It seemed like a festive time at the football field on the Saint Louis School campus.
Island music played on the portable speakers.
A parent provided Hawaiian Sun drinks in one of the coolers.
And Crusaders football legends Gerald Welch, now Saint Louis’ co-associate athletic director, and Chevan Cordeiro, who recently signed with the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League, knuckle-bumped members of the San Jose State football team.
“It’s all Coach Ken,” a staff member said of SJSU coach Ken Niumatalolo’s playlist and ohana-friendly, 75-minute practice ahead of Tuesday’s Hawaii Bowl. The nationally televised game between SJSU and South Florida kicks off at 3 p.m. at the Ching Complex. Niumatalolo is a Radford High graduate who played and coached at the University of Hawaii and still owns a house in Manoa. The Spartans have overwhelmingly supported his musical choices during practices this season.
This was the 11th of the 15 allotted practices a bowl team is permitted. With a similar approach to the 10 bowl teams he has coached, Niumatalolo wanted to taper workouts leading to the game. Afterward, Niumatalolo told the Spartans a focused and detailed practice is more effective than a three-hour workout.
The Spartans already have activated contingency plans to adjust to the loss of three key players. Nick Nash, one of the nation’s top receivers, opted out of the Hawaii Bowl to prepare for the 2025 NFL Draft. Even an offer to sweeten his name, image and likeness compensation did not change Nash’s decision. Justin Lockhart, who is 27 receiving yards shy of 1,000, is expected to be targeted more.
Cornerbacks DJ Harvey and Michael Dansby did not make the trip after finding new schools. Harvey is transferring to USC; Dansby has committed to Arizona.
Emmett Brown, who ceded the starting quarterback’s job to Walker Eget at midseason, also entered the transfer portal. Although he has received an offer, Brown was included in the Spartans’ travel party. Brown, who is eligible to play in the game, is highly regarded by the Spartans and often is used as a host to recruits.
Niumatalolo has made easy adjustments since being hired in January after Brent Brennan left for Arizona. He added 49 players to boost the roster to more than 100. He also went with a new offensive scheme.
As Navy’s head coach for 16 years, Niumatalolo employed a run-heavy, triple-option offense. In seeking a new scheme, Niumatalolo attended UH’s bowl practice in 2018. Impressed with the Warriors’ pass routes, Niumatalolo eventually hired Billy Ray Stutzmann, who was UH’s offensive analyst at the time.
After taking the SJSU job, Niumatalolo made an offer to Craig Stutzmann, a former UH receiver and quarterbacks coach with the Warriors. As offensive coordinator at Texas State, Stutzmann ran the spread-and-shred, a mashup of run-and-shoot, Air Raid and run/pass option concepts. Craig Stutzmann was hired as the Spartans’ offensive coordinator and Billy Ray Stutzmann was named offensive analyst, a position that was expanded to include on-field coaching. This is the fourth time the Stutzmann brothers have been on the same coaching staff.
“It’s awesome,” Craig Stutzmann said of working with his younger sibling. “We live five minutes away from each other. I think they’re going to move one town closer.”
The brothers are Saint Louis graduates whose wives are Kamehameha School alumnae.
And both continue to tinker with the spread-and-shred. Craig Stutzmann said the base is the run-and-shoot popularized by former UH coach June Jones. But he has added concepts during his 17-year coaching career, notably from working under Curt Newsome at Emory & Henry and participating in an internship with Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur.
“To the naked eye, I don’t think you look at the Green Bay Packers and you look at San Jose State and say they run the same offense, by no means,” Stutzmann said. “There are certain principles and certain types of route releases and little things here and there.”
