Early history (1879–1949) The Naval Academy's football program is one of the nation's oldest, with its history dating back to 1879. There were two separate efforts to establish a Naval Academy football team in 1879. The first was guided by
first-classman J.H. Robinson, who developed it as a training regiment to help keep the school's
baseball team in shape. The team played the sport under rules that made it much closer to soccer, where the players were permitted only to kick the ball in order to advance it. The second effort, headed by first-classman
William John Maxwell was more successful in its efforts. Maxwell met with two of his friends, Tunstall Smith and Henry Woods, who played for the Baltimore Athletic Club and officially challenged their team to a game with the Naval Academy. A team was formed from academy first-classmen, which Maxwell led as a manager, trainer, and captain. The team would wake up and practice before
reveille and following
drill and meals. The squad received encouragement from some of the faculty, who allowed them to eat a late dinner and skip final drill for additional practicing. This was against the direct orders of the school superintendent, who had banned football and similar activities. The year's sole contest was played on December 11 against the Baltimore Athletic Club. The opposition's team was reportedly composed of players from Princeton,
Yale,
Pennsylvania, and
Johns Hopkins. The Naval Academy hosted the Baltimore team on a temporary field drawn on part of the superintendent's cow pasture. Rules decided upon between the teams established that the game was to be played under rugby rules. Some time after the game,
Walter Camp, known as the "Father of American Football", credited Maxwell as the inventor of the first football uniform. After he was informed that the Baltimore team he was playing outweighed his by an average of ten pounds, Maxwell looked for a way to make the teams more evenly matched. Using his knowledge of sailing, he decided to design a sleeveless canvas jacket which would make his players "difficult to grasp when they began to sweat". He presented the design to the academy's tailor, who created the double-lined jackets which "were laced down the front and drawn tightly to fit snugly around a player's body".
Frank Berrien served as Navy's head football coach from 1908 to 1910, compiling a record of 21–5–3. He was the thirteenth head coach of the Naval Academy's football program and, under his tutelage, the Midshipmen compiled an undefeated 8–0–1 mark in 1910. Three undefeated teams with nearly identical records would cause a stir among fans and pollsters today, but this was the case when Navy earned its lone national championship in 1926, as the Midshipmen shared the honor with Stanford and Alabama. A 7–7 tie between
Alabama and
Stanford in the
1926 Rose Bowl gave Stanford a 10–0–1 mark, while the Crimson Tide and the Mids each had identical 9–0–1 records. The Midshipmen opened the '26 season with a new coach,
Bill Ingram. A Navy football standout from 1916 through 1918, Ingram took over a Navy team that had only won seven games in the previous two seasons combined. One of the keys to Navy's 1926 squad was a potent offense led by All-America tackle and team captain Frank Wickhorst, who proved to be a punishing blocker for the Navy offense. One member of the Navy offense that appreciated the blocking of Wickhorst was
Tom Hamilton. The quarterback and kicker had a pair of 100-yard rushing games en route to All-America honors. Navy's biggest win that year was against
Michigan in front of 80,000 fans in Baltimore. The Mids scored 10 second half points to upset the Wolverines, 10–0. Navy's offense tallied 165 yards behind the powering attack of Hamilton and Henry Caldwell who scored Navy's lone touchdown on a one-yard plunge. Jubilation from the victory continued after the game, as the Midshipmen tore down the goal post at each end of the field and carried away all the markers that lined both sides of the field. Navy headed into its season finale against
Army with a 9–0 record. The game was to be played in Chicago at
Soldier Field, which had been built as a memorial to the men killed in
World War I. It was only natural Army and Navy would be invited to play the inaugural contest there. James R. Harrison of the
New York Times described the game as "
the greatest of its time and as a national spectacle." Over 110,000 people witnessed the Midshipmen open up a 14–0 lead on the Cadets, only to see Army fight back to take a 21–14 lead early in the third quarter. The Navy offense responded behind its strong ground game led by running back Alan Shapley. On fourth down and three yards to go, Shapley ran eight yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 21. As the final quarter concluded, Army mounted a brief threat only to miss a 25-yard field goal. The tie gave the Midshipmen a share of the national championship based on retroactive rankings by both the
William Boand and Deke Houlgate mathematical poll systems.
George Sauer left his post as
Kansas head coach and took over in Annapolis from 1948 to 1949. The Midshipmen struggled under Sauer's tutelage, posting a 3–13–2 record which included a winless 1948 season.
Eddie Erdelatz era (1950–1958) coached the Midshipmen from 1950 to 1958
Eddie Erdelatz returned to Navy, where he'd previously served as an assistant coach from 1945 to 1947, to take over a football program that had won just four games over the previous five seasons. In 1950, Erdelatz led an upset of arch-rival
Army. The Black Knights entered the game with an 8–0 record which had not lost in 28 contests. Erdelatz labeled this squad, "A Team Called Desire" and then went on to shut out
Ole Miss in the 1955
Sugar Bowl. Three years later, the Midshipmen competed in the
Cotton Bowl Classic, where they knocked off
Rice University, 20–7. The latter win came one year after Navy's bid to play in a bowl game was rejected despite having only one loss. After the bowl victory over Rice, Erdelatz was courted by other schools and nearly accepted the task of replacing
Bear Bryant at
Texas A&M University. After the 1958 season, he was also seen as a candidate for the
NFL's
San Francisco 49ers head coaching job, but began spring practice the following year at Navy. On April 8, 1959, Erdelatz resigned as head coach of the Midshipmen, citing a number of factors, including the desire for an easier schedule.
Wayne Hardin era (1959–1964) (#12) won the Heisman Trophy in 1963. His number was retired by the Midshipmen From 1959 to 1964,
Wayne Hardin was the head coach at Navy, where he compiled a 38–22–2 record. His Navy teams posted five consecutive wins against archrival
Army, a feat not surpassed until 2007 when
Paul Johnson's Navy squad won their sixth consecutive contest in the
Army–Navy Game. Hardin coached Navy's two winners of the
Heisman Trophy,
Joe Bellino, who received the award in
1960, and
Roger Staubach, who did so in
1963. Hardin was the first to coach an African-American player at Navy when
Calvin Huey earned a letter in 1964. Hardin resigned as Navy's head coach following a 3–6–1 record in 1964.
Bill Elias era (1965–1968) Virginia head coach
Bill Elias replaced Hardin, and the Midshipmen struggled mightily under Elias' leadership. Elias' Midshipmen posted a 15–22–3 record in his four seasons, which included three non-winning seasons. Elias was fired following a 2–8 season in 1968.
Rick Forzano era (1969–1972) Former
UConn head coach
Rick Forzano was hired as Elias' replacement in 1969. However, the Midshipmen's struggles continued, with Navy failing to post a single winning season, something that hadn't occurred in Annapolis in decades. Forzano's teams posted yearly records of 1–9, 2–9, 3–8 and 4–7. Forzano resigned after the 1972 season.
George Welsh era (1973–1981) Penn State assistant coach and Navy alum
George Welsh succeeded Forzano as Navy's head coach. He inherited a Navy Midshipmen football program that had only had one winning season since the days of
Roger Staubach. He led the Midshipmen to three
bowl game appearances and their first nine-win season in 16 years. In nine seasons, Welsh compiled a record of 55–46–1, In 1982, Welsh left Navy to become the head coach at
Virginia.
Gary Tranquill era (1982–1986) West Virginia offensive coordinator
Gary Tranquill was hired as Welsh's replacement in 1982. Tranquill's Midshipmen compiled a 6–5 record in 1982, but it was downhill from there. 1983 saw a 3–8 record followed by back-to-back four-win seasons in 1984 and 1985. A 3–8 campaign in 1986 ended Tranquill's tenure at Navy as the school declined to renew his contract. One notable assistant coach during this time was
Nick Saban, the former head coach at Alabama.
Elliot Uzelac era (1987–1989) Former
Western Michigan head coach
Elliot Uzelac was hired by Navy to serve as the school's 34th head football coach in 1987. Navy's struggles continued, with the Midshipmen posting records of 2–9 in 1987 followed by back-to-back 3–8 seasons in 1988 and 1989. Uzelac was fired following the 1989 season.
George Chaump era (1990–1994) Marshall head coach
George Chaump was hired as Uzelac's replacement in 1990. Chaump was unable to revive the Midshipmen football program, compiling a record of 14–41 in five seasons. Chaump's Midshipmen posted back-to-back 1–10 records in 1991 and 1992. Navy fired Chaump after the 1994 season in which the Midshipmen finished 3–8.
Charlie Weatherbie era (1995–2001) Utah State head coach
Charlie Weatherbie was hired to replace Chaump in 1995. Under Weatherbie, Navy did have a couple of winning seasons, the first coming in 1996 with a record of 9–3 with a win in the
Aloha Bowl. That was followed with a 7–4 campaign the following year. After that, however, Navy struggled, failing to post a record better than a 5–7 record. After a 1–10 season in 2000 followed by an 0–7 start to the 2001 season, Weatherbie was fired.
Paul Johnson era (2002–2007) In 2002,
Paul Johnson departed
Georgia Southern and was hired as the 37th Navy head football coach. Johnson's initial season saw the Midshipmen win only two of 12 games, though the season ended on a high note with his first victory over
Army, which would not beat Navy again until 2016. Subsequently, Johnson's teams enjoyed a high degree of success. The 2003 team completed the regular season with an 8–4 mark, including wins over both
Air Force and Army, and earned a berth in the
Houston Bowl, Navy's first bowl game since 1996. However, the Midshipmen lost to
Texas Tech, 38–14. In 2004, Johnson's team posted the program's best record since 1957, finishing the regular season at 9–2 and once again earning a bowl berth, this time in the
Emerald Bowl. There Johnson coached the Midshipmen to a win over
New Mexico, 34–19, the fifth bowl win in the school's history. The win gave Navy 10 wins on the season, tying a school record that had stood since 1905. For his efforts, Johnson received the
Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award. The 2005 Navy squad recorded a mark of 8–4, highlighted by victories over Army,
Air Force, and
Colorado State in the
Poinsettia Bowl. In 2007, Johnson coached the Midshipmen to their first win over rival
Notre Dame since 1963, winning 46–44 in triple-overtime. Navy finished the season with an 8–5 record. Johnson dominated the
Commander-in-Chief's Trophy competition, going 11–1 (.917) in his six years, with the only loss against another service academy coming at the hands of Air Force in his first season. He was the first coach in Navy's history to go 6–0 in his first six seasons against Army (Ken Niumatalolo, who followed Johnson at Navy, went 8–0 against Army in his first eight seasons), and his 2006 senior class was the first in Navy history to win the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy all four of their years. Much of Johnson's success at Navy was predicated on his
triple option flexbone offense, a run-oriented attack that led
NCAA Division I-A/FBS football in rushing yards three of his last four years at Navy. Johnson departed Navy for the head coaching position at
Georgia Tech after the end of the 2007 regular season.
Ken Niumatalolo era (2008–2022) Ken Niumatalolo was promoted from offensive line coach to head football coach of the Naval Academy football team on December 8, 2007, after Johnson's departure for
Georgia Tech. Niumatalolo was the 38th head football coach in Naval Academy history. On January 7, 2009, Niumatalolo was given a contract extension, although terms and length of the extension were not released. With Niumatalolo as Navy's head coach, beginning with the 2008 season, the Mids continued their run of success. Highlights in 2008 included an upset in
Winston-Salem over No. 16
Wake Forest, 24–17, the Mids' first victory over a ranked team in 23 years, and a 34–0 shutout victory of Army. In 2016, the Midshipmen upset 6th-ranked
Houston at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium 46-40 for their first win over a team ranked in the top 10 since defeating
South Carolina in 1984. Other highlights of Niumatalolo's years as head coach at Navy include: Navy defeated Army in each of Niumatalolo's first eight seasons as head coach, not losing to Army until 2016. The 2016 loss ended a streak of 14 Midshipmen wins in the
Army–Navy Game, the longest winning streak for either side in the rivalry. The Midshipmen captured the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy in 2008, 2009 and 2012. They went on to capture the trophy outright in 2013, with a 34–7 win against Army, and recaptured it outright in 2015 with wins over Army and Air Force. The Midshipmen have nine winning seasons during Niumatalolo's 11 full years as head coach. The Mids have played in nine bowl games during Niumatalolo's tenure, winning the
2009 Texas Bowl,
2013 Armed Forces Bowl,
2014 Poinsettia Bowl, and
2015 Military Bowl. Navy defeated longtime rival Notre Dame in consecutive years, 2009 and 2010, for the first time since the early 1960s. The Midshipmen also defeated Notre Dame in 2016, when the Midshipmen went on to finish with a 9–5 record. Niumatalolo led Navy into the
American Athletic Conference after 134 years as an independent in 2015, the first time Navy joined a conference in the school's history. Following the 2022 campaign, Niumatalolo was fired following a loss to Army.
Brian Newberry era (2023–present) Brian Newberry, who had served as defensive coordinator since 2019, was hired as the head coach on December 19, 2022. ==Conference affiliations==