Ken Niumatalolo on Navy firing him following Army-Navy game: 'I thought we stood for something different'

Navy fired head coach Ken Niumatalolo before he even left the locker room after the Midshipmen lost to Army in the annual Army-Navy game, 20-17.

This was despite the fact that Army took Navy to two overtime before losing on a field goal. This is despite the fact that Niumatalolo has been at Navy since 2007 and has accumulated a 109-83 total record as head coach.

It was a move that caught Niumatalolo by surprise, per ESPN's Heather Dinich.

"First of all, we just got kicked in the gut," Niumatalolo told Dinich. "I was a little bit numb prior to him saying that, so most of it I couldn't comprehend. I'm just like, 'Chet, why don't you take some time to relax.' He said, 'Well, it's been building up.'"

In athletic director Chet Gladchuk's defense, Navy has gone 4-8 two seasons in a row and the Midshipmen were 3-7 in 2020. They've also lost three of their past five matchups against Army.

Still, Niumatalolo told ESPN that he felt the firing was out of character with the tenets of the program. He had one year remaining on his schedule and had apparently made it clear that he was willing to play it out for better or worse.

"And if we lose next year," he said, "don't worry about firing me. I'll resign. You don't have to pay me a cent. I'm not looking for a raise, I'm not looking for anything. I just want to finish my contract. We're finally coming out of the pandemic. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. I thought we stood for something different."

Niumatalolo leaves Navy with a 109-83 overall record. He'll leave the program as its all-time winningest coach.