List of Navy Midshipmen head football coaches

Paul Johnson coached the Midshipmen to five straight bowl games during his six seasons as head coach.

The Navy Midshipmen football team has represented the United States Naval Academy in intercollegiate college football since 1879. The team has participated as an independent school since its creation, but is joining the American Athletic Conference (formerly the Big East Conference) as an expansion team in 2015.^[1][2] The Midshipmen joined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-A when it was created in 1978, becoming one of the first independent schools in that division. The program has had 37 head coaches, one interim coach, and two separate periods where it went without a coach since its formation.^[3] Since December 2007, Ken Niumatalolo has served as head coach of the Midshipmen.^[4]

The academy adopted the nickname "Midshipmen" for its students when it was founded in 1845. Between 1870 and 1902, the school tried out a number of different ideas, before Congress restored the name "Midshipmen" as the academy's nickname.^[5][6] The term has been accepted since.^[7] The Midshipmen have played in over 1200 games during the program's 133 seasons (through the 2015 regular season). In those seasons, seven coaches have led the Midshipmen to postseason bowl games, ten have been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, and one, Bill Ingram, has led the school to a recognized national championship.^[3]

Vaulx Carter, the program's first coach, is the all-time leader in win percentage, with a perfect 1.000.^{[NOTE 1][NOTE 2]} Of coaches who have served in more than one game, Gil Dobie has the highest win percentage with .850 after completing a record of 17–3. George Sauer has the lowest win percentage of any non-interim coach, amassing a percentage of .222 and a record of 3–13–2. George Welsh is the all-time leader in seasons coached at Navy with nine, and also leads in number of games coached (102). Ken Niumatalolo overtook Welsh in 2014 for the most games won at Navy, with 57. In 2014, Niumatalolo overtook Paul Johnson, his predecessor, for the most bowl games coached, with seven,^{[NOTE 3]} and most number of bowl games won (3).^[3][9]

Key

General No. A running total of the number of coaches[NOTE 4] BG Bowl games[NOTE 5] NC National championships † Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame

Overall games GC Games coached OW Wins OL Losses OT Ties[NOTE 6] O% Winning percentage[NOTE 2]

Postseason games PW Wins PL Losses PT Ties

Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, postseason records, and national championships^{[NOTE 7]}

No.	Name	Term	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	PW	PL	PT	BG	NC
N/A	No coach	1879	1	0	0	1	.500	—	—	—	—	0
1	Carter, VaulxVaulx Carter	1882	1	1	0	0	1.000	—	—	—	—	0
N/A	No coach	1883–91	40	23	15	2	.600	—	—	—	—	0
2	Crosby, BenBen Crosby	1892	7	5	2	0	.714	—	—	—	—	0
3	Hartwell, John A.John A. Hartwell	1893	8	5	3	0	.625	—	—	—	—	0
4	Wurtenburg, WilliamWilliam Wurtenburg	1894	7	4	1	2	.714	—	—	—	—	0
5	McClung, MatthewMatthew McClung	1895	7	5	2	0	.714	—	—	—	—	0
6	Poe, JohnnyJohnny Poe	1896	8	5	3	0	.625	—	—	—	—	0
7	Armstrong, BillBill Armstrong	1897–99	25	20	5	0	.800	—	—	—	—	0
8	Cochran, GarrettGarrett Cochran^†[14]	1900	9	6	3	0	.667	—	—	—	—	0
9	Hillebrand, DocDoc Hillebrand^†[15]	1901–02	21	8	11	2	.429	—	—	—	—	0
10	Chamberlain, BurrBurr Chamberlain	1903	12	4	7	1	.375	—	—	—	—	0
11	Dashiell, PaulPaul Dashiell	1904–06	34	25	5	4	.794	—	—	—	—	0
12	Reeves, JoeJoe Reeves	1907	12	9	2	1	.792	—	—	—	—	0
13	Berrien, FrankFrank Berrien	1908–10	29	21	5	3	.776	—	—	—	—	0
14	Howard, Douglas LegateDouglas Legate Howard	1911–14	36	25	7	4	.750	—	—	—	—	0
15	Ingram, JonasJonas Ingram^†[16]	1915–16	19	9	8	2	.526	0	0	0	0	0
16	Dobie, GilGil Dobie^†[17]	1917–19	20	17	3	0	.850	0	0	0	0	0
17	Folwell, BobBob Folwell	1920–24	38	24	12	2	.658	0	0	1	1 – 1924 Rose Bowl	0
18	Owsley, JackJack Owsley	1925	8	5	2	1	.688	0	0	0	0	0
19	Ingram, BillBill Ingram^†[18]	1926–30	49	32	13	4	.694	0	0	0	0	1 – 1926
20	Miller, RipRip Miller^†[19]	1931–33	29	12	15	2	.448	0	0	0	0	0
21	Hamilton, TomTom Hamilton^†[20]	1934–36, 1946–47	45	21	23	1	.478	0	0	0	0	0
22	Hardwick, HankHank Hardwick	1937–38	18	8	7	3	.528	0	0	0	0	0
23	Larson, SwedeSwede Larson	1939–41	27	16	8	3	.648	0	0	0	0	0
24	Whelchel, BillickBillick Whelchel	1942–43	18	13	5	0	.722	0	0	0	0	0
25	Hagberg, OscarOscar Hagberg	1944–45	18	13	4	1	.750	0	0	0	0	0
26	Sauer, GeorgeGeorge Sauer^†[21]	1948–49	18	3	13	2	.222	0	0	0	0	0
27	Erdelatz, EddieEddie Erdelatz	1950–58	84	50	26	8	.643	2	0	0	2 – 1955 Sugar Bowl, 1958 Cotton Bowl	0
28	Hardin, WayneWayne Hardin^†[22]	1959–64	62	38	22	2	.629	0	2	0	2 – 1961 Orange Bowl, 1964 Cotton Bowl	0
29	Elias, BillBill Elias	1965–68	40	15	22	3	.413	0	0	0	0	0
30	Forzano, RickRick Forzano	1969–72	43	10	33	0	.233	0	0	0	0	0
31	Welsh, GeorgeGeorge Welsh^†[23]	1973–81	102	55	46	1	.544	1	2	0	3 – 1978 Holiday Bowl, 1980 Garden State Bowl, 1981 Liberty Bowl	0
32	Tranquill, GaryGary Tranquill	1982–86	55	20	34	1	.373	0	0	0	0	0
33	Uzelac, ElliotElliot Uzelac	1987–89	33	8	25	0	.242	0	0	0	0	0
34	Chaump, GeorgeGeorge Chaump	1990–94	55	14	41	0	.255	0	0	0	0	0
35	Weatherbie, CharlieCharlie Weatherbie [NOTE 8]	1995–2001	75	30	45	0	.400	1	0	0	1 – 1996 Aloha Bowl	0
Int	Lantz, RickRick Lantz [NOTE 8]	2001	3	0	3	—	.000	0	0	—	0	0
36	Johnson, PaulPaul Johnson [NOTE 3]	2002–07	74	45	29	—	.608	2	2	—	5 – 2003 Houston Bowl, 2004 Emerald Bowl, 2005 Poinsettia Bowl, 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl, 2007 Poinsettia Bowl	0
37	Niumatalolo, KenKen Niumatalolo [NOTE 3]	2007–current	105	68	37	—	.648	4	4	—	8 – [NOTE 9]	0

Footnotes

1. Vaulx Carter was a player-coach who led Navy in only one game, an 8–0 shutout of Johns Hopkins.^[8]
2. A calculated percentage taken as a whole number on a scale of one (1.000). When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.^[13]
3. Paul Johnson coached Navy for the entirety of the 2007 season, but left to coach the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets before 2007 Poinsettia Bowl. Offensive coordinator Ken Niumatalolo took over coaching duties for the bowl game, and continues to lead the team.^[26][27]
4. A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "N/A" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record.
5. Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.^[10]
6. Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.^[11][12]
7. Statistics correct as of the end of the 2014–15 college football season.^[3]
8. Charlie Weatherbie was fired as head coach on October 28, 2001, after losing 17 of his last 18 games. Defensive coordinator Rick Lantz was named as the interim head coach, but was fired at the end of the season, after going 0–3.^[24][25]
9. The eight bowl games coached by Niumatalolo are the 2007 Poinsettia Bowl, 2008 EagleBank Bowl, 2009 Texas Bowl, 2010 Poinsettia Bowl, 2012 Fight Hunger Bowl, 2013 Armed Forces Bowl, 2014 Poinsettia Bowl, and 2015 Military Bowl.

References

General

• Naval Academy Athletic Association (2012). "Navy Bowl Game History" (PDF). 2012 Navy Midshipmen Football Media Guide. United States Naval Academy Athletics. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
• Naval Academy Athletic Association (2005). "Navy: Football History" (PDF). 2005 Navy Midshipmen Football Media Guide. United States Naval Academy Athletics. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
• Staff (2013). "Navy Coaching Records". Navy History. College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2013.

Notes

1. Wagner, Bill (January 3, 2013). "Navy still considers Big East a good fit". The Capital Gazette. Glen Burnie, MD. OCLC 20603859. Archived from the original on February 7, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
2. Markus, Don (December 13, 2012). "Navy, bound for Big East football in 2015, will wait to review 'all the moving parts'". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, MD. ISSN 2165-1752. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
3. Navy Coaching Records (2013)
4. Fienstein, John (November 24, 2013). "Navy football deserves salute for success under Ken Niumatalolo, Paul Johnson". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
5. General Accounting Office (June 30, 1941). "(B-12199) Subsistence and Lodging–Naval Reserve Midshipmen Attending a University". Decisions of the Comptroller General of the United States. Government Printing Office. 20: 142–145. ISSN 0011-7323. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
6. Melling, George (August 22, 1922). "Sec. 1512. [Title of Students.] The students at the Naval Academy shall be styled cadet midshipmen". Laws Relating to the Navy, Annotated. Government Printing Office (238): 739–741. OCLC 3852139. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
7. Staff (2013). "U.S. Naval Academy Facts, Figures and History". Traditions. United States Naval Academy Athletics. Midshipmen. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
8. Patterson, Ted (2000). Football in Baltimore: History and Memorabilia. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 22. ISBN 0-8018-6424-0.
9. Navy Football History (2005)
10. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
11. Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
12. "2009–10 NCAA Football Rules and Interpretation". Rule 3, Article 3: Extra Periods. National Collegiate Athletic Association. May 2009. pp. FR–64 to FR–65. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 2, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
13. Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
14. Staff (2013). "Member Biography: Gary Cochran". National Football Foundation. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
15. Staff (2013). "Member Biography: Art "Doc" Hillebrand". National Football Foundation. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
16. Staff (2015). "Member Biography: Jonas "One Armed Admiral" Ingram". National Football Foundation. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
17. Staff (2013). "Member Biography: Gil "Gloomy Gil" Dobie". National Football Foundation. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
18. Staff (2013). "Member Biography: Bill Ingram". National Football Foundation. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
19. Staff (2013). "Member Biography: Edgar "Rip" Miller". National Football Foundation. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
20. Staff (2013). "Member Biography: Tom Hamilton". National Football Foundation. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
21. Staff (2013). "Member Biography: George Sauer". National Football Foundation. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
22. Staff (2013). "Member Biography: Wayne Hardin". National Football Foundation. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
23. Staff (2013). "Member Biography: George Welsh". National Football Foundation. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
24. Baker, Kent (October 30, 2001). "Lantz gets his chance at Navy with promotion". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore. ISSN 2165-1752. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
25. Staff writer (October 29, 2001). "Plus: College Football; Weatherbie Fired As Navy Coach". The New York Times. New York City. Sports. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
26. Associated Press (December 8, 2007). "Niumatalolo follows Johnson at Navy". Sports Illustrated. New York City. ISSN 0038-822X. Archived from the original on December 10, 2007. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
27. Staff writer (December 7, 2007). "Paul Johnson Named Georgia Tech's Head Football Coach". Ramblinwreck.com. Atlanta, GA. Retrieved December 26, 2013.