Army building a winning culture Ted Berg @OGTedBerg
Monken has Black Knights on the upswing
“Our guys don’t go out and drink beer until 4 in the morning on a Tuesday night. You can do that other places. ... But you can’t do that here.” Jeff Monken, Army coach
Army’s first bowl game in six seasons seems likely to serve more as a coda to a successful season than a climax, given the gravity of its annual matchup against Navy on Saturday
ut the berth nonetheless stands as Army’s first since 2010 and only its second since 1996 and a step forward for a program that has finished with a losing record in 18 of the last 20 seasons.
The Dec. 27 matchup with North Texas in the Heart of Dallas Bowl also represents a rematch of a regular-season contest that North Texas won at Michie Stadium in October.
“Playing in a bowl game is a measure of success for everybody that plays at this level,” coach Jeff Monken told USA TODAY Sports. “So to say we’re going to play in a bowl game is certainly an accomplishment. I’m proud of our kids and I’m proud of our coaches, and I’m proud for West Point to be able to represent our academy in that fashion.”
In his third season as Army’s head coach, Monken endeavors the huge challenge of restoring to respectability a program that was one of college football’s most successful in the early days of the sport but which last saw back-toback winning seasons in 1989-90. An assistant coach at Navy from 2002 to 2007, Monken took over as Army’s head coach already familiar with the particulars of recruiting top-flight high school players to a military academy, a prospect that comes with both rigorous academic standards and, for most, a five-year service commitment after graduation. It means Monken must draw on a different group of recruits than most other Division I head coaches.
“The pool’s smaller — or gets smaller in a hurry — because of the military commitment,” he said. “And it’s a challenge. No matter how much they understand that this is a world-class degree and an opportunity to play a very high level of football, there’s still the fact that we’re a military school.
“It is an environment — a university or college environment — that’s not traditional. Our guys don’t go out and drink beer until 4 in the morning on a Tuesday night. You can do that other places. (At other schools), they can sleep in and miss math class if they want — hey, they might get in trouble. But you can’t do that here.
“That’s the challenge in recruiting here: You’ve got to find the right guy. It doesn’t have to be a guy that necessarily has dreamed of being in the Army his whole life; it has just got to be the right kind of guy.”
Cadets at West Point pay no tuition, so the program need not consider NCAA scholarship limitations. For some, the service commitment seemed an inevitability.
Jeremy Timpf, a senior linebacker and team captain prepping for an assignment in field artillery next year, always intended to enroll at a military academy. Another senior linebacker, Andrew King, said the opportunities associated with attending West Point made it “a perfect fit” as he was “not really a partygoer.”
But for others, the commit- ment gave some pause.
“You hear about the service commitment, and it kind of shakes you a little bit,” said Christian Poe, a sophomore receiver who followed his older brother, Edgar, to Army. “It’s just something you’ve got to do. You’re getting paid when you serve; it’s not like you’re serving for free. You’re doing something for millions of people, and you’re getting paid to do it. It’s a beautiful thing: You get a job coming straight out of here. It’s more exciting than anything, once you get the hang of it.”
Until the spring of 2016, committing to Army — or any of the military academies — meant postponing any NFL dreams, as prospective pro players were expected to fulfill at least two years’ worth of active duty before applying to the Department of Defense for a special waiver allowing for a transfer to selective reserve service so they could pursue pro careers. But after the Baltimore Ravens drafted Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds in the sixth round of the NFL draft in April, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced that Reynolds and teammate Chris Swain would be allowed to defer their commitments to immediately join NFL teams.
“If they’re good enough to play in the NFL, they can do that from here, too,” Monken said. “That’s absolutely a possibility.”
Though Monken and defensive coordinator Jay Bateman contended coaching cadets differed little from coaching Division I athletes at other schools, Bateman pointed out the type of player drawn to the Army program could help the team secure a strategic advantage: A playbook hardly seems daunting to minds tasked with the school’s arduous academics and officer training.
“The kids that come here, the biggest thing is how bright they are,” Bateman said. “Schematically, you have a lot of different options because they understand it; they’re able to process things — if/then equations, calls. They’re not always compliant — they’re Division I football players, so they’re tough dudes. But the kid that comes here, certainly, is a bright kid that’s willing to commit to something bigger than himself, so I think the brotherhood, the team, is a big part of our success here.”