Rich Ellerson Rich Ellerson ( born January 1 , 1953 ) is an American football coach and former player . He is the head football coach at the United States Military Academy , a position he has held since the 2009 season . Ellerson served as the head football at Southern Utah University in 1996 and at California Polytechnic State University from 2001 to 2008 . While at Cal Poly , Ellerson ' s teams won three conference championships and compiled a 56 – 34 record , giving him the third highest winning percentage of any football coach in school history . Early years . Ellerson attended Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson , Arizona . He received a congressional appointment to the United States Naval Academy , which he attended for his freshmen year of 1972 – 73 . He subsequently attended the University of Hawaii between 1974 and 1977 , where he played for the Hawaii Warriors football team as a center and linebacker . Coaching career . Early coaching positions . After graduating college in 1977 , he served as a Hawaii graduate assistant under head coach Dick Tomey . From 1992 to 1995 , he served at Arizona as an assistant head coach and defensive line coach , working alongside with defensive coordinator Larry MacDuff . During his four - year tenure , Arizona was ranked as a top - ten team in total defense and was the number - two defense against the rush in 1992 and 1993 . He also worked with special teams , and helped mentor placekicker Steve McLaughlin to a Lou Groza Award - winning season in 1994 . In 1996 , Ellerson served as the head coach at Southern Utah , where he oversaw an improvement to a record of 4 – 7 from 2 – 9 the previous season . That year , Southern Utah was the leading the NCAA Division I - AA ( now Division I FCS ) team in rushing offense . He returned to Arizona from 1997 to 2000 as the defensive coordinator and kickers coach . In his final season there , he coached the Wildcats to become the eighth - ranked rush defense in the nation , allowing 88 . 5 yards per game on average . Arizona also led the Pac - 10 Conference in rush defense and was second in total defense , allowing 317 . 5 yards per game . Cal Poly . In 2001 , Ellerson took over as the head coach at the California Polytechnic State University ( Cal Poly ) in San Luis Obispo , California . While at Cal Poly , Ellerson led the Mustangs to a 52 – 38 record during his eight - year tenure . With a winning percentage of . 622 , he currently ranks as the third most successful coach in school history . During his first year , Ellerson led Cal Poly to their first winning season in four years , finishing with a 6 – 5 record . In 2003 , Ellerson was named NCAA Division I - AA Coach of the Year . He led the Mustangs to a winning 7 – 4 record and a national ranking as high as 14th during the season . In 2004 , he was named the Great West Football Conference Coach of the Year and AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year . He led Cal Poly to secure the Great West championship . In 2005 , Cal Poly finished with a 9 – 4 record and earned its first playoff berth in 12 years . They were defeated by Texas State in the quarterfinals . The Mustangs recorded a 6 – 0 record at home . The Mustangs narrowly missed qualifying for the 2006 playoffs . In 2007 , Cal Poly achieved a 7 – 4 record and third place in the Great West . The Mustangs finished the season with a # 24 final ranking . Under Ellerson , Cal Poly employed a triple - option offense similar to the ones traditionally used at the service academies . Army . In 2008 it was speculated he was a candidate to replace Washington ' s head coach , Tyrone Willingham . He instead accepted an offer to become Army ' s head coach in December 2008 . Other potential candidates for the vacant Army head coaching position included Mike Sullivan , a West Pointer and wide receivers coach for the New York Giants ; Greg Gregory , South Florida offensive coordinator and former Army assistant coach ; Charlie Taaffe , former Maryland offensive coordinator , Canadian Football League coach , and Army offensive coordinator ; and Ed Warriner , Kansas offensive coordinator who spent 13 years as an Army assistant coach . Army also gauged the interest of both Navy ' s offensive and defensive coordinators , Ivin Jasper and Buddy Green , respectively . Ellerson has several family ties to the Academy . His father and two of his brothers attended West Point . His brother , John , was a captain of the Army football team while at West Point from 1960 to 1963 . Rich Ellerson said , " I grew up with that special connection to Army Football . At that age , watching my big brother captain the Army football team , living on Army posts , it was just the biggest thing in our life . It was the foundation of my football experience , not just my Army football experience , and obviously , football is a big part of my life . " He also said : " More than any other place in America , this is an important job . This is the United States Military Academy . We ' re playing football . We need to be good at this . We need to be . Everybody wants to win . We need to . " He expressed a belief in the importance in working with recruits at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School ( USMAPS ) in order to improve the pool of candidates for the varsity team . Ellerson also referred offhandedly to Navy , in comparing the type of offensive scheme he plans on bringing to Army . " I ' m a triple option guy , and our triple option looks similar to some other team that we see every once , but it is not exactly alike . . . What we do fits well with the Academy at every level . " In his first season at the helm Ellerson ' s team finished the season with a 5 – 7 record . Going into the final game of the season against Navy , a win would have placed Army in the EagleBank Bowl , their first bowl berth since the 1996 Independence Bowl . They would lose to rival Navy by a score of 17 – 3 . In his second season , Ellerson continued to turn around the Army football program . In 2010 he led Army to a 7 – 6 record , its first winning season since 1996 , and an invitation to and victory in the 2010 Armed Forces Bowl , the program ' s first bowl win since 1985 . The progress had Ellerson as one of the ten finalists for the 2010 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year . The 2011 campaign for Army was not as successful as the previous two seasons . Facing a schedule with eight bowl - eligible teams and four home games , the Black Knights faltered to a 3 – 9 season that was plagued with injuries to key players . The fourth year under Ellerson ' s tenure ended with a 2 – 10 record , however it did feature wins against a BCS Conference opponent in Boston College as well as Ellerson ' s first victory in a Commander - in - Chief ' s Trophy game over Air Force .