Why Army Football is Good for the Academy
After years of terrible to mediocre football at West Point, the football team has achieved a level of success not seen in almost two decades. This past Saturday, Army defeated Air Force 21–0 on the road in Colorado Springs without attempting a pass. Winning in that fashion is not an easy feat against a quality Mountain West Conference opponent at an altitude where running an offense like the triple option stings your lungs on every play. It was also a game where a young but determined defense shut down one of the most prolific running attacks in Division 1 football, and shut out an Air Force team with a 306 game scoring streak.
This year, Army has achieved a 7–2 record using an offensive scheme where success is predicated on discipline, precision and diversity of action. Army has won the close games by executing with confidence what it knows and does best, and understands that every player on the field has to be at their best to achieve success. This year’s team represents what is best about the United States Military Academy, and this team is good for the Academy. This team serves as a reminder that what happens on the gridiron is a reflection of how we ourselves should approach our chosen professions.
I am not surprised at Army’s success this year. The members of this football team demonstrate character, they understand the strength in diversity, and they understand that success is not always measured in short-term results but in a methodical journey towards excellence.
Last year I had a chance meeting with Coach Monken at a Daddy-Daughter dance event at the West Point Club. I told him how I liked having his football players in my classes and how they worked hard and, no matter where they started, they always worked to do better. I also told him that they had a lot of character and they were good lab partners. He said that was nice to hear, and these were the type of players he tended to recruit. There are two things about that conversation that impressed me. First, having the head coach of a Division 1 football program spending quality time with his children at a community event prior to a very important game (could you imagine any other Division 1 head coach doing this before one of the biggest games of the year?) showed me that he had his priorities in place. The second thing was that the players he recruited were brought in by design — maybe not the top talent at a particular position or a skilled specialist — but those who had what it took to get better, were willing to fill into whatever position was required to make the team successful, and work hard towards continuous improvement. The traits these young men came here with to play football also translate into the classroom and in military training, which makes our Academy a better place.
No matter what their class rank, the football players I have instructed have impressed me with their hard work and the importance they placed on collaborating with their lab partners. I had Jermaine Adams as a student in my geography class — he was the cadet who caught the end-of-the-game touchdown against Temple a few weeks ago to send the game into overtime -Army won that game 31–28. Cadet Adams was a quiet person in the class. This class may not have been his “cup of tea.” However, he worked diligently, put in the effort, and successfully passed the course. He just kept working at it and got better over the semester — never becoming frustrated or cynical. So it was no surprise to me that when the opportunity arose for him to catch the score-tying touchdown in the final seconds of regulation to get his team into overtime, that he made that catch. I am sure he worked on that same play for a few years wondering if it would ever occur in a game situation. Again, this is an offense that rarely conducts a forward pass (Army has won 3 games this year without completing a pass), but when it mattered, Jermaine was ready. But this team has a roster full of players like Jermaine — willing to work hard with little fanfare, but when it matters most, step up to the challenge and come through for the team.
I also had the opportunity to teach Jordan Asberry in geography. He is a talented running back — he came off the bench against North Texas in the Heart of Dallas Bowl last year and scored the game winning touchdown in overtime — and he is an intelligent student. Cadet Asberry was a low-key cadet in class but I immediately noticed that on lab days he was ready to get started with his lab team. Another thing is that Jordan leads the football team this year in receiving yards — again demonstrating that a running back can help the team win in areas that may not be in his particular skill set. These cadets were ready to meet the challenges and did so with success — I could say similar things about my other football-playing students like Mike Houghton, Tim Gant, Austin Schuffert, Tyler L’Hommedieu, and Zach Saum (who caught a drive-sustaining pass against Ohio State on Army’s only scoring drive in the first half to close the gap to 14–7).
One of the football players I taught last year completed his final project in my cartography course researching football recruiting per state and categorized by offense, defense, and special teams (what a great project blending academics and football). In the past Coach Monken has highlighted diversity in recruiting, and this year’s team recruited players from 21 states. This is a team that consistently ranks around 90 of 130 Division 1 football teams in terms of recruiting, and has somehow put together back-to-back seasons going to a bowl game. This year in the opening game against Fordham, eight different players scored a touchdown. To date 19 players have carried the football, 15 players have scored a touchdown, with 43 players registering at least 1 tackle. To this team, diversity is important, and diversity means more than skill positions and skin colors — it means learning different things so you can be the best you can be for your team. I am no football expert, but I understand that the triple option offense does not work when it becomes less than three dimensional — it requires diversity in execution to be successful. This team lives diversity daily — they reinforce and refine the concepts in practice and prepare for game day — where the diversity comes together to a single focus — to win through teamwork. Every player matters, every position matters, and every play matters. This again is by design — this football team represents a cross section of the United States — much like the Army does — and the coaches have successfully led this diverse team of players in a diverse system to another winning season.
This football team is good for the Academy. They are leaders. They are team players. They are winners. They don’t get frustrated, upset or cynical — they confront challenges, work harder to get better every day, and understand strength in diversity. They focus on winning the right way, they represent the Academy the right way, and have brought a winning attitude to West Point that had been dormant for far too long. Go Army West Point Football!
