EXCLUSIVE: College Football Legend Praises Rams, Sean McVay

During his illustrious 35-year coaching career, Ken Niumatalolo has proven himself as a winner and a developer of men. While his players grow under his tutelage as players, they're much better characters after learning from him.

However, it's his son Va'a who will be growing under the tutelage of Sean McVay and the Rams, joining the team as a Bill Walsh Minority Fellow for the 2025 offseason program. Va'a, the current assistant defensive line coach at Navy, will be exposed to the Rams' methods and philosophies as he works with the outside linebackers.

From 2007 to today, Niumatalolo has been a head coach outside of the 2023 season, serving in that role for the Naval Academy and the San Jose State Spartans football program. At Navy, he had an overall record of 109-83, leading the Midshipmen to three conference division titles, six bowl wins, four double-digit win seasons, and owns the largest winning streak in the Army-Navy game.

He's currently with the Spartans, leading them to a bowl birth and a winning season in year one. His offensive coordinator, Craig Stutzmann, was a former Bill Walsh fellow under former Rams assistant Matt LaFleur.

Now that his son Va'a is a fellow with the Rams, I spoke to the elder Niumatalolo to get his thoughts on his son working for Sean McVay.

“The NFL Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship is an amazing program, stated Niumatalolo in an exclusive interview with Rams On SI. "I’m very proud that Va’a gets to represent his island heritage of Samoa and Guam. It is a blessing for him to work for an elite organization like the Los Angeles Rams and for one of best coaches in all of sports in Coach McVay.”

Va'a joined three other fellows who will be working for the Rams this year.

"Niumatalolo is in his sixth season at Navy serving as the assistant defensive line coach and will assist Outside Linebackers Coach Joe Coniglio throughout his fellowship," per the Rams press release. "In 2024, he helped lead Navy to a 10-3 record, including victories over Air Force and Army to claim the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy. The Midshipmen also defeated Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl, marking the program’s sixth 10-win season in school history. Before joining Navy, Niumatalolo was at the University of Hawai’i, where he served as an offensive intern in 2018 and a graduate assistant in 2019. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 2018, where he played four seasons (2014-2017) for the Cougars."

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