The Navy Midshipmen have won 13 straight games against Army West Point. They’ve won eight straight games against all foes dating back to last season, most recently defeating Air Force. And their head coach is winning at the pay window. Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo claimed top honors among academy rivals in USA Today’s recently released annual college coach salary survey, set to take home $1,637,803 in 2015. That puts him in 58th among top-tier NCAA football coaches, ahead of Air Force’s Troy Calhoun (73rd, $919,000) and Army’s Jeff Monken (75th, $883,000). The numbers come with the usual caveats: The Naval Academy…
Browsing: Rich Ellerson
A winter wonderland became a frigid mess. A defensive struggle became a rout. A packed stadium became a ghost town long before the final gun. And an 11-game win streak became a dirty dozen. Behind three touchdown runs from quarterback Keenan Reynolds — the first tying the NCAA single-season record for QBs at 27, the last setting a new record at 29 — the Navy Midshipmen used a punishing ground game to hand the Army Black Knights a 34-7 loss Saturday at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. Navy hasn’t lost to Army since 2001 and now leads the all-time series 58-49-7.…
USA Today has updated its massive college football salary database and recently published a piece on the exploding cost of employing a major-college football coach, which has nearly doubled since 2006. The payouts for service-academy coaches haven’t seen that big of a surge, at least in recent years. Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo still leads the pack, earning a bit more than $1.5 million in 2013. That’s down from $1.6 million last year, but those figures likely all fall under the contract extension signed by the coach, terms undisclosed, in 2011. It’s good enough for 63rd on the overall list.…
Another half-dozen Army-Navy tidbits, starting with a strategy discussion. No PowerPoints, we promise. 1. Cut it out. With the NFL considering banning blocks below the waist in 2013, Dan Wolken at USA Today takes a hard look at what such a move in college football could do the future of option offenses such as those used by all three service academies. It’s great timing for a great thought piece — cut blocks are a key weapon in the academy arsenal, allowing undersized linemen to compete in the trenches and giving defenders one more thing to think about while they try…
A half-dozen quick hits for early in Army-Navy week: 1. The basics. A nice recap of the path both teams have taken to Saturday’s showdown from Philly.com’s Joe Juliano, with some good big-picture comments from Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo and Army head man Rich Ellerson (Ellerson on a 2-9 season: “It really is frustrating. We know how hard we’re working and how much progress we’ve made.”). 2. The big guns. Both schools have released their game-week media notes. It’s an early win for Navy, with 73 pages of stats/recaps/bios/etc., edging out Army’s 69 pages. Check back later in the…
The basics for Black Knights fans as Army attempts to crack into the win column. Who, where, when: Boston College (1-3, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) at Army (0-4), Saturday, noon Eastern. TV: CBS Sports Network (Ben Holden and Randy Cross have the call). Gambling is illegal in most states: Boston college is a 9.5-point favorite. We interrupt this preview …: News for Army fans already looking forward to next year after an 0-4 start — the Black Knights will face Louisiana Tech in Cotton Bowl Stadium on Sept. 28, headlining a brand-new event called the Heart of Dallas Kickoff Classic.…
What Army fans need to know as the Black Knights head to ACC country in search of their first victory. Who, where, when: Army (0-2) at Wake Forest (2-1), Saturday, 12:30 p.m. Eastern. Army’s winless at Wake in five tries. TV: ACC Network (check here for stations in your area; Steve Martin and David Archer have the call). Also on ESPN3. Gambling is illegal in most states: Wake Forest is a seven-point favorite. Big play day? Wake is coming off a 52-0 demolition at the hands of ACC rival Florida State, ranked fourth in The Associated Press poll. Big plays…
Five quick hits for an 0-2 weekend of service academy football: 1. Yes, it’s that bad. Army’s 42-7 loss at San Diego State on Saturday wasn’t the worst in opening-day performance in school history — but it was the Black Knights’ worst start since falling to Boston College 44-7 in 2005. And Navy’s 50-10 demolition at the hands of Notre Dame on Sept. 1 wasn’t the worst opening-day loss in Annapolis history — Navy fell 53-0 to Virginia in 1992. But when it comes to both schools struggling at the same time, this year’s combined minus-75 point differential to start…
All good speculative offseason college football posts need a gimmick, and CBSSports.com’s Dennis Dodd has a great one: Ranking every Football Bowl Subdivision coach’s job security. The 2012 Coach Hot Seat Ratings include few surprises — Nick Saban’s job at Alabama is safe, oddly enough — and they bode well for Air Force head man Troy Calhoun, who joins Saban and 29 other coaches with 0.0 ratings, or “can’t be touched.” That’s an improvement from a 0.5 score last year. Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo went the opposite direction after posting his first losing season at Navy, moving from a 0.5 in…
The Sporting News just released its ranking of all 124 college football coaches. It gives new meaning to the word “complete.” Also, possibly new meaning to the word “long.” We’ll simplify for you service academy football fans: Air Force gets bragging rights, with head coach Troy Calhoun checking in at No. 29. Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo checks in at No. 35, while Army’s Rich Ellerson rounds out the academy pack at 79. The SN folks don’t spell out their methodology, but if you went by traditional metrics — you know, like their records from last year — you’d have the same…
