand the idea Brennan is a recruiting wizard. SJSU's 2020 class is 118th nationally. Their 2019 class was 127. 2018 was 94th nationally. All those ranks are from 24/7, fwiw.

In fairness to Brennan, SJSU is a tough place to recruit to, but I don't get why he's supposed to be a sure thing when his classes have been near the bottom nationally every year. Brennan's recruiting classes have been basically the same rank as Niumatalolo's, without being a service academy.

Don't get me wrong, Brennan has upside. I like him, but both guys have upside.

Brennan has recruited the west coast almost exclusively. That's where I think he has an advantage over Niumatalolo. While he may not have gotten the top kids out of the top programs, he's still built up relationships there to get the second tier kids.

Of course teams like SJSU and Navy will have similarly ranked recruiting classes. They are similar programs as far as visibility and competition. But they attract vastly different kids. We need the type of kid who would be recruited at SJSU, but at a higher caliber on the field.

[Spaceman Spiff]

If it is between Ken N and Brennan then I would prefer Brennan personally. Ken N has just been around so long that it is a little concerning that he hasn't moved on from Navy before. I also question how much recruiting he actually does. What does recruiting to a military academy actually look like? I'm sure it is hard but just because you're limited on the guys that want to go to an academy. I was under the assumption that the players are at least interested in the military above being interested in college football. Could be wrong on that, but why go to a military academy to play football if you have no interest in the military? Yes, I think he would be a good leader but is that enough? Also, and probably the biggest factor, he would require a higher salary as he already makes north of $2 million a year and a higher buyout if he fails at UA. This also likely equals less money for assistants.

I get there is risk with Brennan and the lack of HC record but he is on an upward trajectory, just won COY in the mountain west which is a pretty good G5 conference and would likely be cheaper. I'm thinking we could get him around $1.8-$2 million which would hopefully leave more room for the assistant coaching pool which is a big deal.

Could be completely wrong and I sure have been before but just my thoughts.

The recruiting thing is one reason I like Niumatalolo. Arizona is a tough recruiting job where you can't rely on your backyard to get talent and you don't have a ton of resources.

Navy requires you to recruit nationally and limits your pool to kids who realize their future isn't football and are willing to commit to service. Niumatalolo would be one of the few coaches where Arizona is really an expansion of his recruiting talent pool.

It's one reason I forgive his record being a little up and down at Navy. It's much harder to keep a consistent talent pipeline at a place like Navy.

Brennan's a better money deal, but Niumatalolo is more proven. I can see the upside in both.

My point about recruiting is that I'm not even sure that Ken N has to recruit against the teams in his own conference. Basically, there is a specific type of recruit that is going to Navy and he just has to find out who they are. That's not the case at Arizona. Sure we are not getting high profile football recruits but we still have to compete against those higher profile teams in our conference. Maybe I'm wrong on this and Ken N is out there having to sell the football team and military service but I'm just not so sure.

Not that I wouldn't be fine with Niumatalolo, I just don't think its such a sure thing (if there is such a thing) and he will cost more.

That's not really what I've heard. It's more like a coach has to sell recruits on both football and Navy service.

Navy (the college) isn't just general enlistment, it's officer training, so the applicant pool is already fairly selective.

There will be some people who want to be Naval officers and have football talent, but there are fewer than 5,000 cadets in total. If a coach just relies on whoever wants to come out, that's a tiny population.

Sort of point being, if you can't identify guys who can do it and convince them, you'll have some trouble.

Also when it comes to the service academies, so much is dependent on how good their QB is. Truly is the difference between 3 wins and 11.

Agreed, plus you lack the ability to patch talent like other coaches have. You can't dip into juco, transfers or grad transfers if your QB recruit isn't working out.

That's why I'm not put off by Niumatalolo being a little up and down. The AAC is a legit G5 league, and Navy has very little room for error.

I mean, think of injuries too. You may only get one legit QB prospect every couple years. If he gets injured, it's not just next man up.

[ChooChooCat]

For many of the same reasons I was less than enthused about Niumatalolo three years ago, I'm less inclined to be excited about him now.

- Can he really recruit against the likes of ASU, UCLA, Utah, and Colorado?

- Will he be married to the Triple Option and can that system be successful in the Pac-12?

- Can he excite the fans enough to put butts in the seats when we start to allow crowds at games again?

- Will he inspire the football alumni to the point where they will want to be a part of the program and visible to the fanbase?

If the answers to these questions don't add up to what we want to see out of the next regime, go with Brennan. Yeah, he may be more of an unknown quantity, but he would seem to answer questions about recruiting and buy-in better than Niumatalolo.

No disrespect, but I think the focus on sex appeal and exciting people is where our previous hiring has lacked.

Arizona is not an easy place to win at. We saw the exciting guy in Sumlin, and how fast that excitement vanished when we sucked ass.

People get excited and support a winning team. Niumatalolo has proven he can produce a winning team.

On recruiting, I don't understand the idea Brennan is a recruiting wizard. SJSU's 2020 class is 118th nationally. Their 2019 class was 127. 2018 was 94th nationally. All those ranks are from 24/7, fwiw.

In fairness to Brennan, SJSU is a tough place to recruit to, but I don't get why he's supposed to be a sure thing when his classes have been near the bottom nationally every year. Brennan's recruiting classes have been basically the same rank as Niumatalolo's, without being a service academy.

Don't get me wrong, Brennan has upside. I like him, but both guys have upside.

One is a decade younger than the other, which is why many would see him as having greater upside and putting in harder work to recruit than the other.

[UAEebs86]

Can Coach N. get a Poly pipeline going? The place we have really fallen behind the other PAC-12 programs is on the lines, especially the D-Line.

[Chicat]

Can Coach N. get a Poly pipeline going? The place we have really fallen behind the other PAC-12 programs is on the lines, especially the D-Line.

A quick scan of the Navy roster looking at names and hometowns, it looks like Ken might have some Poly connections. Looks like 5 or 6 Poly kids on the current roster, which is more than I would have thought honestly.

[Spaceman Spiff]

For many of the same reasons I was less than enthused about Niumatalolo three years ago, I'm less inclined to be excited about him now.

- Can he really recruit against the likes of ASU, UCLA, Utah, and Colorado?

- Will he be married to the Triple Option and can that system be successful in the Pac-12?

- Can he excite the fans enough to put butts in the seats when we start to allow crowds at games again?

- Will he inspire the football alumni to the point where they will want to be a part of the program and visible to the fanbase?

If the answers to these questions don't add up to what we want to see out of the next regime, go with Brennan. Yeah, he may be more of an unknown quantity, but he would seem to answer questions about recruiting and buy-in better than Niumatalolo.

No disrespect, but I think the focus on sex appeal and exciting people is where our previous hiring has lacked.

Arizona is not an easy place to win at. We saw the exciting guy in Sumlin, and how fast that excitement vanished when we sucked ass.

People get excited and support a winning team. Niumatalolo has proven he can produce a winning team.

On recruiting, I don't understand the idea Brennan is a recruiting wizard. SJSU's 2020 class is 118th nationally. Their 2019 class was 127. 2018 was 94th nationally. All those ranks are from 24/7, fwiw.

In fairness to Brennan, SJSU is a tough place to recruit to, but I don't get why he's supposed to be a sure thing when his classes have been near the bottom nationally every year. Brennan's recruiting classes have been basically the same rank as Niumatalolo's, without being a service academy.

Don't get me wrong, Brennan has upside. I like him, but both guys have upside.

Brennan has recruited the west coast almost exclusively. That's where I think he has an advantage over Niumatalolo. While he may not have gotten the top kids out of the top programs, he's still built up relationships there to get the second tier kids.

Of course teams like SJSU and Navy will have similarly ranked recruiting classes. They are similar programs as far as visibility and competition. But they attract vastly different kids. We need the type of kid who would be recruited at SJSU, but at a higher caliber on the field.

I just don't see how recruiting the West Coast and getting a class that ranks 127th out of 130 D1 programs is a definite advantage in the book for Brennan.

I think it's a fair statement that either Brennan or Niumatalolo would be expected to pull classes ranking well ahead of what they have done. Frankly, I don't see either as a sure thing. Neither has a track record of pulling top classes.

I hesitate to put a ton of stock into Brennan's relationships when they haven't produced tremendous results. He's been bottom 10% nationally in 3 of 4 years.

[ChooChooCat]

Isn’t it even more impressive that Brennan hasn’t exactly killed it on the recruiting trail and yet has his team undefeated and playing for the MW championship?

[Spaceman Spiff]

Isn’t it even more impressive that Brennan hasn’t exactly killed it on the recruiting trail and yet has his team undefeated and playing for the MW championship?

I like both Niumatalolo and Brennan, and a big reason is they both have won with less talent and program advantages. Both Navy and SJSU are tough places to win at or attract talent to.

Niumatalolo's proven it a bit longer than Brennan, but Brennan's contract here would probably be more favorable.

I never feel like you should get overly optimistic about Arizona football, but I like Brennan/Niumatalolo infinitely more than I did the Sumlin hire, which I hated fron Day 1.

[Chicat]

For many of the same reasons I was less than enthused about Niumatalolo three years ago, I'm less inclined to be excited about him now.

- Can he really recruit against the likes of ASU, UCLA, Utah, and Colorado?

- Will he be married to the Triple Option and can that system be successful in the Pac-12?

- Can he excite the fans enough to put butts in the seats when we start to allow crowds at games again?

- Will he inspire the football alumni to the point where they will want to be a part of the program and visible to the fanbase?

If the answers to these questions don't add up to what we want to see out of the next regime, go with Brennan. Yeah, he may be more of an unknown quantity, but he would seem to answer questions about recruiting and buy-in better than Niumatalolo.

No disrespect, but I think the focus on sex appeal and exciting people is where our previous hiring has lacked.

Arizona is not an easy place to win at. We saw the exciting guy in Sumlin, and how fast that excitement vanished when we sucked ass.

People get excited and support a winning team. Niumatalolo has proven he can produce a winning team.

On recruiting, I don't understand the idea Brennan is a recruiting wizard. SJSU's 2020 class is 118th nationally. Their 2019 class was 127. 2018 was 94th nationally. All those ranks are from 24/7, fwiw.

In fairness to Brennan, SJSU is a tough place to recruit to, but I don't get why he's supposed to be a sure thing when his classes have been near the bottom nationally every year. Brennan's recruiting classes have been basically the same rank as Niumatalolo's, without being a service academy.

Don't get me wrong, Brennan has upside. I like him, but both guys have upside.

Brennan has recruited the west coast almost exclusively. That's where I think he has an advantage over Niumatalolo. While he may not have gotten the top kids out of the top programs, he's still built up relationships there to get the second tier kids.

Of course teams like SJSU and Navy will have similarly ranked recruiting classes. They are similar programs as far as visibility and competition. But they attract vastly different kids. We need the type of kid who would be recruited at SJSU, but at a higher caliber on the field.

I just don't see how recruiting the West Coast and getting a class that ranks 127th out of 130 D1 programs is a definite advantage in the book for Brennan.

I think it's a fair statement that either Brennan or Niumatalolo would be expected to pull classes ranking well ahead of what they have done. Frankly, I don't see either as a sure thing. Neither has a track record of pulling top classes.

I hesitate to put a ton of stock into Brennan's relationships when they haven't produced tremendous results. He's been bottom 10% nationally in 3 of 4 years.

As you've noted, SJSU is a tough place to recruit to. I also believe that at Arizona, whoever is the coach will need to win first, and then build upon that with recruits. Essentially doing what RichRod failed to do.

Please note, this is just my personal opinion. I'd rather Brennan over Niumatalolo. I could be absolutely wrong, and I absolutely was when it was Sumlin vs. Niu. But I see Brennan as younger, hungrier, and with more established ties in the West. Time will tell (as it did with Sumlin) whether I'm right.

[cordera89]

Yea I am really worried about how Ken can recruit successfully to a program outside of navy if the triple o is his system still...

Did anyone forget Paul Johnson Triple Option at Georgia Tech? And how he recruited there?

[MountainCat]

Kenneth Va'a Niumatalolo (born May 8, 1965) is an American football coach and former player. Niumatalolo played college football at the University of Hawaii. As a quarterback he led Hawaii to their first postseason bowl game in 1989.[1] Niumatalolo is the second person of Polynesian descent to be named head coach of an NCAA Division I FBS college football program and the first ethnic Samoan collegiate head coach on any level.[2] Niumatalolo was inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame on January 23, 2014.[3] He is the current head coach at the Naval Academy and the winningest coach in the history of Navy football.

2008
Current position
Title
Head coach
Team
Navy
Conference
The American
Record
101–67

Annual salary
$2.1 million

Biographical details
Born
May 8, 1965 (age 55)
Laie, Hawaii

Playing career
1987–1989
Hawaii
Position(s)
Quarterback

Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1990–1994
Hawaii (GA)
1995–1996
Navy (RB)
1997–1998
Navy (OC/QB)
1999–2001
UNLV (TE/ST)
2002–2007
Navy (AHC/OL)
2007–present
Navy

Head coaching record
Overall
101–67

Bowls
6–5

Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3× American West Division (2015, 2016, 2019)
Awards
3× American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year (2015, 2016, 2019)

[RondaeShimmy]

I just can't imagine doing this to Niumatalolo a second time.

Think he's the guy.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Yea I am really worried about how Ken can recruit successfully to a program outside of navy if the triple o is his system still...

Did anyone forget Paul Johnson Triple Option at Georgia Tech? And how he recruited there?

Johnson won 58% of his games at GT, made the Orange Bowl twice and made bowls in 9 of 11 years. Frankly, I'd be happy with those sort of results at Arizona.

[Chicat]

Johnson thought calling his offense the Triple Option was a joke because they only ran that play 20% of the time.

[btfd16]

Why hasn’t anyone hired Ken N the last 3 years? That always stuck out to me

[UofAlum05]

He's not running the Triple Option at Arizona. He has connections and would hire a top notch Power 5 OC. I don't know why people keep saying that when it has been said over and over again that he wouldn't run the Triple Option at Arizona. With that being said a gimmick offense might be UofA's only shot at being competitive next season.

Most of the Power 5 has felt they didn't have a shot at Ken N for a long time because he is fiercely loyal. We are only getting a shot because of the Tomey connection.

We would be extremely fortunate to have this guy as our head coach. I'm honestly giddy that Arizona Football might gain some respect back and the level of men this program would produce.

All of my ECU family, who plays Navy every year, can't believe how fortunate we are to even have a shot at this caliber of coach. The AAC is top to bottom a terrific conference and Navy (outside of this past year) is usually near the top of the standings.

[UofAlum05]

Why hasn’t anyone hired Ken N the last 3 years? That always stuck out to me

Because he won't pick up the phone. We only have as shot because of the Tomey connection.

[azgreg]

It's gotta be Niumatalolo because I just figured out how to pronounce it.

[azgreg]

Why hasn’t anyone hired Ken N the last 3 years? That always stuck out to me

I was reading a piece somewhere that mentioned that he's received offers every year for the last 5 years.

[Carcassdragger]

I just can't imagine doing this to Niumatalolo a second time.

Think he's the guy.

A very good point.

[Chicat]

Great, now I’m worried he’s gonna turn us down.

[UofAlum05]

Great, now I’m worried he’s gonna turn us down.

Actually, I'm legit worried about that because rumors are that he has already been offered the job.

[CopaCat]

To me this possible Niumatalolo hire screams Dave Heeke trying to stick it to everyone for forcing him into Sumlin, contrary to what the reports are saying about Booster support.

I love Ken N as a coach. He is exactly the kind of coach we need. Unfortunately I am not as enthusiastic about him as a recruiter or his offense. I really hope if we go with Niumatalolo that Salavea or Pierce(doubtful but still my dream) come along as a D Coordinator/Recruiter. Same stipulations with a Brennan hire. We need a recruiter, period. It sucks that 2 of the better recruiters on the West Coast are former Wildcats and yet we can't recruit.

[AzCatFan2]

Recruiting rankings are always a bit of a self-fulfilled prophesy. If Alabama is interested in a kid, then that kid is going to be good, and may have a star added and go from *** to ****. If he ends up elsewhere, he's still the same kid, but now a school got a 4* instead of a 3*, and all because Saban thought he was worth a look.

SJSU and Navy are on the opposite ends. They are always going to be at the bottom. The fact that both Coach N and Brennan can field winners with these kids speak to their coaching ability in a very positive way. I would just prefer Brennan over Coach N because I think Brennan's experience at SJSU will lend itself better to Arizona than a guy who has been at a service academy for years.