Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Army Football: Jeff Monken has turned Black Knights around

By Patrick Mayhorn

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 09: Emmanuel Ukhueligbe #95 of the Army Black Knights and the rest of his teammates run out on the field before the game against the Navy Midshipmen on December 9, 2017 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 09: Emmanuel Ukhueligbe #95 of the Army Black Knights and the rest of his teammates run out on the field before the game against the Navy Midshipmen on December 9, 2017 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 4
Next

Jeff Monken has Army football rolling for the first time in decades. With a young offense and a great defense, can the Black Knights keep winning?

Looking for your favorite team? Find their preview on the 2018 Countdown to Kickoff

The three D1 military academies have a football experience unlike any other. Building a winning program at Army, Navy or Air Force is an extremely tall challenge, filled with obstacles that no other team deals with. It takes a special coach to win at any of those schools.

For years, Navy has had a special coach. From Paul Johnson to Ken Niumatalolo, the Midshipmen have built a winning culture for nearly two decades. They’ve been the peak example of success at a military academy since the turn of the century.

Air Force has had similar, albeit a bit less success. Fisher DeBerry and Troy Calhoun have made the Falcons a WAC and now MWC stalwart since the early 80s.

In this time, Army has mostly sat in the wings watching their peers succeed. Years of below average play and bad coaching put Army in the basement of the CUSA for seven miserable seasons, and as a consistent failure as an independent.

It looks like the Black Knights have finally figured it out. After four and two-win seasons to start out his tenure, Jeff Monken has done what no coach at Army has done since the 40s. He’s consistently competed and won games in back to back seasons.

After an 8-5 season in 2016 that saw Army finally beat Navy, for the first time in 14 years, the Black Knights looked even better in 2017. For the first time since 1995, Army won ten games, and two of those losses were by a total of just seven points.

In the process, they toppled Navy once again, destroyed Air Force, won the Commanders Cup, and beat San Diego State in what may have been the best game of 2017.

Things are finally going right at Army, for the first time in roughly 80 years. It won’t be easy, but if their defense can lead the way, Army could have a third straight eight-plus win seasons. For the first time in 72 years. It’ll start with a young offense.

Home/Independent