Ken Niumatalolo

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husker70

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Is a Solid number 5. Navy absoulutely pasted the Irish Today.

Right Now

1. Mike Belotti
2. Terry Bowden
3. Paul Johnson
4. Mike Leach
5. Ken Niumatalolo
 

You are right in that Niumataolo would likely be a wonderful hire. He is no. 1 on my list. Young, energetic, brilliant mind, great guy. But I hope the powers that be have a significantly longer decision horizon than what you, and many other posters seem to have. You can't (dis)qualify a coach based on one game. I believe coach Niumataolo deserves a good look not because his team steamrolled a weak ND team, but he has had persistent success at Navy.

I don't know what the allure of Terry Bowen is. Do you mean Tommy Bowden? He would be a plausible name, although I think he is dominated by most of the others on your list.

You can also scratch Paul Johnson. If Auburn and Tennessee could not lure him away with massive contracts, Minnesota will not. He will probably retire at GT.

My list: 1) Niumataolo 2) Calhoun 3) Leach 4) Belotti 5) Kirby Smart. Don't know if any of these 5 would be interested, but if so, I'd love to see the U make a run at one of these. Plenty of other good names out there.
 

I don't know what Gray would look like in Navy's option attack. Would Niumataolo even bring it here. The qb we got from Wisconsin might be able to handle it. He's mobile and if I recall correctly he can run. Another thing to point out is he would probably get us a few Samoan recruits, which would not be a bad thing.
 

Scatch Bowden and Johnson, the former isnt quite the same as Dad, and the Latter will stick where he is. I'd ad the guy from UConn.
 

I love his demeanor and intensity. A calm intensity and seems to be very charismatic from a few You Tube clips(fwiw). I'm only concerned about the type of offense he runs. Seems like a solid guy and just might stick around a program for the long term. I would consider him a great option. (pun intended)
 


Navy runs an odd front defense and stays in the top 30ish in defenses. If you've been following my coaching list, you know I'm in favor of this. The question I have with some of these coaches is will they bring their staff. Buddy Green stayed at Navy when Paul Johnson left. Would he leave this time?

Other interesting things include that his 3-4 has defense linemen at around 251.
 

The thing about the triple option is this, if you get behind by 2 scores you lose.

It worked at Georgia Tech because the ACC has been so mediocre. I am not sure it could work for big time success in a conference like the Big Ten that has so many top 25 programs.

Though he would be better than some other names thrown about.
 

Rosemountian said:
The thing about the triple option is this, if you get behind by 2 scores you lose.

It worked at Georgia Tech because the ACC has been so mediocre. I am not sure it could work for big time success in a conference like the Big Ten that has so many top 25 programs.

Though he would be better than some other names thrown about.
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Give me a break; while the Big Ten certainly has better teams at the top - especially this year - the two conferences are more or less equivalent in the middle. The so-called triple option is 6-3 against UNC, Clemson, and Virginia Tech, which are exceptional defensive teams (watch the NFL draft this year); as good as any in the Big Ten sans Ohio State and Iowa. If you want to go the conference affiliation route, they are 4-2 against the top conference in the country, the SEC. I don't care if you run the triple option, pistol, run & shoot, or pro-style offense, most offenses are not going to have much success against OSU & Iowa's defenses. That can be addressed after the Gophs can routinely beat Indiana, Purdue, NW, Ill, and MSU. And playing two scores from behind is an arduous task irrespective of the formation. It's been done twice at GT, both times on the road. I do agree it may be more difficult all else being equal, but if you have the right coach and right players, it is not going to happen that often.

95% of the criticisms about the triple option could be applied to any offense. It all comes down to how you execute. Ken Niumataolo is a guy who has continuously gotten his players to execute at high levels.
 

RamblinWreck said:
Give me a break; while the Big Ten certainly has better teams at the top - especially this year - the two conferences are more or less equivalent in the middle. The so-called triple option is 6-3 against UNC, Clemson, and Virginia Tech, which are exceptional defensive teams (watch the NFL draft this year); as good as any in the Big Ten sans Ohio State and Iowa. If you want to go the conference affiliation route, they are 4-2 against the top conference in the country, the SEC. I don't care if you run the triple option, pistol, run & shoot, or pro-style offense, most offenses are not going to have much success against OSU & Iowa's defenses. That can be addressed after the Gophs can routinely beat Indiana, Purdue, NW, Ill, and MSU. And playing two scores from behind is an arduous task irrespective of the formation. It's been done twice at GT, both times on the road. I do agree it may be more difficult all else being equal, but if you have the right coach and right players, it is not going to happen that often.

95% of the criticisms about the triple option could be applied to any offense. It all comes down to how you execute. Ken Niumataolo is a guy who has continuously gotten his players to execute at high levels.
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Not saying it is a bad offense. I am saying if you are playing in a conference that is extremely top heavy (like the Big Ten). It is going to be very tough to break through with an attack like the triple option because it leaves you almost no ability to come back from a deficit. If you are playing in a conference that is more top heavy, you are more likely to find yourself down.

I have no doubt in my mind if the Gophers switched to the Triple Option and had a good coach implementing it they could be successful with it. But I do find it hard to believe they could win a conference title in the Big Ten with it. With a conference that is so top heavy, it would be hard not to find yourself down in 4+ games a year. And it is not an offense to run from behind. This same thing can be said for numerous offensive styles. The triple option happens to be one of them. Georgia Tech will have a tough time winning a conference title ever in a year where the ACC is "up" for this very reason.
 



Rosemountian said:
Not saying it is a bad offense. I am saying if you are playing in a conference that is extremely top heavy (like the Big Ten). It is going to be very tough to break through with an attack like the triple option because it leaves you almost no ability to come back from a deficit. If you are playing in a conference that is more top heavy, you are more likely to find yourself down.

I have no doubt in my mind if the Gophers switched to the Triple Option and had a good coach implementing it they could be successful with it. But I do find it hard to believe they could win a conference title in the Big Ten with it. With a conference that is so top heavy, it would be hard not to find yourself down in 4+ games a year. And it is not an offense to run from behind. This same thing can be said for numerous offensive styles. The triple option happens to be one of them. Georgia Tech will have a tough time winning a conference title ever in a year where the ACC is "up" for this very reason.
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Fair enough points - I appreciate the rational argument. I cannot disagree with you that playing from 2+ possessions behind is a more unique challenge with the triple option than other offenses, all else being equal. It really depends on your personnel. I might argue that if you're constantly getting behind by 2+ possessions, defensive schemes might become more of an issue :rolleyes:

It really depends on the personnel... last year GT had a viable passing attack (they had a WR who *averaged* more than 25 YPC). Two teams loaded 9 in the box and the QB absolutely lit it up in those games. The threat of a passing attack is what made them so good last year (keep in mind they have had *terrible* defenses under Paul Johnson; if they had an average D they could have been top-tier). This year, their receivers and backs are not catching the ball, and the QB suddenly has become erratic. The point is that they could come back last year, but not this. But that's not because they're a 3O team; it's because they don't have the horses.

I think most offenses can work in most conferences providing that the personnel is there. The one aspect where this might be an issue with a triple option is the line. The option OL is by design much smaller and quicker than your typical one. As a consequence pass protection can be extremely problematic, so you have to design passing plays with this in mind. The one characteristic that the teams who have defeated GT have in common is that the DLs they faced were substantially larger, limiting the QB to keep for no gain (the other is extra prep time). I don't know if this is true, but I would suspect the DLs in the Big Ten to be quite a big larger than that of the ACC. This, to me, is the biggest concern if Coach Niumataolo were to come to MSP. On the other hand, this is a risk I'd be more than willing to take.

The thing with hiring a 3O coach is it's a big risk. You are going to initially have a lot of skeptics, and there needs to be some reasonable probability of success early. I think Gray can probably run the offense effectively. If you start to lose, the critics start screaming about the offensive scheme and the wheels might come off early declaring it being a failure for the conference. Of course, if you win, you're a genius. Maturi already has a pretty short leash, so he may not have the cahones.
 

It would take some serious onions. If you can run it effectively, it is a very potent offense. And extremely tough to stop for teams who only have a week to prepare for you.
 

No

Please stop talking about 3O it makes me want to throw up!
If Maturi brought in a 3O coach that would be his demise for sure.
 

Bryan Harsin would like to remind you that when this guy goes and struggles at UCLA, Mr Harsin will be the hottest thing since weber2mcknight
 



He might do a great job, but if he starts to struggle, it's going to be impossible to get him out of here. The students can't even show up on time, how are they ever going to start a "Fi-re Ni-u-mat-a-lo-lo" chant?
 

He would be a good hire.

I'm shocked his name hasn't been thrown-around more. He's in a very similar situation as Kevin Sumlin in that his teams have outperformed expectations, and they have put up some eye-popping statistics -- and neither one is very well compensated.

Like Sumlin is tied to the spread, Niumatalolo is tied to the Triple-option. But I don't understand why people think that these guys need to so strictly adhere to the offenses they currently run. That's some serious short-term thinking.
 

"don't know what the allure of Terry Bowen is. Do you mean Tommy Bowden? He would be a plausible name, although I think he is dominated by most of the others on your list."

Terry Bowden is the man. I know about Tommy, and Jeff.

Terry is I think about 130-56-2. Won the SEC Championship at Auburn. Was 11-0 but the team was inelighble do to Pat Dye the former coach's recruiting violations.

Terry can flat out coach, loves a challenge, never backs down. Currently at Northern Alabama in I think DivisionII.
 

Enough already with newbies! Niumatalolo is in only his fourth year as head coach (having inherited a great program from Paul Johnson, who turned a 2-10 team into a steady winner); Sumlin is in his third year; Golden has a losing record and is only in his fourth year. Inevitably, this time around, after 40 years in the wilderness, we need a seasoned, proven 1A winner who will build a program for us that will match or exceed those at Wisconsin and Iowa.
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
Enough already with newbies! Niumatalolo is in only his fourth year as head coach (having inherited a great program from Paul Johnson, who turned a 2-10 team into a steady winner); Sumlin is in his third year; Golden has a losing record and is only in his fourth year. Inevitably, this time around, after 40 years in the wilderness, we need a seasoned, proven 1A winner who will build a program for us that will match or exceed those at Wisconsin and Iowa.
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He has a losing record but he has done a great job at Temple. I don't think you can judge Golden in terms of wins and losses. He has taken one of the worst programs in the nation and made them respectable, 9-4 last year. They are 6-2 this year. If Al Golden was hired as the coach, I would get behind him 100 percent.
 

Goldmember said:
But I don't understand why people think that these guys need to so strictly adhere to the offenses they currently run. That's some serious short-term thinking.
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+1

I don't understand this logic either, isn't a coaches job to look at the personnel he has and come up with what system would fit best? And wouldn't the new OC have any say in the scheme?
 

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