Missed the 1st half..... 2nd half was so so with problems on both sided.... Uniforms on both sides leave a lot of room for improvement.... Both myself and wife were active duty Army but just wanted to see a good well fought game on the field........ drill sgt.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
My first (unkind) thought when it was pointed out that the Navy has provided more astronauts than the other services was to wonder why they had more people who wanted to jump ship (in a manner of speaking) and leave the service to work for a civilian agency.

Maybe they wanted to leave their buddies behind?

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
My first (unkind) thought when it was pointed out that the Navy has provided more astronauts than the other services was to wonder why they had more people who wanted to jump ship (in a manner of speaking) and leave the service to work for a civilian agency.

Maybe they wanted to leave their buddies behind?

I just watch from the sidelines and have no dog in the fight but that’s pretty clever. Well done.

Gutted for the Navy running back. Stoked for the Army kicker.

Navy looking for new HFC.

Link

I've not been happy with the offense for a number of years, and there are two sides to every story, but Coach N makes a number of what look like very valid points here. To me this isn't a good look, and isn't likely to help Navy in their next coaching hire or future success.


ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Former Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo told ESPN on Monday he was sitting by himself at his locker following the Midshipmen's 20-17 double-overtime loss to rival Army in Philadelphia on Saturday when athletic director Chet Gladchuk walked in and fired him.

"First of all, we just got kicked in the gut," Niumatalolo said. "I was a little bit numb prior to him saying that, so most of it I couldn't comprehend. I'm just like, 'Chet, why don't you take some time to relax.' He said, 'Well, it's been building up.'"

The two shared vastly different perspectives on a coaching change at a program that isn't trying to reach the College Football Playoff but annually captures the nation's attention with the pageantry and tradition of the Army-Navy game. Niumatalolo, the winningest coach in program history at 109-83, earned a reputation for graduating his players, his honest approach and avoiding NCAA infractions, and while Gladchuk praised him for the lasting impact he has had on the Midshipmen, he said the goals are winning the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy and earning bowl eligibility.

"That's been the constant bar we strive for, is to achieve those two goals, which I believe are very realistic, very reasonable and have been consistent for 20 years and therefore this does not come as any surprise," Gladchuk said. "It's just an expectation that unfortunately fell short."

Gladchuk said "without any question of a doubt" the expectations were communicated to Niumatalolo before the season.

"I spoke directly to his representatives, who asked me exactly that question," Gladchuk said. "I conveyed it to them and I conveyed it for 20 years to the head coach ... there's no confusion with regard to what the expectations are. And I think they're realistic, they're reasonable, they're attainable. They're expected. They're resourced. I can't make it any clearer."

EDITOR'S PICKS

Navy wins leader Niumatalolo out as head coach
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Army 'never stopped fighting,' stuns Navy in 2OT
2d

The state of Army-Navy in a constantly changing college football landscape
4dAlex Scarborough
The Midshipmen finished the season with four or fewer wins three years in a row and are 2-5 in the past seven matchups with Army and 2-5 against Air Force in the same span. While the three service academies -- Army, Navy and Air Force -- face similar challenges, Niumatalolo said the inability for even a handful of his players to receive an extra year of eligibility -- especially for season-ending injuries and the COVID-ravaged 2020 season -- made it particularly difficult.

"The other two get it," he said. "All those others who got their extra year from COVID, I'm not complaining about it -- people deserve it. Why weren't we afforded that opportunity? Especially if the other two were able to do some stuff that way. We were in a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic."

Niumatalolo said Navy doesn't redshirt, so he had freshmen and sophomores facing players from the other academies with a sixth year of eligibility from 2020. He said he asked Gladchuk and the Navy superintendent if any players could be granted an extra year of eligibility, but was denied because the government requires the Midshipmen to graduate in four years.

"We have to make this a level playing field," he said. "If we had what they had, if I was able to stretch several guys every year ... we're sharing our indoor facility with gymnastics. Who else in the country is sharing their indoor facility with gymnastics? There's times we're out there in the freezing rain. I'm like, where else is anybody else practicing like this?"

Niumatalolo also said the other academies are done with classes at noon, which he said is a significant advantage because the football program can feed the players twice and have meetings. He said Navy's classes end at 3:20 p.m. and players are sprinting to practice. He asked for the schedule to change, but was told that also couldn't happen. Gladchuk said a lot of Navy's guidance comes from the secretary of the Navy and conceded the Midshipmen "have to deal with variables that in many cases are not similar."

"We've got to accept that," he said. "We have to eliminate the distractions and play by the rules we're dealt and succeed doing just that. What was Air Force, 9-3? They're playing by the same rules as well."

With an experienced team that includes 22 returning starters to compete against a vastly different American Athletic Conference with the pending departures of Cincinnati, Houston and UCF to the Big 12, Niumatalolo said he asked to finish the remaining year on his contract.

"And if we lose next year," he said, "don't worry about firing me. I'll resign. You don't have to pay me a cent. I'm not looking for a raise, I'm not looking for anything. I just want to finish my contract. We're finally coming out of the pandemic. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. I thought we stood for something different."

Gladchuk said the returning experience and conference realignment was all "part of the thought process," but it was more than that.

"This didn't come down to a fumble, or even a lost game on Saturday," Gladchuk said. "These goals and expectations have been set for years. ... I think about our corporate relationships. I think about our television exposures. I think about our responsibility to the conference, our alumni."

Niumatalolo said he isn't bitter, but said he felt he had to defend himself and explain his record in recent years against the academies.

"I'm a competitor," he said. "It's hard for me to think that we got the ball on the 6-inch line, and that's my last game. That's hard to fathom. If we win, he's not firing me. How do you fire a guy after you win the Army-Navy game? That's not going to happen."LINK

Shitty way to fire a coach. Shame on that AD.

quote:

Originally posted by ChuckFinley: " ... we're sharing our indoor facility with gymnastics. Who else in the country is sharing their indoor facility with gymnastics? There's times we're out there in the freezing rain. I'm like, where else is anybody else practicing like this?"

Sounds like they need a new AD too. 21 years in that position making demands of the coaching staff, and the facilities are still like this? Stale leadership needs to be shown the door.

Sadly if you do not win you are shown the door. It is not like the bar was set very high. However, the landscape has changed. NIL and the transfer portal are two huge factors. Navy did get the exception for the very few players who could play in the NFL by getting them a waiver on their military commitment. All three service academies have a tough time recruiting the best players, and that will not change.

quote:

I'm not complaining about it

It appears you are.

quote:

Niumatalolo also said the other academies are done with classes at noon

I don't think so, Tim.

quote:

the government requires the Midshipmen to graduate in four years

I think that's true of all the Service academies, although there are the outliers for academics who graduate later in the summer or the following December.

Didn’t keep up with this thread and just found out that Coach Niumatalolo was fired. Pretty shitty deal, especially after reading about the case he made for his retention.

Canoe U (and West Point) are not the big universities that tie their reputations to their sports programs. Their job is to education and train future officers. While student athletes with limited free time have to share spaces with other athletes is an issue, the academies should NOT be recruiting people to play a sport with the idea of allowing the athlete to waive out of their obligations to go play a professional sport.

But I also believe that if your football coach is the highest paid public servant in your state, then you are not a high school or University. You're a minor league sports franchise that has education as a side business.

And looking forward to next years game. And Navy, please do better with the uniforms.

My buddy sent me a satire picture of next years uniforms featuring the IRS. It’s pretty funny.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
My buddy sent me a satire picture of next years uniforms featuring the IRS. It’s pretty funny.

Please tell me it somehow includes the clowns we saw a few months ago 'training' for their new LEO responsibilities.

Lol no. Just a uniform featuring the Internal Revenue Service badging. Just as ridiculous as NASA

Maybe the NASA uniforms were Ken's idea. IF that were the case then there would be a better case for this action...

quote:

Originally posted by ChuckFinley:
Maybe the NASA uniforms were Ken's idea. IF that were the case then there would be a better case for this action...

Midrats for thought...