Northwestern Job
Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2023 9:19 pm
Monken and KN were among the 14 possible candidates for the Northwestern job in an ESPN article. (I didn’t post the entire article out of respect for Redleg.)
Army coach Jeff Monken: Northwestern's limited recruiting pool and academic demands wouldn't faze Monken, who must rely on an even smaller group of players to fill out his Army rosters. Monken is an Illinois native who has pursued several Power 5 jobs, finishing second to Lance Leipold at Kansas in 2021. Army reached only two bowl games between 1989 and 2015. Since then, Monken's teams have played in the postseason five times, winning 11 games in 2018 and 10 in 2017. Like other service academy coaches, Monken faces a schematic stigma that he's trying to break. But Northwestern also could benefit from doing things a bit differently, at least on offense.
UCLA director of leadership Ken Niumatalolo: Northwestern will prioritize integrity and leadership in its search, and few veteran coaches have more respect than Niumatalolo, who joined UCLA earlier this year in a support staff role. He's the all-time coaching wins leader at Navy, going 109-83 with 10 bowl appearances. Things went poorly for Coach Ken at Navy after COVID struck, as players couldn't take advantage of the NCAA eligibility exemption and the team repeatedly fell short in close games. But Navy had nine seasons of eight or more wins under Niumatalolo between 2008 and 2019. Niumatalolo, 58, likely would view Northwestern as a final stop in his career, and has a lot of the personality traits to stabilize the program at an important time.
Army coach Jeff Monken: Northwestern's limited recruiting pool and academic demands wouldn't faze Monken, who must rely on an even smaller group of players to fill out his Army rosters. Monken is an Illinois native who has pursued several Power 5 jobs, finishing second to Lance Leipold at Kansas in 2021. Army reached only two bowl games between 1989 and 2015. Since then, Monken's teams have played in the postseason five times, winning 11 games in 2018 and 10 in 2017. Like other service academy coaches, Monken faces a schematic stigma that he's trying to break. But Northwestern also could benefit from doing things a bit differently, at least on offense.
UCLA director of leadership Ken Niumatalolo: Northwestern will prioritize integrity and leadership in its search, and few veteran coaches have more respect than Niumatalolo, who joined UCLA earlier this year in a support staff role. He's the all-time coaching wins leader at Navy, going 109-83 with 10 bowl appearances. Things went poorly for Coach Ken at Navy after COVID struck, as players couldn't take advantage of the NCAA eligibility exemption and the team repeatedly fell short in close games. But Navy had nine seasons of eight or more wins under Niumatalolo between 2008 and 2019. Niumatalolo, 58, likely would view Northwestern as a final stop in his career, and has a lot of the personality traits to stabilize the program at an important time.
