| Navy Midshipmen football | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 | |||
| First season | 1879; 146 years ago | ||
| Athletic director | Michael Kelly (athletic director) | ||
| Head coach | Brian Newberry 3rd season, 15–10 (.600) | ||
| Stadium | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (capacity: 38,803) | ||
| Field surface | FieldTurf | ||
| Location | Annapolis, Maryland | ||
| NCAA division | Division I FBS | ||
| Conference | The American | ||
| All-time record | 748–603–57 (.551) | ||
| Bowl record | 13–11–1 (.540) | ||
| Claimed national titles | 1 (1926) | ||
| Division titles | 3 | ||
| Rivalries | Army (rivalry) Air Force (rivalry) Johns Hopkins (rivalry) Notre Dame (rivalry) Maryland (rivalry) SMU (rivalry) | ||
| Heisman winners | Joe Bellino – 1960 Roger Staubach – 1963 | ||
| Consensus All-Americans | 24 | ||
| Current uniform | |||
 | |||
| Colors | Navy blue and gold[1] | ||
| Fight song | Anchors Aweigh | ||
| Mascot | Bill the Goat | ||
| Marching band | United States Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps | ||
| Outfitter | Under Armour | ||
| Website | NavySports.com | ||
TheNavy Midshipmen football team represents theUnited States Naval Academy inNCAA Division IFBS (Football Bowl Subdivision)college football. The Naval Academy completed its final season as anFBS independent school (not in a conference) in 2014, and became a single-sport member of theAmerican Athletic Conference beginning in the 2015 season.[2] The team is currently coached byBrian Newberry, who was promoted in 2022, following his stint as the Midshipmen defensive coordinator. Navy has 19 players and three coaches in theCollege Football Hall of Fame and won thecollege football national championship in 1926 according to theBoand and Houlgate poll systems. The 1910 team also was undefeated and unscored upon (the lone tie was a 0–0 game).[3] The mascot isBill the Goat. Attendance of home football games is required for all students. Members of the Billy the Kid Club can attend home football games for free.
Navy competes with their historic rivalsArmy in theArmy–Navy Game, traditionally the final game of the college football regular season. The three major service academies—Army, Navy, andAir Force—compete for theCommander-in-Chief's Trophy.
The Naval Academy's football program is one of the nation's oldest, with its history dating back to 1879.[4] There were two separate efforts to establish a Naval Academy football team in 1879. The first was guided byfirst-classman J.H. Robinson, who developed it as a training regiment to help keep the school'sbaseball team in shape. The team played the sport under rules that made it much closer to soccer, where the players were permitted only to kick the ball in order to advance it.[5] The second effort, headed by first-classmanWilliam John Maxwell was more successful in its efforts. Maxwell met with two of his friends, Tunstall Smith and Henry Woods, who played for the Baltimore Athletic Club and officially challenged their team to a game with the Naval Academy.[6] A team was formed from academy first-classmen, which Maxwell led as a manager, trainer, and captain. The team would wake up and practice beforereveille and followingdrill and meals. The squad received encouragement from some of the faculty, who allowed them to eat a late dinner and skip final drill for additional practicing. This was against the direct orders of the school superintendent, who had banned football and similar activities.[6][7]
The year's sole contest was played on December 11 against the Baltimore Athletic Club. The opposition's team was reportedly composed of players from Princeton,Yale,Pennsylvania, andJohns Hopkins.[6][8] The Naval Academy hosted the Baltimore team on a temporary field drawn on part of the superintendent's cow pasture. Rules decided upon between the teams established that the game was to be played under rugby rules.[6][8] TheBaltimore American and Chronicle, which covered the contest, described it as such:[9]
The game, played under rugby rules, was a battle from beginning to end—a regular knock down and drag out fight. Both sides became immediately excited and the audience was aroused to the highest pitch of enthusiasm by the spirited contest. The ball oscillated backward and forward over the ground without any material result.[9]
The scrimmages were something awful to witness—living, kicking, scrambling masses of humanity surging to and fro, each individual after the leather oval. If a Baltimorean got the ball and started for a run, he was unfailingly caught by one of the brawny Cadets and dashed to earth with five or six men falling on him.[9]
The game was closely fought and was finally declared a scoreless tie by the referee about an hour after it began. Navy reportedly never gained possession of the ball. However, the Naval Academy managed to keep the Baltimore Athletic Club from ever being in a scoring position. On three separate occasions, Navy forced Baltimore back into its ownend zone for asafety; these were not worth any points until 1882, however, so they offered Navy no benefit. TheAmerican and Chronicle reported that Maxwell, Craven, and Sample of Navy gave the strongest performances, but were also reckless in their play and were repeatedlypenalized forjumping offside or kicking the ball out of play, a form ofdelay of game.[10][11]
Some time after the game,Walter Camp, known as the "Father of American Football", credited Maxwell as the inventor of the first football uniform. After he was informed that the Baltimore team he was playing outweighed his by an average of ten pounds, Maxwell looked for a way to make the teams more evenly matched. Using his knowledge of sailing, he decided to design a sleeveless canvas jacket which would make his players "difficult to grasp when they began to sweat".[9][12] He presented the design to the academy's tailor, who created the double-lined jackets which "were laced down the front and drawn tightly to fit snugly around a player's body".[9][12] The weighted suits were worn by the team, which was confused by the "strangle, heavy, newfangled getups".[12]
The Naval Academy would not produce another football team until the1882 season. The 1882 team would be the first with a coach, being supported by Academy officials. The 1879 season was the last time that a Navy squad would play the Baltimore Athletic Club. Navy would finish the 1880s with four winning seasons, and an overall record of 14–12–2, with one of those ties being the game against the Baltimore Athletic Club. Navy would outscore their opponents 292–231, and would finish the 19th century with an overall record of 54–19–3. The lack of a coach for the 1879 season was one of the two times the Naval Academy squad lacked one, the other time being from 1883 through 1891.[13][14]
Frank Berrien served as Navy's head football coach from 1908 to 1910, compiling a record of 21–5–3.[15] He was the thirteenth head coach of the Naval Academy's football program and, under his tutelage, the Midshipmen compiled an undefeated 8–0–1 mark in 1910.[16]
Three undefeated teams with nearly identical records would cause a stir among fans and pollsters today, but this was the case when Navy earned its lone national championship in 1926, as the Midshipmen shared the honor with Stanford and Alabama. A 7–7 tie betweenAlabama andStanford in the1926 Rose Bowl gave Stanford a 10–0–1 mark, while the Crimson Tide and the Mids each had identical 9–0–1 records.
The Midshipmen opened the '26 season with a new coach,Bill Ingram. A Navy football standout from 1916 through 1918, Ingram took over a Navy team that had only won seven games in the previous two seasons combined. One of the keys to Navy's 1926 squad was a potent offense led by All-America tackle and team captain Frank Wickhorst, who proved to be a punishing blocker for the Navy offense. One member of the Navy offense that appreciated the blocking of Wickhorst wasTom Hamilton. The quarterback and kicker had a pair of 100-yard rushing games en route to All-America honors.
Navy's biggest win that year was againstMichigan in front of 80,000 fans in Baltimore. The Mids scored 10 second half points to upset the Wolverines, 10–0. Navy's offense tallied 165 yards behind the powering attack of Hamilton and Henry Caldwell who scored Navy's lone touchdown on a one-yard plunge. Jubilation from the victory continued after the game, as the Midshipmen tore down the goal post at each end of the field and carried away all the markers that lined both sides of the field.
Navy headed into its season finale againstArmy with a 9–0 record. The game was to be played in Chicago atSoldier Field, which had been built as a memorial to the men killed inWorld War I. It was only natural Army and Navy would be invited to play the inaugural contest there. James R. Harrison of theNew York Times described the game as "the greatest of its time and as a national spectacle." Over 110,000 people witnessed the Midshipmen open up a 14–0 lead on the Cadets, only to see Army fight back to take a 21–14 lead early in the third quarter. The Navy offense responded behind its strong ground game led by running back Alan Shapley. On fourth down and three yards to go, Shapley ran eight yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 21. As the final quarter concluded, Army mounted a brief threat only to miss a 25-yard field goal.
The tie gave the Midshipmen a share of the national championship based on retroactive rankings by both theWilliam Boand and Deke Houlgate mathematical poll systems.[3]
Navy was one of the very few programs to field a football team duringWorld War II, withJohn Whelchel leading the Midshipmen from 1942 to 1943 andOscar Hagberg serving as head coach from 1944 to 1945. During those years, three of the four Navy teams finished ranked in the top 10 of the final AP poll.[17][18][19]
George Sauer left his post asKansas head coach and took over in Annapolis from 1948 to 1949.[20] The Midshipmen struggled under Sauer's tutelage, posting a 3–13–2 record which included a winless 1948 season.[21]
Eddie Erdelatz returned to Navy, where he'd previously served as an assistant coach from 1945 to 1947, to take over a football program that had won just four games over the previous five seasons.[22]
In 1950, Erdelatz led an upset of arch-rivalArmy.[23] The Black Knights entered the game with an 8–0 record which had not lost in 28 contests.[23] Army also had defeated Navy five times in the last six games.[23] Although Navy had only a 2–6 record, an outstanding defensive effort resulted in a 14–2 victory for the Midshipmen.[23]
After two years at Navy, Erdelatz's record stood at 5–12–1, but he would never again have a losing season in his final seven seasons and would finish 5–3–1 in his games against Army. In 1954, the team finished 8–2, losing close games toPittsburgh andNotre Dame.[24] Erdelatz labeled this squad, "A Team Called Desire" and then went on to shut outOle Miss in the 1955Sugar Bowl.[25] Three years later, the Midshipmen competed in theCotton Bowl Classic, where they knocked offRice University, 20–7.[26] The latter win came one year after Navy's bid to play in a bowl game was rejected despite having only one loss.
After the bowl victory over Rice, Erdelatz was courted by other schools and nearly accepted the task of replacingBear Bryant atTexas A&M University.[27] After the 1958 season, he was also seen as a candidate for theNFL'sSan Francisco 49ers head coaching job, but began spring practice the following year at Navy.[28] On April 8, 1959, Erdelatz resigned as head coach of the Midshipmen, citing a number of factors, including the desire for an easier schedule.[29]
From 1959 to 1964,Wayne Hardin was the head coach at Navy, where he compiled a 38–22–2 record.[30] His Navy teams posted five consecutive wins against archrivalArmy, a feat not surpassed until 2007 whenPaul Johnson's Navy squad won their sixth consecutive contest in theArmy–Navy Game.[31] Hardin coached Navy's two winners of theHeisman Trophy,Joe Bellino, who received the award in1960,[32] andRoger Staubach, who did so in1963.[33] Hardin was the first to coach an African-American player at Navy whenCalvin Huey earned a letter in 1964.[34]
Hardin resigned as Navy's head coach following a 3–6–1 record in 1964.[35]
Virginia head coachBill Elias replaced Hardin, and the Midshipmen struggled mightily under Elias' leadership. Elias' Midshipmen posted a 15–22–3 record in his four seasons,[36] which included three non-winning seasons. Elias was fired following a 2–8 season in 1968.[37]
FormerUConn head coachRick Forzano was hired as Elias' replacement in 1969.[38][39] However, the Midshipmen's struggles continued, with Navy failing to post a single winning season, something that hadn't occurred in Annapolis in decades. Forzano's teams posted yearly records of 1–9,[40] 2–9,[41] 3–8[42] and 4–7.[43] Forzano resigned after the 1972 season.[44]
Penn State assistant coach and Navy alumGeorge Welsh succeeded Forzano as Navy's head coach.[45] He inherited a Navy Midshipmen football program that had only had one winning season since the days ofRoger Staubach. He led the Midshipmen to threebowl game appearances and their first nine-win season in 16 years.[46][47] In nine seasons, Welsh compiled a record of 55–46–1,[46] making him the service academy's most successful coach.[48]
In 1982, Welsh left Navy to become the head coach atVirginia.[49]
West Virginia offensive coordinatorGary Tranquill was hired as Welsh's replacement in 1982.[50] Tranquill's Midshipmen compiled a 6–5 record in 1982,[51] but it was downhill from there. 1983 saw a 3–8 record[52] followed by back-to-back four-win seasons in 1984 and 1985.[53][54] A 3–8 campaign in 1986 ended Tranquill's tenure at Navy as the school declined to renew his contract.[55]
One notable assistant coach during this time wasNick Saban, the former head coach at Alabama.
FormerWestern Michigan head coachElliot Uzelac was hired by Navy to serve as the school's 34th head football coach in 1987.[56] Navy's struggles continued, with the Midshipmen posting records of 2–9 in 1987[57] followed by back-to-back 3–8 seasons in 1988 and 1989.[58][59] Uzelac was fired following the 1989 season.[60]
Marshall head coachGeorge Chaump was hired as Uzelac's replacement in 1990.[61] Chaump was unable to revive the Midshipmen football program, compiling a record of 14–41 in five seasons.[62] Chaump's Midshipmen posted back-to-back 1–10 records in 1991 and 1992.[63][64] Navy fired Chaump after the 1994 season in which the Midshipmen finished 3–8.[65][66]
Utah State head coachCharlie Weatherbie was hired to replace Chaump in 1995.[67] Under Weatherbie, Navy did have a couple of winning seasons, the first coming in 1996 with a record of 9–3 with a win in theAloha Bowl.[68][69] That was followed with a 7–4 campaign the following year.[70] After that, however, Navy struggled, failing to post a record better than a 5–7 record. After a 1–10 season in 2000[71] followed by an 0–7 start to the 2001 season,[72] Weatherbie was fired.[73]
In 2002,Paul Johnson departedGeorgia Southern and was hired as the 37th Navy head football coach.[74] Johnson's initial season saw the Midshipmen win only two of 12 games,[75] though the season ended on a high note with his first victory overArmy,[76] which would not beat Navy again until 2016.[77] Subsequently, Johnson's teams enjoyed a high degree of success.
The 2003 team completed the regular season with an 8–4 mark,[78] including wins over bothAir Force and Army, and earned a berth in theHouston Bowl, Navy's first bowl game since 1996. However, the Midshipmen lost toTexas Tech, 38–14.[79]
In 2004, Johnson's team posted the program's best record since 1957, finishing the regular season at 9–2[80] and once again earning a bowl berth, this time in theEmerald Bowl. There Johnson coached the Midshipmen to a win overNew Mexico, 34–19, the fifth bowl win in the school's history.[81] The win gave Navy 10 wins on the season, tying a school record that had stood since 1905. For his efforts, Johnson received theBobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award.[82]
The 2005 Navy squad recorded a mark of 8–4,[83] highlighted by victories over Army,Air Force, andColorado State in thePoinsettia Bowl.
In 2007, Johnson coached the Midshipmen to their first win over rivalNotre Dame since 1963, winning 46–44 in triple-overtime.[84] Navy finished the season with an 8–5 record.[85]
Johnson dominated theCommander-in-Chief's Trophy competition, going 11–1 (.917) in his six years, with the only loss against another service academy coming at the hands of Air Force in his first season. He was the first coach in Navy's history to go 6–0 in his first six seasons against Army (Ken Niumatalolo, who followed Johnson at Navy, went 8–0 against Army in his first eight seasons), and his 2006 senior class was the first in Navy history to win the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy all four of their years.
Much of Johnson's success at Navy was predicated on histriple optionflexbone offense, a run-oriented attack that ledNCAA Division I-A/FBS football in rushing yards three of his last four years at Navy. Johnson departed Navy for the head coaching position atGeorgia Tech after the end of the 2007 regular season.[86]
Ken Niumatalolo was promoted from offensive line coach to head football coach of the Naval Academy football team on December 8, 2007, after Johnson's departure forGeorgia Tech.[87][88] Niumatalolo was the 38th head football coach in Naval Academy history. On January 7, 2009, Niumatalolo was given a contract extension, although terms and length of the extension were not released.[89]
With Niumatalolo as Navy's head coach, beginning with the 2008 season, the Mids continued their run of success. Highlights in 2008 included an upset inWinston-Salem over No. 16Wake Forest, 24–17, the Mids' first victory over a ranked team in 23 years,[90] and a 34–0 shutout victory of Army.[91] In 2016, the Midshipmen upset 6th-rankedHouston at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium 46-40 for their first win over a team ranked in the top 10 since defeatingSouth Carolina in 1984.[92]
Other highlights of Niumatalolo's years as head coach at Navy include: Navy defeated Army in each of Niumatalolo's first eight seasons as head coach, not losing to Army until 2016. The 2016 loss ended a streak of 14 Midshipmen wins in theArmy–Navy Game,[93] the longest winning streak for either side in the rivalry. The Midshipmen captured the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy in 2008, 2009 and 2012. They went on to capture the trophy outright in 2013, with a 34–7 win against Army, and recaptured it outright in 2015 with wins over Army and Air Force.The Midshipmen have nine winning seasons during Niumatalolo's 11 full years as head coach. The Mids have played in nine bowl games during Niumatalolo's tenure, winning the2009 Texas Bowl,[94]2013 Armed Forces Bowl,[95]2014 Poinsettia Bowl, and2015 Military Bowl. Navy defeated longtime rival Notre Dame in consecutive years, 2009 and 2010, for the first time since the early 1960s.[96][97] The Midshipmen also defeated Notre Dame in 2016, when the Midshipmen went on to finish with a 9–5 record.[98][99]
Niumatalolo led Navy into theAmerican Athletic Conference after 134 years as an independent in 2015, the first time Navy joined a conference in the school's history.[100]
Following the 2022 campaign, Niumatalolo was fired following a loss to Army.[101]
Brian Newberry, who had served as defensive coordinator since 2019, was hired as the head coach on December 19, 2022.[102]
| Season | Coach | Selector | Record | Final AP | Final Coaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926 | Bill Ingram | Boand System,Houlgate System | 9–0–1 | – | – |
Three undefeated teams with nearly identical records would cause a stir among fans and pollsters today, but this was the case when Navy earned its lone national championship in 1926, as the Midshipmen shared the honor with Stanford and Alabama. A 7–7 tie betweenAlabama andStanford in the1927 Rose Bowl gave Stanford a 10–0–1 mark, while the Crimson Tide and the Mids each had identical 9–0–1 records.
The Midshipmen opened the '26 season with a new coach,Bill Ingram. A Navy football standout from 1916 through 1918, Ingram took over a Navy team that had only won seven games in the previous two seasons combined. One of the keys to Navy's 1926 squad was a potent offense led by All-America tackle and team captain Frank Wickhorst, who proved to be a punishing blocker for the Navy offense. One member of the Navy offense that appreciated the blocking of Wickhorst wasTom Hamilton. The quarterback and kicker had a pair of 100-yard rushing games en route to All-America honors.
Navy's biggest win that year was againstMichigan in front of 80,000 fans in Baltimore. The Mids scored 10 second half points to upset the Wolverines, 10–0. Navy's offense tallied 165 yards behind the powering attack of Hamilton and Henry Caldwell who scored Navy's lone touchdown on a one-yard plunge. Jubilation from the victory continued after the game, as the Midshipmen tore down the goal post at each end of the field and carried away all the markers that lined both sides of the field.
Navy headed into its season finale againstArmy with a 9–0 record. The game was to be played in Chicago atSoldier Field, which had been built as a memorial to the men killed inWorld War I. It was only natural Army and Navy would be invited to play the inaugural contest there. James R. Harrison of theNew York Times described the game as "the greatest of its time and as a national spectacle." Over 110,000 people witnessed the Midshipmen open up a 14–0 lead on the Cadets, only to see Army fight back to take a 21–14 lead early in the third quarter. The Navy offense responded behind its strong ground game led by running back Alan Shapley. On fourth down and three yards to go, Shapley ran eight yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 21. As the final quarter concluded, Army mounted a brief threat only to miss a 25-yard field goal.
The tie gave the Midshipmen a share of the national championship based on retroactive rankings by both theWilliam Boand and Deke Houlgate mathematical poll systems.[3]
TheLambert-Meadowlands Trophy, established in 1936, is an annual award given to the best team in theNortheastern United States in Division IFBScollege football and is presented by the Metropolitan New York Football Writers. Navy has won the trophy six times.
| Year | Coach | Record | Final AP rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | John Whelchel | 8–1 | #4 |
| 1954 | Eddie Erdelatz | 8–2 | #5 |
| 1957 | Eddie Erdelatz | 9–1–1 | #5 |
| 1960 | Wayne Hardin | 9–2 | #4 |
| 1963 | Wayne Hardin | 9–2 | #2 |
| 2015 | Ken Niumatalolo | 11–2 | #18 |
| Season | Division | Coach | Opponent | CG result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015† | AAC West | Ken Niumatalolo | N/A lost tiebreaker toHouston | |
| 2016 | Temple | L 10–34 | ||
| 2019† | N/A lost tiebreaker toMemphis | |||
† Co-champions
Navy has participated in 25 bowl games, garnering a record of 13–11–1.[103]
Brian Newberry became the head coach in 2023.
| Coach (Alma Mater) | Seasons | Years | Games | W | L | T | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vaulx Carter (USNA) | 1 | 1882 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Ben Crosby (Yale) | 1 | 1892 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | .714 |
| Josh Hartwell (Yale) | 1 | 1893 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 |
| Bill Wurtenburg (Yale) | 1 | 1894 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | .714 |
| Matt McClung (Lehigh) | 1 | 1895 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | .714 |
| Johnny Poe (Princeton) | 1 | 1896 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 |
| Bill Armstrong (Yale) | 3 | 1897–1899 | 25 | 19 | 5 | 1 | .780 |
| Garrett Cochran (Princeton) | 1 | 1900 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 |
| Doc Hillebrand (Princeton) | 2 | 1901–1902 | 21 | 8 | 11 | 2 | .429 |
| Burr Chamberlain (Yale) | 1 | 1903 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 1 | .375 |
| Paul Dashiell (Lehigh) | 3 | 1904 | 34 | 25 | 5 | 4 | .794 |
| Joe Reeves (USNA) | 1 | 1907 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | .741 |
| Frank Berrien (USNA) | 3 | 1908–1910 | 29 | 21 | 5 | 3 | .776 |
| Doug Howard (USNA) | 4 | 1911–1914 | 36 | 25 | 7 | 4 | .750 |
| Jonas H. Ingram (USNA) | 2 | 1915–1916 | 19 | 9 | 8 | 2 | .526 |
| Gil Dobie (Minnesota) | 3 | 1917–1919 | 20 | 17 | 3 | 0 | .850 |
| Bob Folwell (Penn) | 5 | 1920–1924 | 38 | 24 | 12 | 2 | .658 |
| Jack Owsley (Yale) | 1 | 1925 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | .688 |
| Bill Ingram (USNA) | 5 | 1926–1930 | 49 | 32 | 13 | 4 | .694 |
| Rip Miller (Notre Dame) | 3 | 1931–1933 | 29 | 12 | 15 | 2 | .448 |
| Tom Hamilton (USNA) | 5 | 1934–1936, 1946–1947 | 45 | 21 | 23 | 1 | .478 |
| Hank Hardwick (USNA) | 2 | 1937–1938 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 3 | .528 |
| Swede Larson (USNA) | 3 | 1939–1941 | 27 | 16 | 8 | 3 | .648 |
| Billick Whelchel (USNA) | 2 | 1942–1943 | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | .722 |
| Oscar Hagberg (USNA) | 2 | 1944–1945 | 18 | 13 | 4 | 1 | .750 |
| George Sauer (Nebraska) | 2 | 1948–1949 | 18 | 3 | 13 | 2 | .222 |
| Eddie Erdelatz (St. Mary's) | 9 | 1950–1958 | 84 | 50 | 26 | 8 | .643 |
| Wayne Hardin (Coll. of Pacific) | 6 | 1959–1964 | 62 | 38 | 22 | 2 | .629 |
| Bill Elias (Maryland) | 4 | 1965–1968 | 40 | 15 | 22 | 3 | .413 |
| Rick Forzano (Kent State) | 4 | 1969–1972 | 43 | 10 | 33 | 0 | .233 |
| George Welsh (USNA) | 9 | 1973–1981 | 102 | 55 | 46 | 1 | .544 |
| Gary Tranquill (Wittenberg) | 5 | 1982–1986 | 55 | 20 | 34 | 1 | .373 |
| Elliot Uzelac (W. Michigan) | 3 | 1987–1989 | 33 | 8 | 25 | 0 | .242 |
| George Chaump (Bloomsburg) | 5 | 1990–1994 | 55 | 14 | 41 | 0 | .255 |
| Charlie Weatherbie (Okla. St.) | 7 | 1995–2001 | 75 | 30 | 45 | 0 | .400 |
| Rick Lantz (Central Conn. St.) | <1 | 2001 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| Paul Johnson (W. Carolina) | 6* | 2002–2007 | 74 | 45 | 29 | 0 | .608 |
| Ken Niumatalolo (Hawaiʻi) | 15* | 2007–2022 | 192 | 109 | 83 | 0 | .568 |
| Brian Newberry (Baylor) | 2 | 2023–present | 24 | 14 | 10 | 0 | .583 |
The Commander-in-Chief's Trophy is awarded to each season's winner of the triangular college football series among theUnited States Military Academy (Army), the United States Naval Academy (Navy), and theUnited States Air Force Academy (Air Force).[104] Navy controlled the trophy from 2003 to 2009, marking one of the longest times any academy has had possession of the prestigious trophy.
Typically, the Navy–Air Force game is played in early October[104] followed by Army-Navy in early December.
When Navy has possession of the trophy, it is displayed in a glass case inBancroft Hall, the Midshipmen's dormitory. Navy has won 17 Commander-in-Chief's Trophies (1973, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1981, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2024).
The Army-Navy Game, played annually on the last weekend of the college football regular season in early December,[105] pits the football teams of theU.S. Military Academy atWest Point, New York (Army) against the Navy Midshipmen. It is one of the most traditional and enduring rivalries in college football, and is televised every year byCBS.[106] It was in the 1963 Army–Navy game thatinstant replay made its television debut.[107]
This game has always had inter-service "bragging rights" at stake; in past decades, when both Army and Navy were often national powers, the game occasionally had national championship implications.[108] However, as top-level college football had developed and grown, the high academic entrance requirements, height and weight limits, and the military commitment required of West Point and Annapolis graduates has reduced the overall competitiveness of both academies in comparison with other football programs.[108]
The tradition of the game has ensured that it remains nationally televised to this day. One of the great appeals of this game to many fans is that its players are largely playing for the love of the game, since almost none will ever play in the NFL. The game is especially emotional for the seniors, called "first classmen" or "firsties" by both academies, since it is typically the last competitive football game they will ever play.
During wartime, the game is even more emotional because some seniors may not return once they are deployed. For instance, in the 2004 game, at least one senior from the class of 2003 who was killed in Iraq, Navy'sJ. P. Blecksmith, was remembered.[109] The players placed their comrade's pads and jerseys on chairs on the sidelines. Much of the sentiment of the game goes out to those who share the uniform and who are overseas.
Army-Navy is played in early December, typically inPhiladelphia.[110] The game, however, has also been played in other locations such asNew York,Baltimore,Chicago, andPasadena.[111]
The intrastate rivalry betweenMaryland and Navy is referred to as the "Crab Bowl Classic."[112] Starting in 1905, the two teams have played sporadically over the years. Many of the early games were lopsided and Navy leads the series 14–7. In 2005, the teams renewed their rivalry and Maryland won, 23–20. The teams met again on Labor Day 2010 and Maryland won again, 17–14, after the Terps' goal-line stand with under a minute remaining. As of 2010, the winner of the Crab Bowl Classic is awarded theCrab Bowl Trophy, created by the Touchdown Club of Annapolis with underwriting from the D'Camera Group.[113]
Navy has playedNotre Dame in 95 annual games without interruption since 1927 and trails in the series 13–81–1 through the 2022 season.[114] Notre Dame plays this game to repay Navy for helping to keep Notre Dame financially afloat during World War II.[115][116][117] This series is scheduled to continue indefinitely.[118]
From 1963, when Navy beat Notre Dame 35–14, to 2006, Notre Damewon 43 consecutive games against Navy, the longest such streak in Division I-A football.[119] This streak ended on November 3, 2007, whenNavy beat Notre Dame 46–44 in triple overtime.[84] Navy also bested Notre Dame in 2009 and 2010, which made the class of 2011 only the third class in Navy history to have beaten Notre Dame three times. Navy won 28–27 in 2016, making Coach Niumatalolo only the second coach in Navy history to defeat Notre Dame three times.
When Navy is the home team for this game in even-numbered years, the Midshipmen have hosted the game off-campus at large stadiums used byNFL teams, usuallyFedExField inLandover, Maryland orM&T Bank Stadium inBaltimore.[120] The Midshipmen have also hosted the Irish atJohn F. Kennedy Stadium andVeterans Stadium inPhiladelphia.[120]
Navy andPittsburgh recently renewed their rivalry, which began in 1912, and was played 26 times in 29 years between 1961 and 1989.[121] The contest was then played consecutively between 2007 and 2009 and again in 2013.[122] After a 44–28 victory for Navy in the2015 Military Bowl in Annapolis,[123] the series now stands with Pitt leading 22–15–3.[124] Of historic interest, it was during the Pitt-Navy game at Annapolis on October 23, 1976, that Pitt running backTony Dorsett broke the NCAA career rushing record.[125]
This rivalry stems from Navy andRutgers being two of the only three programs (the third is Army) to come out of the original, informal "Ivy League" that are still members of the top tier of NCAA college football (Division I-FBS).[126] Although the two teams only began a regular series relatively recently in 1995, the games between the two schools are often close and sometimes have controversy as in the 2004 and 2007 editions of the series. The rivalry dates to 1891, making the two schools each other's oldest active football rivals.[127] The schools have met 25 times, with Rutgers leading the series at 13–11–1 all-time after the 2014 Navy loss. Navy and Rutgers have played most years since 1995, but do not have additional games scheduled at this time with Rutgers' move to theBig Ten and Navy's move from independents to theAmerican.[128]
TheGansz Trophy was created in 2009 through a collaboration between the athletic departments of the Naval Academy andSouthern Methodist University.[129] The trophy is named forFrank Gansz who played linebacker at the Naval Academy from 1957 through 1959. Gansz later served on the coaching staffs at numerous colleges, including all three service academies and Southern Methodist, as well as several professional teams. The two teams have met 18 times with Navy leading the all-time series 11–7, and the trophy series 5–0.[130]
It is widely believed by football researchers that the playing ofintercollegiate football began in November 1869, when a player atRutgers University challenged another player at the nearbyCollege of New Jersey (now Princeton). The contest more closely resembledsoccer, with teams scoring by kicking the ball into the opponent's net, and lacked a uniform rules structure.[131][132] The game developed slowly; the first rules were drafted in October 1873, and only consisted of twelve guidelines.[133] Even though the number of teams participating in the sport increased, the game was still effectively controlled by the College of New Jersey, who claimed eight national championships in ten years. OnlyYale presented any form of challenge, claiming four national championships in the same time period.[134]
According to biographer C. Douglas Kroll, the first evidence of football at theUnited States Naval Academy came in 1857, but the school's cadets lost interest in the game shortly afterward.[135] The first occurrence of serious interest in the sport came in 1879, when a squad of twelve cadets challenged men from the Baltimore Athletic Club to a contest. The team was captained byWilliam John Maxwell, lacking "official" support from all academy supervisors. The team was student operated, and supported by the friends of the players.[136] The 1879 game with Baltimore ended in a 0–0 tie, where the Naval Academy apparently never gained control of the ball. The team was credited with creating the first football uniform, worn during the game.[137][138] Following the 1879 season, football at the Naval Academy went on a two-year hiatus, returning in 1882 under the leadership ofVaulx Carter.[135][137]
Johns Hopkins University, located north of the Naval Academy, inBaltimore, started their football program a couple of years after Navy. Hopkins' first team was assembled in 1881, and spent an entire year training and learning a version of the game. Their sport, which was closer to rugby, was played inDruid Hill Park. After the training, the team planned a two-game 1882 season. The squad had to play the season under the title of the Clifton Athletic Club, due to the school's policy on the sport of football. The first was a practice game with the Baltimore Athletic Club, played on October 7. The Hopkins team lost the contest 4–0. The following game was their first true game, to be played against the Naval Academy.[139][140]| Navy Midshipmen retired numbers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Player | Pos. | Tenure | No. ret. | Ref. |
| 12 | Roger Staubach | QB | 1961–1963 | 1965 | [141][142] |
| 19 | Keenan Reynolds | QB | 2012–2015 | 2016 | [141][142] |
| 27 | Joe Bellino | HB | 1958–1960 | 1960 | [141][142][143] |
| 30 | Napoleon McCallum | RB | 1981–1985 | [141][142][144] | |
Navy has 19 players and 3 coaches in theCollege Football Hall of Fame:
| Year | Player | Class | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953–54 | Steve Eisenhauer | '54 | |
| 1957–58 | Tom Forrestal | '58 | |
| 1958–59 | Joe Tranchini | '60 | 1st |
| 1969–70 | Dan Pike | '70 | |
| 1974–75 | Tim Harden | '75 | 2nd |
| 1975–76 | Chet Moeller | '76 | 2nd |
| 1979–80 | Ted Dumbauld | '81 | 2nd |
| 1980–81 | Ted Dumbauld | '81 | 1st |
| 1999–00 | Terrence Anderson | '00 | 2nd |
| 2009–10 | John Dowd | '12 | 2nd |
| 2010–11 | John Dowd | '12 | 1st |
| 2015–16 | Thomas Wilson | '16 | 1st |
"The Most Prestigious Scholarships In College Football Since 1959"
For football players in theUSNA Athletic Hall of Fame, see footnote.[145]The AthleticHall of Fame is housed in Lejeune Hall. Among the exhibits are twoHeisman Trophies, won byJoe Bellino in 1960 andRoger Staubach in 1963.[146]
Announced schedules as of June 4, 2025.[149]
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VMI | Towson | The Citadel | Holy Cross | atOhio State | Towson |
| Air Force | atAir Force | Air Force | atAir Force | Air Force | atAir Force |
| atNotre Dame | vs.Notre Dame5 | atNotre Dame | vs.Notre Dame | atNotre Dame | vs.Notre Dame |
| vs.Army3 | vs.Army1 | vs.Army2 | vs.Army6 | vs.Army6 | vs.Army6 |
Located in:Annapolis, Maryland | ||
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