After 15 seasons leading Navy, Ken Niumatalolo took over San Jose State heading into the 2024 season after a season away from the sidelines and made an immediate impact, impressively leading the Spartans to a bowl game in his first season.

This year however, has been a different story.

San Jose State has struggled to a 3-7 mark, with all of their wins coming by single-digits. Their pair of FBS wins against both New Mexico and Hawaii are notable, as both Jason Eck and Timmy Chang have their squads bowl eligible, and even their FCS win was against a top 10-ranked Idaho team at the time.

The Spartans on-field struggles, which include three separate two-game losing streaks, have prompted Niumatalolo to make a pair of coordinator changes.

The Spartans announced today that associate head coach / defensive coordinator Derrick Odum and senior football analyst / special teams coordinator Joe Palcic have been removed from their duties from the remainder of the season. 

SJSU shared the following via the release:

“At this time, we believe a change is necessary to reinforce our commitment to excellence for our student-athletes, staff, and community. As a team, we remain unified in our mission to compete at the highest level and uphold the Spartan standard.”

SJSU ranked 123rd out of 136 teams in scoring defense, giving up 32 points per game, and ranked 128th in defending the pass.

Stepping into the interim defensive play caller role is inside linebackers coach Bojay Filimoeatu, who will handle those duties for the remainder of the year. Bojay, a former nominee for The Broyles Award given to the top assistant coach in college football, also held the title of run game coordinator for the program.

Before joining the SJSU staff, Filimoeatu (a former Utah State starting linebacker for two seasons) spent a season at San Diego State as defensive line coach, and has also coached at Weber State (FCS), Utah State, SJSU, and Oregon State.

This will mark his first play calling opportunity, and he’s set to cut his teeth against two of the league’s top teams.

The team will hit the road this week to take on a surging San Diego State squad under the direction of Sean Lewis before their season finale at home against Matt Entz and Fresno State. The Aztecs are currently in first place in the Mountain West standings, with Fresno State sitting at second currently.

As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.