SAN JOSE, CALIF. — For one day, former football teammates become frenemies.
Hawaii head coach Timmy Chang and San Jose State offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann were a quarterback-receiver duo at Saint Louis School and later at the University of Hawaii (UH). Stutzmann and UH associate head coach Chris Brown were Warriors together through the early 2000s. When Stutzmann was named Saint Louis’ junior varsity coach, one of his first hires was Brown.
“He gave me my first coaching job,” Brown recalled. “He’s a friend of mine. He’s a brother.”
San Jose State (SJSU) head coach Kenny Niumatalolo and assistant coaches John Estes and Billy Ray Stutzmann are also former Warriors. Niumatalolo owns a house less than a mile from UH’s Manoa campus. But the pleasantries will have to wait until the final whistle of today’s meeting between UH and SJSU at CEFCU Stadium.
“We always root for Hawaii when we’re not playing Hawaii,” Niumatalolo said. “We have four Rainbow Warriors on our staff: me, Craig, Billy and John—we bleed green. That’s our school. But for this game, we want to beat them and they want to beat us.”
Brown, who also coaches UH’s linebackers, added: “It’s about accomplishing the mission. We’re on a mission. After the game, we can shake hands and talk about the good ol’ days. Craig Stutzmann and I go way back. He’s a good friend of mine. But he knows me. He knows what I’m telling this football team. The mission is the mission. War is war.”
After byes last week, the teams enter on different tracks. At 6-2, the Warriors have secured the minimum number of victories in a 12-game regular season to qualify for a postseason bowl. But in an impassioned speech to teammates on Thursday, nickelback Elijah Palmer said being bowl-eligible was only one step toward a larger goal.
“That’s a given,” Palmer said of assuring a bowl berth. “Our mission is to win the Mountain West championship. That’s what the vision is. That’s the mindset. That’s what we’re striving for.”
By practicing on Thursday at the Ching Complex ahead of their departure to San Jose, the Warriors were able to run through their game plan using a full roster of scout players. On Friday, the team had a run-through session at Del Mar High School in San Jose, followed by a team walk at CEFCU Stadium in advance of an evening of meetings and video sessions.
“You want them continuously growing,” Chang said of the Warriors, who are third at 3-1 in the 12-team Mountain West Conference. The top two teams will play for the Mountain West title.
“We don’t want to look back,” Chang added. “We want to keep moving forward.”
The 2-5 Spartans feature a prolific offense led by quarterback Walker Eget, who has not been intercepted in the past five games, and NCAA leader Danny Scudero in receiving yards (870) and receiving yards per game (124.3).
“We’re literally four plays away from being 6-1,” Niumatalolo said. “We’ve got to find ways to close games.”
Texas overpowered SJSU from the opening kickoff to the final kneeldown. But in their other six games, the Spartans had fourth-quarter leads, ultimately squandering four of them. Of their four non-Texas losses, the average margin was 3.75 points.
“We have to find a way to make one more play,” Niumatalolo said. “We still have a lot to play for. We need to win four of five to become bowl eligible. I love this team. I hope we can make a run.”
In his second year as SJSU’s head coach, Niumatalolo has instilled uniformity and discipline. On road trips, the team eats every meal together. During games and workouts, Spartans are not allowed to have piercings, wear jewelry, or write messages on their wristbands. However, there are no restrictions on off-the-field accessories.
He has also entrusted the offense to Stutzmann, creator of the hybrid spread-and-shred attack.
“I’ve been a head coach 17 years and been a coach for 36 years,” Niumatalolo said. “I’ve seen a lot of coaches, been around a lot of head coaches. I can’t tell you how many really good coaches I’ve been around. My point is: Stutz is a head coach. There’s no doubt he’s going to be a Division I head coach. He’s as good a coach as I’ve been around. His time will come. I’ve been around a lot other coaches, and Craig is as good as any of them.”
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/11/01/sports/chang-stutzmann-reunite-as-rivals-in-hawaii-san-jose-state-clash/
