Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 78. Navy
Forged By The Sea
Anchors aweigh, my boys, anchors aweigh
Farewell to foreign shores, we sail at break of day, of day
Through our last night ashore, drink to the foam
Until we meet once more, here's wishing you a happy voyage home
Navy is one of the oldest football programs in the country, having fielded their first team in 1879. With that comes a history of excellence, as it should with the Navy, who as a program is top 25 in all-time wins for FBS schools, has 2 Heisman winners, and a national title in 1926. Quarterback Roger Staubach, known as “Captain America”, was the winner of the 1963 Heisman and is an NFL Hall of Famer, the only QB in history to achieve both feats.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+------+------+--------------+--------+
| 19 | Navy | 2015 | 25.276 | 11-2 |
| 19 | Navy | 2019 | 24.894 | 11-2 |
| 28 | Navy | 2009 | 13.712 | 10-4 |
| 28 | Navy | 1996 | 8.642 | 9-3 |
| 42 | Navy | 2013 | 7.584 | 9-4 |
| 31 | Navy | 2004 | 6.282 | 10-2 |
| 41 | Navy | 2010 | 4.625 | 9-4 |
| 47 | Navy | 2016 | 3.576 | 9-5 |
| 44 | Navy | 2008 | 3.107 | 8-5 |
| 42 | Navy | 2006 | 2.051 | 9-4 |
| 53 | Navy | 2014 | -0.393 | 8-5 |
| 45 | Navy | 2005 | -2.572 | 8-4 |
| 51 | Navy | 1997 | -3.492 | 7-4 |
| 57 | Navy | 2007 | -4.937 | 8-5 |
| 61 | Navy | 2012 | -5.454 | 8-5 |
| 62 | Navy | 2003 | -7.845 | 8-5 |
| 64 | Navy | 2017 | -9.488 | 7-7 |
| 62 | Navy | 1984 | -12.294 | 4-6-1 |
| 59 | Navy | 1985 | -16.923 | 4-7 |
| 78 | Navy | 2011 | -18.345 | 5-7 |
| 67 | Navy | 1995 | -20.772 | 5-6 |
| 77 | Navy | 1999 | -22.534 | 5-7 |
| 93 | Navy | 2021 | -24.879 | 4-8 |
| 83 | Navy | 1990 | -25.375 | 5-6 |
| 101 | Navy | 2022 | -25.436 | 4-8 |
| 90 | Navy | 1993 | -34.187 | 4-7 |
| 111 | Navy | 2020 | -34.632 | 3-7 |
| 92 | Navy | 1998 | -36.294 | 3-8 |
| 85 | Navy | 1989 | -36.349 | 3-8 |
| 92 | Navy | 1983 | -38.305 | 3-8 |
| 90 | Navy | 1988 | -38.616 | 3-8 |
| 110 | Navy | 2018 | -42.027 | 3-10 |
| 93 | Navy | 1994 | -43.185 | 3-8 |
| 97 | Navy | 1986 | -46.615 | 3-8 |
| 109 | Navy | 2002 | -51.419 | 2-10 |
| 99 | Navy | 1987 | -52.186 | 2-9 |
| 100 | Navy | 1992 | -54.324 | 1-10 |
| 108 | Navy | 2000 | -56.258 | 1-10 |
| 105 | Navy | 1991 | -56.694 | 1-10 |
| 114 | Navy | 2001 | -60.702 | 0-10 |
+------+------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 11207 (78th)220-256-1 record
0 conference titles
9-7 bowl record
2 consensus All-Americans
8 NFL players drafted
No conference titles? Navy’s bad! Kidding of course, they didn’t have a chance to win any as an independent until 2015 when they joined the AAC. As you can see on the list above, Navy’s clearly had some bad years, with a whopping 14 seasons of 3 or less wins. To make up for it, they’ve achieved some remarkable highs for a service academy, with 11 finishes inside my top 50. A 10-2 season in 2004 narrowly misses out on Navy’s top 5 seasons because of their 107th ranked strength of schedule that year. Despite some remarkable QB play in recent years from Keenan Reynolds and Malcolm Perry, the 2 consensus All-Americans are both from RB Napoleon McCallum in 1983 and 1985, who finished 6th and 7th in Heisman voting in those years, respectively. Speaking of Keenan Reynolds, he set the NCAA career record for rushing TDs in 2015, accumulating 88 in his 4 year career.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2001 (0-10 overall, Independent)
Navy gets a pass for 2001. 2 weeks into the season, the September 15th game against Northwestern was cancelled shortly after the 9/11 attacks. The Army-Navy game was more than a game this year, with President George W. Bush taking part in the on-field coin toss. Army prevailed 26-17 on the day. Navy LB Brian Stann ribbed that Navy only got pregame visits from President Bush and Senator John McCain, while Army received an impassioned speech from General Norman Schwarzkopf. The game finished off a stressful year for Navy, who fired head coach Charlie Weatherbie after an 0-7 start. On-field lows were a 7-70 loss to Georgia Tech, a loss to 3-9 Tulane, and of course the Army-Navy Game. Navy hired Paul Johnson for 2002, who’d turn around the program for good. If you’re an MMA fan, you probably recognize Brian Stann who I quoted above. Stann went on to become a successful UFC fighter and commentator, joining Fox Sports after his retirement from MMA in 2013.
5. 2013 (9-4 overall, Independent)
A season with many highs. A 3-1 start included a 41-35 win over Indiana and 28-10 over Air Force. After losing 2 straight to strong Duke and Toledo teams, Navy went 5-1 the rest of the regular season, only losing 34-38 to a Notre Dame team that finished in the top 25. Wins included 24-21 over Pitt, 58-52 in 3OT over a San Jose State team coming off an 11-2 year, and 34-7 in the Army-Navy Game. A perfect ground game of 366 rushing yards against Middle Tennessee in the bowl led to a 24-6 win to finish 9-4 in Navy’s second to last season as an Independent. QB Keenan Reynolds (more on him later) threw for 1000+ yards with 8 TD 2 INT, but most importantly ran for 1346 yards and 31 TD, setting an NCAA record for rushing TDs in a season by a QB. Reynolds also ran for 7 TD against San Jose State, an NCAA record. Outside of Reynolds, longtime New England Patriots long snapper Joe Cardona was also on this team, and didn’t have a bad snap all season long.
4. 1996 (9-3 overall, Independent)
Even for as bad as 2001 was, Charlie Weatherbie’s teams had their moments. A 5-1 start featured 3 wins over Power 6 teams: 10-6 over Rutgers, 64-27 over Duke, and 47-18 over Wake Forest. That set up a Shamrock Classic game in Ireland between Navy and Notre Dame. A 54-27 win for Notre Dame set a record for the longest winning streak over an annual opponent at 33 games. Unfazed, Navy won 3 more straight including a nice 36-26 win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta. But even so, Weatherbie’s teams…left a lot to be desired. Navy watched their 21-3 lead over Army evaporate by the end of the game, stopped at the goal line twice for a 28-24 Army victory. To be fair, this was one of Army’s best teams of the past few decades, and they finished ranked #25. Navy rebounded to beat Steve Mariucci’s Cal team in the Aloha Bowl 42-38 to finish 9-3. Navy OC Paul Johnson left to become Georgia Southern’s head coach, and would go on to perfect the triple option at Navy from 2002-07 and institute it at Georgia Tech from 2008-18. WR LeBron Butts (no relation to the basketball player) had 14 catches for 179 yards and 2 TD.
3. 2009 (10-4 overall, Independent)
Oh look, one of my all time favorite players, QB Ricky Dobbs. Dobbs was a steady work horse all season. He only averaged 3.6 yards per carry, but had the 3rd most carries in the nation with 315 and ran for 1203 yards with an NCAA QB record 27 TD. The record wouldn’t be broken until 2013 by Navy’s own Keenan Reynolds. Dobbs led a steady offense combined with a great defense (19.4 PPG allowed), leading to Navy’s 2nd double digit win season since 1905. Navy had a chance to tie #6 Ohio State with 2 minutes left, but their 2 point conversion attempt was returned by OSU for 2 pts themselves, making the final score 27-31. A 14-27 loss two weeks later to Pitt turned out to be another quality loss, with Pitt going on to finish 10-3 and #15. A 10-4 final record included wins such as 16-13 over 8-5 Air Force, 38-35 over 8-5 SMU, 13-10 over Wake Forest, 17-3 over Army, 35-13 in the bowl over 8-5 Missouri, and the pièce de résistance, 23-21 over #19 Notre Dame in South Bend. Previously on a 43-year losing streak to the Irish heading into 2007, this was now the 2nd time in 3 years Navy had beaten Notre Dame, previously unthinkable.
2. 2019 (11-2 overall, 7-1 American)
After Keenan Reynolds left for the NFL, the QB position had big shoes to fill. Following a stopgap 9-5 record in 2016, 2017 arrived. Zach Abey took the majority of snaps, but Malcolm Perry was too talented to keep off the field, far and away the best athlete on the team. Perry had a monstrous year with 9 starts at slot back and 3 at QB, rushing for 1182 yards and 11 TD on 8.6(!) YPC, and was the team’s 2nd leading receiver with 13 catches for 303 yards and 2 TD. Perry started 5 games at QB in 2018, but dealt with injuries en route to a 3-10 season. That led to a mysterious 2019, with Navy picked 5th in the 6-team AAC West Division.
A 2-1 start showed potential, with a 42-10 win over East Carolina and close 23-35 loss to one of the conference favorites in Memphis. A 34-25 win over an Air Force team that would finish 11-2 showed Navy was back to their winning ways, with a real chance at a bowl as long as Perry stayed healthy. Navy reeled off blowout win after blowout win, eventually getting up to #23 before losing to #16 Notre Dame 20-52. Now at 7-2, Navy still had a shot at making the AAC title game. Perry showed up big against #25 SMU, rushing for 195 yards and throwing for 162 in a 35-28 win. After beating Houston 56-41, Navy just needed Memphis to drop one game, but the Tigers won out to make the AAC title game at 11-1. Navy played Army in the last game as usual, and Perry WENT NUCLEAR. He didn’t throw a single pass, rushing for 304 yards on 29 carries with 2 TD in a 31-7 win. In the bowl against 8-4 Kansas State, Perry again went for 200+ on the ground, winning 20-17 on a last second FG. Navy finished the year #20 in the country.
Perry went off all year long, winning AAC Offensive POTY with 1084 passing yards 7 TD 3 INT with 2017 rushing yards and 21 TD on 6.8 YPC. Perry legitimately was one of the quickest athletes in the country, if you watch his highlights he looks like a quicker but slower Kyler Murray. Because of this he was drafted in the 7th round by the Miami Dolphins as a WR, and has caught 9 passes for 92 yards and 1 TD in the NFL.
1. 2015 (11-2 overall, 7-1 American)
2015 was a magical year not just for Navy fans, but for college football fans following Navy. QB Keenan Reynolds was the darling of football, and went down as arguably the greatest option QB in college football history. Reynolds became one of football’s biggest stories as Navy kept winning throughout the year, starting 9-1 with wins such as 33-11 over 8-6 Air Force, 29-17 over 8-5 USF, and 45-20 over #13 Memphis. Navy got as high as #15 in the nation and was one of the favorites to earn the Group of 5’s spot in a New Years 6 bowl. After a loss to Houston the dream ended, but they still had the Army-Navy game to tend to. The game earned its biggest rating this century with a 5.1 overnight, mostly due to Reynolds’ star power. Reynolds finished 5th in Heisman voting, and when he wasn’t invited to the ceremony, people protested and lobbied for changing the invitation rules. A 44-28 win in the bowl over 8-4 Pitt capped Navy’s first ever 11 win season, and their highest finish in over 50 years at #18.
Navy announced the retirement of Reynolds’ #19 jersey after the season, joining a short list of Roger Staubach (12), Joe Bellino (27), and Napoleon McCallum (30). Navy’s 36 wins in Reynolds’ 4 years tied the class of 1909 for the most ever by a 4-year Navy squad. Reynolds finished as the NCAA’s all-time leading rushing TD leader with 88. In 2015 he threw for 1203 yards 8 TD 1 INT with 1373 rushing yards and 24 TD. This was the 3rd straight season he finished top 5 in rushing TDs in the country. He earned 3rd Team All-American status, won the AAC Offensive POTY, and won the James E. Sullivan Award given to the most outstanding collegiate or Olympic athlete in the United States. After the season, he was drafted in the 6th round by the Baltimore Ravens, the first Navy QB drafted since Roger Staubach in 1964.
5th Quarter
What do you remember about Keenan Reynolds and that 2015 season? How about Malcolm Perry? Who was the better passer, runner, and overall player between the two? Is Reynolds the greatest option QB of all time, even over Tommie Frazier? What other Navy moments/games/plays/players do you remember? How does Navy look to fare in the upcoming seasons? Does Ken Niumatalolo get enough credit in the college football media for what he’s done at Navy? What else is on your mind about Navy?
Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years - Main Hub
