A new phase of football begins this fall at CEFCU Stadium as San José State continues to climb the mountain with a new set of leaders at the helm. First-year Spartan head coach Ken Niumatalolo looks to improve upon the winning tradition in San Jose following Brent Brennan’s departure to the University of Arizona. Upon arrival, Niumatalolo acknowledged the team’s recent consistency, stating at his introductory press conference, “Coach Brennan did a great job of building this culture, and I just want to continue to build and enhance.” The Spartans’ new leader brings over 30 years of collegiate coaching experience, having served as the head coach at Navy for 15 seasons and leading the Midshipmen to 11 bowl bids.
Along with a change at head coach, several other vacant assistant positions needed to be filled, including a new offensive coordinator. Craig Stutzmann, replacing former OC Kevin McGiven, will be responsible for handling play-calling duties on offense and coaching up the quarterbacks. Stutzmann spoke on his “Spread & Shred” offense with KSJS Sports explaining, “being able to play fast, get lined up fast and push the tempo of the game, but also being able to control it, whether you huddle sometimes, you break the huddle and get lined up,” Stutzmann said. “Communication is key, it’s one of our core principles. And if you can go ahead and limit communication on the defensive side…that gives us an advantage on the offensive side.”
Coach Stutzmann comes over from Texas State, where he served as the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach and led one of the most explosive offenses in college football last season. Under Stutzmann’s assistance, Texas State averaged 458 yards per game and over 36 points per game and he looks to translate those numbers as the offensive coordinator in San Jose.
The 2023 Spartan squad had over 17 seniors including starting quarterback, Chevan Cordeiro, feature running back, Kairee Robinson, and the anchors of the offensive line with Anthony Pardue and Jaime Navarro. The Spartans this season only return three starters on offense and four starters on defense, but still retain defensive coordinator Derrick Odum, who’s entering his eighth season as the leader of the defense.
One of the many replacements on offense will come at the quarterback position as three Southern California natives battle for the starting job. Walker Eget, who’s been with the Spartans since 2021, Washington State transfer, Emmett Brown and Sam Houston State transfer, Xavier Ward. According to the coaches, the quarterback battle has been “competitive”, but with the season opener rapidly approaching Niumatalolo has yet to name a starter.
Whoever the signal-caller is for the Spartans this season, the weaponry will be filled with experience as wideout Nick Nash returns for his sixth season in San Jose. After having a breakout year in his first season with Sparty, as a wide receiver and 6th year senior, Justin Lockhart is back after missing all of 2023 with an arm injury.
The Spartan defense commanded by Derrick Odum has had its household names over the years and this year is no different as defensive lineman Soane Toia had a spectacular 2023 season having 37 tackles, seven tackles for loss and five sacks to earn second-team All-Mountain West honors. With Toia entering his senior year he’s primed once again to be an enforcer on the line of scrimmage and the leader of this defense. At the linebacker spot, the Spartans lost Bryun Parham, their #1 tackler in 2023, but Jordan Pollard, Jordan Cobbs and Taniela Latu will most likely be impact players. In the secondary, San José State lost three graduating seniors Tre Jenkins, Chase Williams and Kenyon Reed. The trio played several seasons in the Odum defense, but heading into 2024, DJ Harvey, Michael Dansby and Liberty transfer, Robert Rahimi may be responsible for having significant roles.
The Spartans as a whole enter the 2024 campaign as one of the most inexperienced teams in the Mountain West; a major factor in why they are picked to finish tenth on the preseason polls. Team leader Nick Nash encourages Spartan Nation to come to support San José State during their season opener on Thursday, August 29th against Sacramento State at CEFCU Stadium proclaiming, “Come out if you want to see some fireworks.”
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