Ken Niumatalolo has been coaching at the Naval Academy for almost two decades. In all that time as an assistant and head coach, Niumatalolo has never seen a season in which so many key players were lost to severe injuries.
For Niumatalolo, the reality of that situation really hit home on Tuesday when he attended the annual Army-Navy press conference. Navy, as always, was represented by its co-captains — Toneo Gulley and Daniel Gonzales. However, the Midshipmen felt compelled to bring two other players to the event since Gonzales and Gulley will not be playing on Saturday after suffering season-ending injuries.