Head Coach: Jeff Monken is entering his 12th season as the head coach of the Black Knights with an 82-57 record. He’s easily one of the top coaches in the country. Before Monken got here Army was lost at sea, which has multiple meanings both because of their losing in general and because of their long losing streak to Navy. He turned that Rivalry around in a big way. 2024 was his best season yet, Army went 12-2 with a conference championship. Can they maintain their dominance over the conference?
Program Outlook: I’ll say this on each of their previews but service academy football is very unique and it’s truly one of the elements that sets College Football apart. In this era of NIL, the players at Army are still true student athletes. In fact, football is the easiest activity they’ll do in a given day. This of course means there’s challenges, Army will never recruit to the level of their conference peers but you also know this will be a disciplined team that runs a scheme that is very difficult to stop and as long as Monken is here Army will be good more often than not.
How does the 2025 Roster look?: Army ranks 69th in the country returning 54.5% of their production per Punt and Rally’s returning production rankings which is actually decent for an academy, usually the starters for these programs are senior heavy. The elephant in the room is going to be replacing Bryson Daily and Kanye Udoh. Daily was truly a difference maker at QB, not just for what he did in the option game but he also brought a more sophisticated passing attack than we’re used to seeing from Army, he finished 6th in the Heisman voting. QBs in this offense make decisions on essentially every play so it is a critical position. Cale Hellums by all accounts seems to be next to step in. He will have help up front with preseason all-american center Brady Small back, and Paolo Gennarelli next to small both returning on an Oline that won the Joe Moore award, however they must replace everyone else from that line. The offense may be retooling but Army has a lot of experience back from a strong defense to ensure they don’t fall too far. The linebackers Kalib Fortner and Andon Thomas are a fantastic duo, Fortner in particular is a guy to watch because he will wreck havoc on opposing offenses. The defensive line is solid and there will be some retooling around the pass rush. A lot of leaders from an excellent secondary are gone so that’s an area to monitor.
Screenshot from FBSchedules.com
2025 Schedule Thoughts: Army’s schedule isn’t too challenging. Their non-conference schedule never carries much variability with games against Air Force and Navy locked in each season. Tarleton State is their FCS opponent of choice this year, this is a slight changeup as Army usually plays Patriot League teams, Tarleton State is potentially a top 10 team at the FCS level and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Kansas State will replace Notre Dame on the schedule this season, the Wildcats aren’t as tough as Notre Dame but still a big test. Army’s Conference schedule is challenging because their 3 toughest games Tulane, UTSA and ECU are all on the road but there’s also a lot of favorable home games.
Final Thoughts: It’s going to be difficult for Army to have a repeat of their incredible 2024 season but make no mistake this team will be really good and a challenge to everyone on their schedule. The games against fellow Academies are already how Army fans measure success but they are particularly pivotal this year as they will decide whether this is a 7-8 win season or 9-10 wins. Another key will be the turnover margin, we know Army will almost always be in the positive here but the change at QB and the secondary will make repeating last year’s +11 margin a little more difficult.
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