Ken Niumatalolo Ken Niumatalolo ( born May 8 , 1965 ) is an American football coach and former player . He is currently the head football coach at the United States Naval Academy , a position he has held since the 2007 season . Niumatalolo played college football at the University of Hawaii . As a quarterback he led the then - Rainbows to their first postseason bowl game in 1989 . Niumatalolo is the second person of Polynesian descent to be named head coach of a NCAA Division I FBS college football program and the first Samoan collegiate head coach on any level . Before coaching . Niumatalolo was a star in both football and basketball at Radford High School in Honolulu , graduating in 1983 . He went on to play at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa , eventually becoming the Rainbows ( now the Rainbow Warriors ) starting quarterback after serving a two - year religious mission to the Spanish speaking people of the Ventura California area . During his time with the Rainbows , he ran an option - oriented offense under the direction of Paul Johnson , who was then the offensive coordinator . Coaching . Hawaii . Niumatalolo stayed on at Hawaii after his graduation , taking a position as a graduate assistant under Johnson . By 1992 , he had been elevated to a full - time assistant position . Navy . When Johnson left Hawaii to become the offensive coordinator at Navy in 1995 , he took Niumatalolo with him as his running backs coach . The following season , Niumatalolo was elevated to offensive coordinator after Johnson left to take the head coaching job at Georgia Southern . Notably , while offensive coordinator at Navy , he tutored quarterback Chris McCoy , who set a Division I - A record in 1997 for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 20 , a record that was broken in 2007 by Florida ' s Tim Tebow . On December 12 , 2009 at the annual Army - Navy football game , Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs reclaimed the record with 24 touchdowns in the 2009 season . UNLV . In 1999 , Niumatalolo left Annapolis to become an assistant at UNLV . While there , he called the plays and also worked with the kickoff return unit . Back in Annapolis . Niumatalolo returned to Navy in 2002 when he was hired by Johnson , who had just taken over the head coaching job at Annapolis , as his offensive line coach . Niumatalolo ' s work helped Navy establish a rushing attack that led NCAA Division I - A / FBS in yards per game in four of his first five seasons since he returned to Annapolis , including an unprecedented three consecutive seasons leading the nation in that category ( 2004 through 2006 ) . In 2008 , Navy averaged 292 . 4 yards per game on the ground , leading the nation for the fourth straight year in the category . This rushing game has helped Navy football reach a level of success it had not seen in decades : Niumatalolo was promoted to head football coach at the Naval Academy on December 8 , 2007 by Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk after Paul Johnson departed for Georgia Tech . Niumatalolo , is the 38th head football coach in Naval Academy history . On January 7 , 2009 , Niumatalolo was given a contract extension , although terms of the contract , or the length of the extension , were not released . He is also the highest paid federal employee . Niumatalolo resides in Annapolis with his family which consists of his wife , Barbara , daughter , Alexcia , and sons , Va ' a and Ali ' i .