Hawaii Bowl will be homecoming for 4 San Jose State coaches
STEPHEN TSAI / JULY 13
San Jose State head coach Ken Niumatalolo flashes a shaka at the Mountain West Conference in Las Vegas in July.
ANDREW LEE / SPECIAL TO STAR-ADVERTISER / AUG. 28, 2019
Hawaii’s then-passing game coordinator Craig Stutzmann during a UH football practice in 2019.
San Jose State and South Florida will meet 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 San Jose State head coach Kenny 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.
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.
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“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.
