# Army Black Knights football

The Army Black Knights football team, historically known as the Army Cadets, represents the United States Military Academy in college football. The Black Knights team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the American Athletic Conference. The Black Knights play home games in Michie Stadium with a capacity of 36,000 at West Point, New York. The Black Knights are coached by Jeff Monken, who has held the position since 2014.
Army claims five national championships, including two AP Trophies in 1944 and 1945. Army has produced 24 players and four coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame, 37 consensus All-Americans, and three Heisman Trophy winners: Doc Blanchard (1945), Glenn Davis (1946), and Pete Dawkins (1958).
With the exception of seven seasons (1998–2004) when the team was a member of Conference USA, Army competed as an independent, meaning that they had no affiliation with any conference. They started to compete in the American Athletic Conference as a football-only member in 2024. For all other sports Army is primarily a member of the Patriot League.
Army competes with their historic rivals Navy in the Army–Navy Game, traditionally the final game of the college football regular season. The three major service academies—Army, Navy, and Air Force—compete for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy; Army has won the award ten times, most recently in 2023.

## History

Army's football program began on November 29, 1890, when Navy challenged the cadets to a game of the relatively new sport. Navy defeated Army at West Point that year, but Army avenged the loss in Annapolis the following year. The academies still clash every December in what is traditionally the last regular-season Division I college-football game.
Army's football team reached its pinnacle of success during the Second World War under coach Earl Blaik when Army won three consecutive national championships in 1944, 1945 and 1946, and produced two Heisman Trophy winners: Doc Blanchard (1945), Glenn Davis (1946). From 1944 to 1950, the Cadets had 57 wins, 3 losses and 4 ties. During this time span, Army won three national championships. Army produced a third Heisman trophy winner in 1958 when Pete Dawkins took the honors.
Past NFL coaches Vince Lombardi and Bill Parcells were Army assistant coaches early in their careers.
The football team plays its home games at Michie Stadium, where the playing field is named after Earl Blaik. Cadets' attendance is mandatory at football games and the Corps stands for the duration of the game. At all home games, one of the four regiments marches onto the field in formation before the team takes the field and leads the crowd in traditional Army cheers. Two of the regiments are tasked with performing the morning parade while the last regiment is tasked with ancillary stadium duties.
For many years, Army teams were known as the "Cadets." In the 1940s, several papers called the football team "the Black Knights of the Hudson." From then on, "Cadets" and "Black Knights" were used interchangeably until 1999, when the team was officially nicknamed the Black Knights. Individual cadets as well as groups of cadets to include the entire team are still often referred to as "Cadet" or "The Cadets" with regard to athletic events.
Between the 1998 and 2004 seasons, Army's football program was a member of Conference USA, but starting with the 2005 season Army reverted to its former independent status. Army competes with Navy and Air Force for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. In 2024, Army began competing in the American Athletic Conference. While Air Force competes in a separate conference, Navy also competes in the AAC. The regular season matchup between Army and Navy is competed as a non-conference matchup after the conference championship game and therefore does not affect conference standings.

## National championships

Army has won five national championships from NCAA-designated major selectors, including twice (1944, 1945) from the AP Poll.$^{:108–115}$
| Year | Coach | Selectors | Record | Final AP | Final Coaches |
| 1914 | Charles Daly | Helms, Parke Davis, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation$^{:111}$ | 9–0 | – | – |
| 1916 | Charles Daly | Parke Davis$^{:111}$ | 9–0 | – | – |
| 1944 | Earl Blaik | AP, Berryman, Billingsley, Boand, DeVold, Dunkel, Football Research, Helms, Houlgate, Litkenhous, National Championship Foundation, Poling, Sagarin, Williamson$^{:111}$ | 9–0 | No. 1 | – |
| 1945 | Earl Blaik | AP, Berryman, Billingsley MOV, Boand, DeVold, Dunkel, Football Research, Helms, Houlgate, Litkenhous, National Championship Foundation, Poling, Sagarin, Sagarin (ELOChess), Williamson$^{:112}$ | 9–0 | No. 1 | – |
| 1946 | Earl Blaik | Billingsley, Boand, Football Research, Helms, Houlgate, Poling$^{:112}$ | 9–0–1 | No. 2 | – |

## Conference championships

| Season | Conference | Coach | Conference record | Overall record |
| 2024 | American Athletic Conference | Jeff Monken | 8–0 | 11–2 |

## Lambert Trophy

The Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy (known as the Lambert Trophy), established in 1936, is an annual award given to the best team in the East in Division I FBS (formerly I-A) college football and is presented by the Metropolitan New York Football Writers. Army has won the Lambert Trophy nine times; seven times under head coach Earl "Red" Blaik in the 1940s and 1950s, and twice under head coach Jeff Monken in 2018 and 2020.
| Year | Coach | Record | Final AP rank |
| 1944 | Earl Blaik | 9–0 | #1 |
| 1945 | Earl Blaik | 9–0 | #1 |
| 1946 | Earl Blaik | 9–0–1 | #2 |
| 1948 | Earl Blaik | 8–0–1 | #6 |
| 1949 | Earl Blaik | 9–0 | #4 |
| 1953 | Earl Blaik | 7–1–1 | #14 |
| 1958 | Earl Blaik | 8–0–1 | #3 |
| 2018 | Jeff Monken | 11–2 | #19 |
| 2020 | Jeff Monken | 9–3 | NR |

## Bowl games

Army has played in 11 bowl games. They have a record of 8–3.
| Season | Coach | Bowl | Date | Opponent | Result |
| 1984 | Jim Young | Cherry Bowl | December 22, 1984 | Michigan State | W 10–6 |
| 1985 | Jim Young | Peach Bowl | December 31, 1985 | Illinois | W 31–29 |
| 1988 | Jim Young | Sun Bowl | December 24, 1988 | Alabama | L 28–29 |
| 1996 | Bob Sutton | Independence Bowl | December 31, 1996 | Auburn | L 29–32 |
| 2010 | Rich Ellerson | Armed Forces Bowl | December 30, 2010 | SMU | W 16–14 |
| 2016 | Jeff Monken | Heart of Dallas Bowl | December 27, 2016 | North Texas | W 38–31 $^{OT}$ |
| 2017 | Jeff Monken | Armed Forces Bowl | December 23, 2017 | San Diego State | W 42–35 |
| 2018 | Jeff Monken | Armed Forces Bowl | December 22, 2018 | Houston | W 70–14 |
| 2020 | Jeff Monken | Liberty Bowl | December 31, 2020 | West Virginia | L 21–24 |
| 2021 | Jeff Monken | Armed Forces Bowl | December 22, 2021 | Missouri | W 24–22 |
| 2024 | Jeff Monken | Independence Bowl | December 28, 2024 | Louisiana Tech | W 27–6 |

### Future bowl tie-ins

The NCAA's football oversight committee determined the number of primary bowl tie-ins for each FBS conference and FBS independent for the 2020–2025 bowl cycle using eligibility data from the 2014–2017 seasons. The Black Knights received one guaranteed tie-in per year. On October 24, 2019, the West Point Athletic Department announced that they had agreed to a contract that placed their team, if eligible, in the Independence Bowl for three of the six years, with the remaining years being contracted to an ESPN Events-owned bowl.
The contract includes a clause that allows Army the ability to accept a bid from a different bowl game once during the three-year agreement with the Independence Bowl and once during the three-year agreement with ESPN Events. Aligning with this, on November 5 Army announced that it had agreed to a secondary contractual tie-in with the Duke's Mayo Bowl. It agreed that it would serve as the primary backup for the bowl and would have the opportunity to accept an invitation to the game twice during the six-year cycle. The Duke's Mayo Bowl's primary tie-ins for the 2020–2025 cycle are the ACC (all years), the SEC (odd years), and the Big Ten (even years); if any of those conferences were unable to place a team into the bowl during any of those years, Army would be extended an invitation to fill their place. The opponent conferences for the Independence Bowl were announced to be the Pac-12 and the American on January 30, 2020.
| Season | Bowl | Opponent |
| 2020 | Independence Bowl | Pac-12 |
| 2021 | ESPN Owned and Operated Bowl | – |
| 2022 | Independence Bowl | American |
| 2023 | ESPN Owned and Operated Bowl | – |
| 2024 | Independence Bowl | Pac-12 |
| 2025 | ESPN Owned and Operated Bowl | – |
The Duke's Mayo Bowl can extend an invitation to Army once during the even years (2020, 2022, 2026) and once during the odd years (2021, 2023, 2025) to fill a vacancy as part of a secondary tie-in.
ESPN Events operates the following 16 bowls that Army could be invited to during odd years of the cycle:
* Armed Forces Bowl
* Birmingham Bowl
* Bahamas Bowl
* Boca Raton Bowl
* Cure Bowl
* Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
* Fenway Bowl
* First Responder Bowl
* Frisco Bowl
* Gasparilla Bowl
* Hawaii Bowl
* Las Vegas Bowl
* Myrtle Beach Bowl
* New Mexico Bowl
* Salute to Veterans Bowl (formerly Camellia Bowl)
* Texas Bowl

## Head coaches

| Coach | Years | Seasons | Games | Record | Pct. | Bowl Games |
| Dennis Michie† | 1890, 1892 | 1 | 6 | 3–2–1 | .583 |
| Henry L. Williams | 1891 | 1 | 7 | 5–1–1 | .786 |
| Laurie Bliss | 1893 | 1 | 9 | 4–5 | .444 |
| Harmon S. Graves | 1894–1895 | 2 | 14 | 10–4 | .714 |
| George P. Dyer | 1896 | 1 | 6 | 3–2–1 | .583 |
| Herman Koehler | 1897–1900 | 4 | 33 | 19–11–3 | .621 |
| Leon Kromer | 1901 | 1 | 8 | 5–1–2 | .750 |
| Dennis E. Nolan | 1902 | 1 | 8 | 6–1–1 | .813 |
| Edward Leonard King | 1903 | 1 | 9 | 6–2–1 | .722 |
| Robert Boyers | 1904–1905 | 2 | 18 | 11–6–1 | .639 |
| Henry Smither | 1906–1907 | 2 | 10 | 7–2–1 | .750 |
| Ernest Graves, Sr. | 1906, 1912 | 2 | 16 | 7–8–1 | .469 |
| Harry Nelly | 1908–1910 | 3 | 22 | 15–5–2 | .727 |
| Joseph Beacham | 1911 | 1 | 8 | 6–1–1 | .813 |
| Charles Dudley Daly | 1913–1916, 1919–1922 | 8 | 74 | 58–13–3 | .804 |
| Geoffrey Keyes | 1917 | 1 | 8 | 7–1 | .875 |
| Hugh Mitchell | 1918 | 1 | 1 | 1–0 | 1.000 |
| John McEwan | 1923–1925 | 3 | 26 | 18–5–3 | .750 |
| Biff Jones | 1926–1929 | 4 | 40 | 30–8–2 | .775 |
| Ralph Sasse | 1930–1932 | 3 | 32 | 25–5–2 | .813 |
| Garrison H. Davidson | 1933–1937 | 5 | 47 | 35–11–1 | .755 |
| William H. Wood | 1938–1940 | 3 | 28 | 12–13–1 | .481 |
| Earl Blaik | 1941–1958 | 18 | 164 | 121–33–10 | .768 |
| Dale Hall | 1959–1961 | 3 | 29 | 16–11–2 | .586 |
| Paul Dietzel | 1962–1965 | 4 | 40 | 21–18–1 | .538 |
| Tom Cahill | 1966–1973 | 8 | 81 | 40–39–2 | .506 |
| Homer Smith | 1974–1978 | 5 | 55 | 21–33–1 | .391 |
| Lou Saban | 1979 | 1 | 11 | 2–8–1 | .227 |
| Ed Cavanaugh | 1980–1982 | 3 | 33 | 10–21–2 | .333 |
| Jim Young | 1983–1990 | 8 | 91 | 51–39–1 | .566 | 3 |
| Bob Sutton | 1991–1999 | 9 | 100 | 44–55–1 | .445 | 1 |
| Todd Berry | 2000–2003 | 4 | 41 | 5–36 | .122 |
| John Mumford | 2003 | 1 | 6 | 0–6 | .000 |
| Bobby Ross | 2004–2006 | 3 | 34 | 9–25 | .265 |
| Stan Brock | 2007–2008 | 2 | 24 | 6–18 | .250 |
| Rich Ellerson | 2009–2013 | 5 | 61 | 20–41 | .328 | 1 |
| Jeff Monken | 2014–present | 11 | 139 | 82–57 | .590 | 6 |
† Dennis Michie coached 1 game in 1890, and then coached a full season in 1892.

## Rivalries
### Commander-in-Chief's Trophy

Air Force, Army, and Navy have played each other every year since 1972 for the Commander-in Chief's Trophy. Air Force leads the FBS service academies with 21 victories, Navy has 16 victories, and Army has 10 victories, with the trophy being shared 5 times. Navy is the current holder of the trophy.

#### Air Force

Air Force and Army meet annually and vie for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. Air Force leads Army 38–19–1 through the 2023 season. In a shocking upset Army defeated Air Force on November 4, 2023, in Denver at Empower Field. Air Force was nationally ranked and undefeated going into the game. Army prevailed 23–3.
After the Navy–Notre Dame game was canceled in 2020, the Army–Air Force game became the longest uninterrupted intersectional rivalry in college football.

#### Navy

Army and Navy play each other annually in the Army–Navy game, which is also a part of the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. This series is one of the oldest and traditional rivalries in the NCAA. They first met in 1890, and have played each other annually since 1930. The games are generally played at a neutral site. Navy leads the series 63–55–7 through the 2024 season.

### Notre Dame

Notre Dame is a rivalry which some feel has fallen into obscurity. In much of the early 20th century, Army and Notre Dame were considered football powerhouses, and met 34 times between 1913 and 1947. Though the rivalry has slowed down, they last met in 2024, with Notre Dame winning 49-14. Many media members considered the 1946 contest to be the "Game of the Century". Notre Dame leads the series 39–8–4 through the 2018 season.

## Michie Stadium

Michie Stadium, which opened in 1924, is the home stadium of the Army Black Knights in West Point, New York. The stadium is named after the first Army football head coach, Dennis Michie. In 1999, the field was renamed Blaik Field at Michie Stadium in honor of former coach Earl Blaik.
In 1999, Sports Illustrated ranked Michie Stadium the third-best sports venue of the 20th century.

## Traditions

Songs
Alma Mater is the Army's school song. Army's fight song is "On, Brave Old Army Team". Army also plays other organized cheers; Army Rocket Yell, Black, Gold, and Gray, and USMA Cheer.
Mascot
Army's mascots are the Army Mules. While dating back to 1899, they were officially adopted as mascots by West Point in 1936.

## College Football Hall of Fame

The following four individuals have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as coaches.
| Name | Position | Years at Army | Inducted |
| Biff Jones | HC | 1926–1929 | 1954 |
| Earl "Red" Blaik | HC | 1941–1958 | 1964 |
| Jim Young | HC | 1983–1999 | 1999 |
| Henry L. Williams | HC | 1891 | 1951 |
The following 24 individuals have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as players. Daly and McEwan also served as Army's head coach.
| Name | Position | Years at Army | Inducted |
| Charlie Daly | QB | 1901–1902 | 1951 |
| Chris Cagle | HB | 1926–1929 | 1954 |
| Ed Garbisch | C/OG | 1921–1924 | 1954 |
| Elmer Oliphant | FB | 1916–1917 | 1955 |
| Glenn Davis | HB | 1943–1946 | 1961 |
| John McEwan | C | 1913–1916 | 1962 |
| Doc Blanchard | FB | 1944–1946 | 1964 |
| Paul Bunker | HB/OT | 1901–1902 | 1969 |
| Harry Wilson | HB | 1924 | 1973 |
| Barney Poole | TE/DE | 1944–1946 | 1974 |
| Alex Weyand | OT | 1914–1915 | 1974 |
| Pete Dawkins | HB | 1956–1958 | 1975 |
| Harvey Jablonsky | OG | 1931–1933 | 1978 |
| Bud Sprague | OT | 1926–1927 | 1979 |
| Bill Carpenter | TE | 1957–1959 | 1982 |
| Arnold Galiffa | QB | 1947–1949 | 1983 |
| Doug Kenna | QB | 1942–1944 | 1984 |
| Don Holleder | End/QB | 1953–1955 | 1985 |
| Robin Olds | T | 1941–1942 | 1985 |
| Joe Steffy | OG | 1945–1947 | 1987 |
| John Green | OG | 1943–1945 | 1989 |
| Frank Merritt | OT | 1942–1943 | 1996 |
| Bob Anderson | HB | 1957–1959 | 2004 |
| Arnold Tucker | QB | 1945–1946 | 2008 |

### Other notable players

President of the United States and General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower and General of the Army Omar Bradley were on the 1912 Army football team. Eisenhower was injured and his football career was over by 1913, when the two future generals were juniors. Bradley, a star of the Army baseball team for four years, was on the field in 1913 when Notre Dame upset Army in a historic college football game in which the forward pass was used for the first time. Bradley played end opposite the legendary Knute Rockne, the Notre Dame end who later coached the Irish to national championships before dying in a plane crash near Bazaar, Kansas, on Easter Friday in 1931.

## Retired numbers

Army Black Knights retired numbers :
| No. | Player | Pos. | Tenure | No. ret. |
| 24 | Pete Dawkins | HB | 1956–1958 | 2008 |
| 35 | Doc Blanchard | FB | 1944–1946 | 2009 |
| 41 | Glenn Davis | HB | 1943–1946 | 2005 |
| 61 | Joe Steffy | G | 1945–1947 | 2009 |

## Award winners

* Heisman Trophy
    Doc Blanchard – 1945
    Glenn Davis – 1946
    Pete Dawkins – 1958
* AFCA Coach of the Year
    Earl Blaik – 1946
    Tom Cahill – 1966
* Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year
    Tom Cahill – 1966
* Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year
    Bob Sutton – 1996
* George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year
    Jeff Monken – 2018
* Vince Lombardi College Football Coach of the Year
    Jeff Monken – 2018
* President's Award
    Jeff Monken – 2018
* ECAC Division I FBS Football Coach of the Year
    Jeff Monken – 2021
* Maxwell Award
    Glenn Davis – 1944
    Doc Blanchard – 1945
    Pete Dawkins – 1958
* Outland Trophy
    Joe Steffy – 1947
* William V. Campbell Trophy
    Andrew Rodriguez – 2011
* James E. Sullivan Award
    Doc Blanchard 1945
    Arnold Tucker 1946
    Andrew Rodriguez – 2011
* Defender of the Nation Award
    Andrew King – 2016
    Arik Smith – 2021

## Future schedules

Schedules as of December 18, 2024.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 | 2032 | 2033 | 2034 |
| Tarleton State (FCS) | | | at Boston College | | at Old Dominion | at Middle Tennessee | Old Dominion | | |
| at Kansas State | Air Force | at Air Force | | Texas State | | Cincinnati | at UMass | | at Troy |
| at Air Force | at Wake Forest | at UConn | Air Force | at Air Force | Air Force | at Air Force | Air Force | at Air Force | Air Force |
| vs. Navy$^1$ | vs. Navy$^2$ | vs. Navy$^3$ | vs. Navy$^4$ | vs. Navy$^4$ | vs. Navy$^4$ | vs. Navy$^4$ | vs. Navy$^4$ | vs. Navy$^4$ | vs. Navy$^4$ |
* At M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD
* At MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
* At Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
* At TBD
* In 2029 and 2033, Army currently has five non–conference games scheduled, and needs to eliminate one more.

## Radio

Radio rights are held by Learfield through Army West Point Sports Properties, a joint venture with the USMA, and are branded on-air as the "Army Sports Network from Learfield". Pamal Broadcasting-owned WGHQ in Kingston, New York serves as the network's flagship station.

### Former affiliates (1 station)

* WVKZ/1240: Schenectady

### Current broadcast team
#### Army Sports Network

* Rich DeMarco (play-by-play)
* Dean Darling (color analyst)
* Tony Morino (sideline reporter)
* Joe Beckerle (pre and post-game)