Navy football has never been in such a strong position. The Midshipmen just completed the most successful two-year run in program history.
Over the past two seasons, Navy has won 21 games, captured consecutive Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy championships and beaten Power Four schools in back-to-back bowl games.
The Midshipmen made an emphatic statement on Friday night at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis. Quarterback Blake Horvath and fullback Alex Tecza sparked the offense, while inside linebacker Coleman Cauley and end Julien Moutome spearheaded the defense as Navy routed Cincinnati, 35-13.
The Midshipmen are solidly in the upper echelon of the American Conference, easily the strongest of the so-called Group of Five. One could argue the American was better at the top half than the Atlantic Coast Conference, which is the weakest of the Power Four.
Brian Newberry is the leader of a coaching staff that is downright elite. He has a pair of outstanding coordinators in Drew Cronic (offense) and P.J. Volker (defense). Ricky Brown has emerged as a top-notch special teams coordinator.
Newberry is entering his eighth season at Navy and fourth as head coach. He has reached the point that he knows and understands the Naval Academy. He is the second-longest tenured coach in the American and recognizes what it takes to succeed in the conference.
Perhaps most important is the fact the Midshipmen know who they are and what they want to be. Newberry has said hundreds of times that Navy is a developmental program and embraces that identity.
This coaching staff loves bringing in plebes and watching them grow, mature and improve over the course of four years. Factor in that a large percentage of recruits start at the Naval Academy Prep School and you have a roster filled with players who have made a five-year commitment to the program.
Navy football knows exactly the type of prospects it wants to recruit and it starts with those wanting to attend one of the finest academic institutions in the United States and serve their country afterward.
It is challenging but rewarding, and along the way those players get an opportunity to compete at the highest level of college football and participate in big-time games. Every year, Navy is going to play at least three games that are nationally televised — Army, Air Force and Notre Dame.
A successful season will normally end with an appearance in an attractive bowl game. Navy’s last three postseason contests have come against Power Four conference opponents — all wins, by the way.
Navy has also built an identity offensively and defensively. Newberry established the defensive philosophy when he became coordinator in 2019 and it remains in place under Volker, who came to Annapolis along with him from Kennesaw State.
Newberry described that defensive style last week leading up to the Liberty Bowl matchup against Cincinnati.
“Our gameplan and our approach doesn’t change from week to week as far as what our identity is on defense. We’re always going to be aggressive and try to be disruptive. We’re always going to change the picture pre-snap and post-snap,” he said. “What we want to do defensively is confuse the offensive line and the quarterback as much as we possibly can.”
Meanwhile, Newberry hit an absolute home run by hiring Cronic away from Mercer, where he was a successful head coach. His “millennial” version of Wing-T offense is unique, creative, explosive and almost unstoppable when executed properly.
Cronic has steadily developed and evolved his offense over the course of a 26-year college career. He has added run-pass option and pro-style elements, which is why it is also known as the hybrid Wing-T.
At Newberry’s request, Cronic has incorporated triple-option principles and plays to maintain some of the identity Navy has created since 2002. That task was made easier by the fact Navy has one of America’s most knowledgeable triple-option practitioners on staff in Ivin Jasper, now entering his 27th year at Navy.
Bottom line, Navy has built an incredibly diverse and dangerous attack that has routinely confounded opposing defenses. One can only wonder what the offense will look like in a few years after the staff has been able to recruit players to fit the system.
In addition to Jasper, Navy has two other longtime assistants in wide receivers coach Mick Yokitis (16th year) and cornerbacks coach Robert Green (14th year). That institutional knowledge is irreplaceable.
It is an added bonus that Green and Yokitis are both former Navy football players, academy graduates and retired Marine Corps officers. They are a tremendous example to the players currently in the program and can provide a special type of mentorship none of the other assistants can.
Newberry has maintained an element of Navy football created by former coach Ken Niumatalolo — that it is a program based on love and family. Newberry continues to give the coaching staff off on Sunday to spend time with family, although truth be told most spend some time watching film and doing other preparatory work.
That is just one of the reasons Navy football has such a high retention rate among assistant coaches and support staff personnel. It’s a great program to be part of on several levels.
Navy’s staff is also filled with men who love college football and enjoy being able to focus strictly on coaching and recognize how fortunate they are to not have to deal with mining the transfer portal or doling out name, image and likeness money. Service academy football is the last bastion of purity at the Football Bowl Subdivision level and Navy has coaches that appreciate that reality.
Many outside observers believed the transfer portal-NIL era would negatively impact the three service academy programs. After all, good players could transfer out and likely would in order to take advantage of the opportunity to get paid. Meanwhile, the academies could not utilize the portal to rebuild the roster the way other FBS programs could.
None of this has come to fruition for Navy football, which has lost very few notable players to the transfer portal since its inception. The Midshipmen won 10 games and beat Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl last season and did not lose a single player that projected to be on the depth chart in 2025.
Meanwhile, the advent of the transfer portal has actually enabled Navy to land more highly rated recruits than ever before. That’s because most FBS programs are primarily recruiting transfers and offering fewer and fewer scholarships to high school seniors.
Three- and four-star prospects that never would have considered Navy before are now doing so. Newberry said that the Midshipmen are annually signing a slew of extremely talented prospects and it shows on the field. Those that attend practice on a regular basis can see the players just look different in terms of size, speed and athleticism.
If Navy continues to win at the level it has the past two seasons, recruiting is going to really take off and reach an entirely different level. In fact, the staff is in the final stages of completing the Class of 2026 and has an impressive resume of accomplishments to pitch.
Add it all up and Navy is very well positioned to achieve Newberry’s oft-stated goal of being the best Group of Five program in the country.
Have a news tip? Contact Bill Wagner at [email protected], 443-534-0102 and x.com/@BWagner_CapGaz.