College Football: 25 greatest head coaches of the 21st century

Best college football coaches of 21st century: 23. Ken Niumatalolo

• Navy Midshipmen (2007-Present)

It is a struggle to succeed with military academy athletic programs. When you recruit, you’re asking for more than three to four years of football. There’s a reason why you don’t see top recruits in the country go to programs like Navy. However, Ken Niumatalolo has been incredibly successful during his time in Annapolis.

At Navy, Niumatalolo will be judged by different standards. You don’t go to Navy to prepare for the NFL. It is more important for him to develop character than it is for him to create All-Americans. Niumatalolo has certainly done that.

Not only has Niumatalolo been great off the field, but he has also succeeded on the field. His offense is unique, and he has made it to a bowl game in nine of his 11 full seasons leading the Midshipmen. He even went 11-2 back in 2015.

Another thing that the Midshipmen have been able to do with Niumatalolo is succeed against other military schools. From his Commander-in-Chief trophies to his record against Army, Navy has been incredibly successful in this era. In fact, he won his first eight games against Army.

Against any rival, this would be impressive. Doing this as the Navy head coach against Army makes it historic. That is arguably the biggest rivalry in college football, and Navy coaches are judged based on how they do in that game.

Now, Navy has been down the past few years. Niumatalolo has struggled to achieve goals that were previously attainable every season. They will give Niumatalolo time to rebuild the program and turn things around, but he needs to do so quickly.