San Jose State football coach Kenny Niumatalolo will be coming home for the holidays.

San Jose State and South Florida have accepted invitations to play in the 2024 Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve at the Ching Complex.

Kickoff for the nationally televised game will be at 3 p.m.

This will be a homecoming for Niumatalolo, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Craig Stutzmann, offensive line coach John Estes, and senior offensive analyst Billy Ray Stutzmann. Niumatalolo and Craig Stutzmann both played and coached at the University of Hawaii. Estes was a UH center, and Billy Ray Stutzmann was a wideout.

“Couldn’t be more ecstatic to come home and play in the Hawaii Bowl,” said Niumatalolo, who is 7-5 in his first season with the Spartans. “I’m super excited for everyone in our program — our players, coaches, staff.”

Niumatalolo, a Radford High graduate, was Navy’s head coach for 16 seasons through 2022. He coached UCLA’s tight ends in 2023. Niumatalolo owns a house in Manoa, a mile from the Ching Complex.

Craig Stutzmann helped contribute to the creation of the Hawaii Bowl. Stutzmann was a starting slotback on a UH team that battered BYU 72-45 to complete a 9-3 season in 2001. But without a bowl tie-in, the Warriors did not participate in the postseason. After that, the Western Athletic Conference, ESPN and UH formed the Hawaii Bowl beginning in 2003.

“We needed to create that one,” Stutzmann said.

Stutzmann eventually became a coach. At Emory & Henry University, Stutzmann created the “spread and shred” offense, which combined run-and-shoot, Air Raid and run/pass option concepts.

At Navy, Niumatalolo ran the run-oriented, triple-option offense. After being hired at SJSU, Niumatalolo hired Stutzmann to implement the up-tempo, spread-and-shred attack.

During a leadership meeting last week, SJSU athletic director Jeff Konya listed the possible bowl desitinations for the Spartans.

“But it was clearly No. 1 where everybody wanted to go,” Niumatalolo said.

At Tuesday’s team meeting, Konya “pretended” to write down bowl options, according to Niumatalolo, whose blue aloha shirt was covered by a jacket.

“When it was announced today that we were going to Hawaii, our team meeting room erupted with cheers,” Niumatalolo said. “Everybody was jumping up and down and high-fiving each other. They were excited. Everybody wants to come to Hawaii.”

It will be the second year in a row the Spartans will play in the Hawaii Bowl. Few objected to the hana hou.

“It was a testament to Hawaii,” Niumatalololo said. “It was a testament to everybody involved with the bowl. We had guys on our team who went there last year. And it wasn’t like they didn’t want to go back. They all wanted to go back. And the new guys wanted to come.”