SAN JOSE ST HIRES KEN NIUMATALOLO

let's go to San Jose State they just hired Ken listen to this Ken NE matolo that is his name Ken neam monola if you remember he was a coach of Navy for a number of very very successful years for the midshipman oh midshipman tough job to win tough job to win very very the two very very different jobs though s State and navy now but in the fact that they're very both tough tough jobs San Jose State is still a pretty tough job which is why I think he's right guy for it historically historically it is a tough job I believe that you can win there yeah and Brent Brandon to some degree showed that you could be successful there now that is a program C I say does not have a large athletic budget at all it does not but you got a great geography these last couple years you've had some nice momentum you've brought in some good quarterbacks the last couple couple years it should be interesting so before San Jose State NE matala was at UCLA just as like a tight ends coach I believe then before that of course he was at Navy for I mean a number of years we're talking three seasons where we had over 10 wins at Navy he went to 11 different Bull games six wins in those Bull games incredibly successful yeah like did he have a tough time winning down the stretch there yes yes but what nil does does Navy have to offer what Elite wide receivers are going to want to come play for Navy you know it's just it's such a difficult job it is such a difficult job coaching at a military school which what what Troy khoun does it's unbelievable we were talking about before the show how many Mountain West coaches got fired or left this past off season I believe there's going to be what six 1 two 3 four five six current packed uh Mountain West coaches that will be changes in this off season we have done F six videos and then also Fresno State still us to hire a coach that's seven if you want to throw Oregon state in the mix that's eight eight that's over a half of this the Mountain West and an already crazy and Wild Mountain West which we loved covering this year a lot of turnover a lot of change there someone's going to rise to the top you mentioned it with Sun Belt right with James Madison and Troy and South Alabama now change changing coaches right someone's gonna rise to the top is it gonna be burial can NE matalo or or anyone else in in the conference there I think I think it's very exciting for a lot of these fan bases absolutely and Ando he's a Hawaiian Polynesian he has these West Coast ties so he knows what it's like I he was just coaching UCLA right he he knows what it's like the coach in the state of California he was at UNLV for a couple years he wins right and you're probably wondering is he going to be running the same triple option offense that we're used to running and navy no CD I'll let you get into that a little bit what is this offense going to look like yeah so it's going to be the spread and shed by the way fantastic name that's that's done by the LC will be Craig stutzman Craig stutzman is a guy that's had a lot of success wherever he's been most recently Texas State developed some damn good quarterbacks the Resurgence of TJ Finley himself a guy we love talking about on the podcast this year he's going to do great things I believe at Western Kentucky this year um yeah he he's a guy they passed the ball 429 times it's gonna be much different than Navy's um triple option spread and even some of Bren Brennon stuff that he ran at San Jose State he mentioned why he's not running it is because first of all the the Bay Area right where San Jose State is and California itself recruiting resources and and hotbed is for a ton of good quarterbacks and strong skill position players right that that is exactly what you want and the awareness of your coach so not hey I'm not going to put my scheme in implemented my scheme on this program I'm going to see what this program needs at the time right now it's fantastic it is fantastic their their former OC is going to be rning as their wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator helping on with that um he's bringing over some Navy ties right so the slot backs coach was similar to the running back of the wing back in the Navy triple option offense he'll he'll coach running backs that's Marcus Thomas and the former fullback coach for Navy the guy that just gets the the fullback dive every time in the triple option play that Mike Judge he'll play he'll be the tight ends coach right younger brother of Craig stman right Billy Ray stutzman and the connection there between St Craig stutzman and Ken Coach Ken was Billy Ray stutsman follow me here the brother of Craig stman right was a former assistant of Coach Ken at Navy he's also going to be an analyst there on to bring some continuity with the Navy staff with Texas State and and Craig and all other good stuff offensively it's a pretty exciting staff for what the resources he has there but all of his connections you mentioned on the west coast and in recruiting in general and and also a navy and colge ball world is paying off and that's why you hire a guy like Ken so we talk about what are the expectations what are the expectations of San J State Spartans in the past it had been what what seven wins would be like an amazing season at least in the last like 15 years I don't have the past season results in front of me but and when they went 7-1 and won the Mountain West champ like that was their only Conference Championship in that program's history it was during Co so to say this program has been lacking success would be pretty accurate but I think right now with the state of the program where it's at I I think you can expect as a fan to compete to potentially make a bowl game every year right like hovering around that five six wins every single year and occasionally you get a quarterback you win a couple games that you shouldn't and all of a sudden in some weird crazy tiebreaker that actually screwed them this past year you might end up in the M West championship game and then you have a chance then you have a chance I don't anticipate like San Jose State making the playoffs anytime soon or competing for that G5 spot but man I think there's potential with this team and I like Coach Ken so I don't know what are your expectations for this team not not necessarily this team but like this program for the future with Ken yeah to be honest and now let's be real like a place like San Jose State like you're out of conference matters in in setting your expectations for That season right we talked about San lose State this year we love their surgeons in October and November they had a brutal Gauntlet of September not only did they open week zero against Caleb Caleb Williams and the reigning highing Trophy winner at USC they also did play Oregon State and Toledo one of the best G5 programs there is out there Toledo obviously very talented in the run right they almost went to Toledo and almost won there with Brent Brennan staff I do think it matters in 2024 it opens up a little bit more right you have Sacramento State and you have kenesa state by the way newly FBS kenesa State get used to that in the Conference USA and then also Washington State and Stanford two teams um who are not obviously Uber talented but still power five teams or former power five teams um in their own right but but again not impossible to win but also like like you probably won't be favored in those games there's unique challenges at San Jose State but there was also unique challenges with navy and with Coach Ken there and all the success he had in terms of the program win sorry to get to finally get to that that answer yeah I think I think four to five is probably my expectation for them wins depending on your schedule it I I think leaned more over to five in terms of like what I expect if he is winning at an average of five wins per year let's say he's making a bowl game every other year for every third year right two out of three years two out of four years I think that's going enough to save his job and hopefully popping with a good out of conference schedule and then also there is that every time we do a G5 program right in this in this coaching car so I'm going to continue to bring up there is an automatic bid for G5 teams right if you get the right out conference schedule and you beat one good P one goodish power five team and then you run the table in your conference you have a real shot at making that now I don't want to put on too unfair lofty expectations for NE matalo and staff here at Sant state but I do think like it's something to mention not that that's expectation or I would be shocked if it happened very happy for the program and the Trojans but yeah I do think um I'm sorry the Spartans I'm so sorry my apologies there definitely not the Trojans the Spartans and uh yeah hasn't been great let's be honest to you even Brent Brennan it took him multiple years to get to that five to seven win range and as soon as he won seven games multi times in a row to power five team was calling his name and because I know how impressive that was was and obviously he built the staff he built the program into a better spot than when he got it which is good and I think it's why they were able to go go out and make a higher like this that was actually pretty impressive and I think a lot of people around in in college football circles are pretty impressed with this higher um yeah so so yeah I'm gonna say I'll go I'll finish at Five I'll finish at five five and a half okay I give this hire a B minus and honestly I I think he would it would be lower than that if he didn't I kind of have the bias of you know him hiring Craig sutman I I just feel weird like I he's he's never been in charge of a program like this he's he he won a lot of games at Navy that's a tough program to win it but my thought is that is a wildly different program to run and operate than this one wildly different you just do things different you do everything differently so I think I think he knows how to op like work in a larger program right he went to UCLA for a year I think it'll just be a little different so we we'll see like how that adjustment can happen but I think I think Craig stutzman could be a guy and he might save NE manolo's butt a couple times these next couple years until he ends up getting a bigger job somewhere else so but it'll be interesting so by the way when I say B minus like again a exceeding expectations B meeting expectations c not meeting expectations tell you that like he's pretty much right there going to be meeting expectations but we we'll see like brenten Bren Brennan did a fantastic job with that program he was barely scraping seven wins so let's let's just relax and enjoy the ride if if he performs how you think he is in that B minus grade right where he's barely under expectations or not meeting him every single year do you think his job is safe there no even though it should be even though it should be because meaning expectations does not mean like you have to in order for an ad to justify and donors to donate to certain programs right you have to sometimes sometimes make changes that you don't want to make you know to give maybe a false sense of hope you know to get a false sense of hope so so donors can can Pony up and you can say hey look we're doing all these things look at this we're investing in the football program please donate to us like this is how we keep this thing alive it'll be interesting I I think if he's not making bowl games consistently I think he will not stay as that coach because I think thetic department wants the expectation to be to make bll games and I don't blame them for wanting that don't blame them one bit Yeah here I'll spin in a little positive direction for our Spartan fans here I do give this a B+ I think he will meet the expectations and exceed them more often than not and I do think um you know he will six wins bowl game type thing I I think that's going to be crucial for him and the success I mentioned maybe the changing of the a of conference schedules and maybe the Mountain West changing a little bit who knows what's going to happen there yeah I I think he can really do it I and I go back to his ties at Navy right and and I know you said yes he hasn't done it at a place like SOS a state but I also say like Navy is a you know one or two one or three kind of jobs like the other Air Force or the the other Armed Forces acmy so it's tough It's really tough and he won 11 games twice there with two different entirely different rosters that was super impressive in an American Conference that I get is not the most you know fantastic right but you know it was it was pretty okay you had Temple who was pretty good back then South Florida Houston was really good um back in those I believe that was you know Tom Herman's Heights there at Houston so I I don't think it's pretty crazy to say and to be impressed with what he did there at uh at Navy and then also his ties to the West Coast he grew up um graduated at University of Hawaii played quarterback there coach there for numerous years yes they were back in the whack back then not in the Mountain West but still that that I think that fact remains the same um and that still stands for my point in case here yeah he's the all-time WIS coach in Navy and that to me that's enough said I and I I do give it a little bit of boost because of how late it was in the cycle if you're San Jose State you survived most of the the coaching cycle you got through mid AUST or mid mid January and you were feeling pretty darn good that you kept the guy like Brent Brennan for another year to build that program and continue to to to improve year by year uh W with his win totals and success he's had in Mountain West and then obviously Arizona comes and plucks him after the whole chain reaction of sain getting retired and obviously dor going to Bama and um Arizona's coach going to to Washington Jed fish and obviously um Brennan going to over to Arizona so yeah I do think in a tough spot in a pinch they found a guy right across the street you know and down in I guess not across the street down in in La um being a guy for there spent the year at UCLA who's got a ton of connections and and respect in the name and and in the game and yeah gu you're losing some transfers in in the short term right but you're also Nick Nash All Conference Mountain West guy returned for you withdrew from the portal I'm sure he was excited about susman and the new the new offense coming in and all the good stuff that that Coach Ken is is um implementing there so yeah I think B+ is is pretty fair and I have a little bit more encouragement I guess than than Matthew does but regardless you know it was an awesome year for them and the Mountain West is going to be pretty hectic no matter what he has a five-year deal for fiveyear deal for him um so we'll see what he can get done