With seven weeks of the 2024 college football season in the books, something odd occurred with our country’s two most famous service football-playing academies, Army and Navy, that had not happened in 64 years. Army, which beat UAB 44-10, and Navy, which was idle, broke through for their first simultaneous rankings since Oct. 3, 1960. Furthermore, Army (6-0) and Navy (5-0) have not each been unbeaten at this point in a season since 1945, weeks after World War II ended and in the era when service academies were powerhouses of the sport. In the last polls released on October 14th, Army is ranked 23rd, while Navy sits at number 25.
However, the two academies are at a considerable disadvantage when it comes to recruiting nationally-ranked talent, especially through the now-popular transfer portal. So, how are they competing with the blue-bloods of the NCAA?
ARMY AND NAVY’S SOLUTIONS WITH NIL AND THE TRANSFER PORTAL
Obviously, the football coaching staff at the Naval Academy faces far more different and real challenges when competing for the top high school talent in the United States. With millions of dollars now up for grabs in capturing future college stars, their pitch of “four years vs. forty years” is a cliche in recruiting, but it’s very real in Annapolis.
Both Army and Navy athletes are forbidden from accepting NIL money. According to “Conduct Detrimental,” a website devoted to sports law, federal law prohibits all athletes at the five “federal service academies” (Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine Academy) from exercising their right to publicity since they are employees of the federal government due to the government paying for their tuition, housing and fees.
In fact, most involved with the program believe those in line for huge NIL payoffs were not Midshipmen material anyways. According to the MidReport website, those more interested in a short-term payout than a long-term benefit probably wouldn’t be receptive to Navy even before NIL.
The Naval Academy caters to a specific ideal, one that speaks of honor and country above all else. Those athletes that are either in dire economic need or want their college career only to serve as a springboard for their professional employment would probably discount Navy even before NIL.
The rules for Navy regarding the transfer portal are also different from most, but some argue that the portal actually helps them.
At major programs, transfers from the portal are seen as replacements for those who fled for greener pastures. However, the influx of new players can upset the dynamics of the team. Being unable to generate a feeling of cooperation and togetherness uproots any progress a squad generates throughout the year, and they are forced like Sisyphus to start over from scratch.
At the United States Military Academy at West Point, the transfer portal often goes one way, with cadet-athletes able to leave the Academy without obligation prior to the start of their junior year and transfer to another university.
In Annapolis, the transfer portal is an exit-only door, while their conference rivals can seemingly stock themselves with veteran talent every year.
Mike James of the MidReport writes: “Contrast that with the Naval Academy, where players can’t enter the program via the portal. Players have to be trained to do their job over four years, which is the process through which they learn to play as a single unit. The formula for winning in Annapolis hasn’t changed. But the formula for their opponents has. Most of Navy’s opposition is about as talented as they’ve always been, but they’re less cohesive as teams. In that sense, Navy stands to be more competitive than before.”
In Navy’s eyes, recruiting and player development are only two factors in a long list of things that make up a winning recipe. Teamwork, loyalty, and dedication are only three ingredients to their successful strategy, not to mention a style of offense that is extremely difficult to prepare for.
THE TRIPLE OPTION IS AN EQUALIZER
Some schools may have a play or two that involve old-school option football, but the service academies are the only ones who use that as their base offense.
Why do they do this? First, size matters. The service academies are limited in how big their athletes are while they play and after.
The website Duotech explains: “At the big D1 schools who dominate the college football rankings, linemen may average closer to 305-310 lbs. Compare that to a 6’5” Midshipmen lineman who, according to Navy Body Composition Assessment, should weigh no more than 226 lbs. Though some of those linemen may reach an average of 285 lbs, small according to D1 standards, the players will be required to lose the excess weight between their last eligible game and graduation. This means a lineman may have to lose 50 or 60 lbs in a 6 month period to meet size standards and fulfill their five years of military service requirement following college.”
Secondly, when you cannot overpower opponents with your size, running option football allows an offense to leave one defender unblocked. In simple terms, the “triple option” gives the quarterback three decisions to make within a matter of seconds.
At the snap, the quarterback either gives a running back the ball or keeps it himself, all dependent on an unblocked defensive lineman he reads. This represents two of the three choices. The third is if the quarterback keeps the ball instead of giving it to the running back, he can either continue to run with the ball or pitch it to another back trailing behind him.
This goes back to the idea of size. This offense requires nimble linemen who can run, not 330-pounders. However, service academies don’t have any of those anyway, because of graduation weight limits.
The last reason why the service academies run the triple option is that it is extremely difficult to replicate in practice. Because Army and Navy are outliers, teams who play them have less than a week to prepare for a very different and nuanced scheme. Since their scout teams are also unaccustomed to running it, defenses do not get a true idea in practice of the speed and precision they will encounter on game day, causing mayhem, confusion, and, ultimately, frustration.
THIS YEAR’S ARMY/NAVY GAME COULD MEAN MORE THAN JUST BRAGGING RIGHTS
Army and Navy face off in their annual grudge match to complete their regular seasons on Saturday, December 14, in Washington, DC. With both squads undefeated and rolling through their schedules, as well as the expansion of the college football playoffs to 12 teams, they are on a collision course to participate in an unprecedented spectacle and one that could determine postseason immortality.
