Chip Kelly emphasizes the importance of adding Ken Niumatalolo to UCLA staff

This offseason, Chip Kelly made an interesting hire to his staff at UCLA, adding former Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo. This was, according to Kelly, an incredibly important hire.

As Kelly explained, Niumatalolo and he had a good relationship prior to his time at Navy coming to an end. On top of that, he also knows several current UCLA staffers. So, there is a strong relationship to build on.

“I’ve known Ken for a long time,” Chip Kelly said. “Specifically, when I was in Philly. I got a chance to go down and watch them practice a few times and got to become really familiar with him. I know Coach [Bill] Belichick who knows Ken real well. Between that relationship and my relationship with Bill and Ken’s relationship with Bill, it kind of grew from there.”

Beyond Kelly and Niumatalolo’s personal relationship, several members of the UCLA staff have relationships with Ken Niumatalolo.

“I knew some other guys that were on his staff in the past, and then when we first got here one of my first hires was Bryce McDonald as our chief of staff. And obviously, Bryce played at the Academy and then went back and coached at the Academy after he served. So, I had a great relationship with Ken,” Kelly continued. “Brian Norwood who is on our staff worked with Ken. Him and Ken actually go back to, best friends since high school. So, Brian had been on the staff. Marcus Thomas who was here as an analyst for us was a former player for him. Joe Speed was on our staff as an analyst. Joe is a former Naval Academy guy.”

Ultimately, when Ken Niumatalolo was let go by Navy, Chip Kelly decided he wanted to hire him. However, he didn’t have any full-time positions. So, they created the Director of Leadership role that he has now.

“So, we had a lot of ties to people that we know. And Ken has always been a guy that I always relied on. As a head coach when you talk to other head coaches or you’ve got a position open and you want to talk to a guy, do they know this person, or do they know that person? He’d always been that guy for me,” Kelly said. “So, when he became available because he was no longer at the Naval Academy, we just kind of put our heads together. We didn’t have a full-time position open but what can we do to get him here?

“And he’s done a great job. He meets with all of our classes and he’s specifically broken it up. So, he meets with the first year players. Then he meets with the second year players, third year players, fourth year players, on developing leadership because we believe leadership takes on different folds. You know, you can lead as a freshman but it’s different leading as a freshman than it is leading as a senior.”

As a coach at the Naval Academy, Ken Niumatalolo has a background in a certain type of leadership that is very appealing to Chip Kelly. While there, he was a running back coach, assistant head coach, and offensive coordinator before being promoted to head coach.

“I think as you grow through the years and then one of the things that Ken, because of his vast knowledge and experience not only just in football but specifically at the Naval Academy, from leadership there wasn’t a better guy for us to bring in here. He’s a voice for all of us,” Kelly continued. “He also meets with our coaching staff and just talking about leadership. Not talking about scheme, not talking about X’s and O’s but has brought a lot of different stuff to our staff, and from that standpoint has really made an impact, and then specifically our young coaches kind of have a mentor that they kind of look over the GAs and the analysts of coaching them, what it’s like to be a GA, how you move up the ranks, how to advance in this profession.”

While Navy decided it was time to move on from Ken Niumatalolo, Chip Kelly already sees the impact he’s having around the program.

“So, he’s had an impact on the coaching staff. He’s had an impact on the players, he’s had an impact on myself, he’s had an impact on the administration, he’s kind of got a hand in everything, and really has fit in seamlessly,” Kelly said. “Seems like he’s been here forever, but that’s a credit to him and the type of personality he has. He’s very approachable, he’s very knowledgeable in that experience, he’s been a head coach for a long time and he’s been through a lot of different things. So, that experience is a huge bonus to us right now.”