Make really good hires, back those hires up with good support in terms of facilities, salaries, etc., and voila. Any program can succeed.
I spent a good portion of my Army and Air Force previews talking about how difficult service academy jobs are in modern college football. Recruiting has all sorts of obvious limitations. Athletic budgets are not exactly expansive. Admissions and fitness requirements are both necessary and a hindrance. That FBS football still has a place for the service academies is unique and fantastic, but it’s pretty much impossible for these teams to play at an elite level.
That hasn’t stopped Navy from being damn decent for most of the last decade and change. The Midshipmen have been to 11 bowls in the last 12 years and have won at least nine games five times in that stretch. They have ranked 67th or better in the F/+ rankings seven times since 2005. Air Force and Army in those same spans of time: two nine-win seasons and seven bowls in 12 years, four top-67 rankings (none since 2010). In 2013: Air Force and Army 5-19, Navy 9-4.
Navy has more money to work with in its athletic department, and the Midshipmen are able to maintain larger bodies in the trenches (to a degree). The commitment appears to be there for the most part. But really, Navy has just made two straight good hires, first replacing Charlie Weatherbie with Paul Johnson in 2002, then replacing Johnson with Ken Niumatalolo when Johnson left for Georgia Tech in 2008. That’s hard to do, and it will make just about any program good.
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Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
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