Navy Midshipmen football The Navy Midshipmen football team represents the United States Naval Academy in NCAA Division I - A college football . They are a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision independent school ( not in a conference ) and coached by Ken Niumatalolo since December 2007 . Navy has 19 players and 3 coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame and won the National Championship in 1926 according to the Boand and Houlgate poll systems . The 1910 team also was undefeated and unscored upon ( the lone tie being a 0 – 0 tie ) . The mascot is Bill the Goat . On January 24 , 2012 , the Naval Academy announced it would become a member of the Big East Conference beginning with the 2015 season . Rivalries . Army . The Army – Navy Game , an annual game generally played on the last weekend of the college football regular season in early December , pits the football teams of the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York ( Army ) and United States Naval Academy at Annapolis , Maryland ( Navy ) against one another . It is one of the most traditional and enduring rivalries in college football , and is televised every year by CBS . It was in the 1963 Army – Navy game that instant replay made its debut . This game has always had inter - service " bragging rights " at stake ; in past decades , when both Army and Navy were often national powers , the game occasionally had national championship implications . However , as top - level college football has developed into primarily a training ground for the National Football League ( NFL ) , the high academic entrance requirements , height and weight limits , and the military commitment required of West Point and Annapolis graduates has reduced the overall competitiveness of both academies . In fact , only once in the last 40 years have both Army and Navy entered the game with winning records ( 1996 ) . While Navy has had a resurgence in recent years , Army is no longer nationally competitive on a regular basis , however , the tradition of the game has ensured that it remains nationally televised to this day . One of the great appeals of this game to many fans is that its players are largely playing for the love of the game , since almost none will ever play in the NFL . The game is especially emotional for the seniors , called " first classmen " by both academies , since it is typically the last competitive football game they will ever play . However , Navy went to a bowl game every year from 2003 until 2010 , Army had a chance to become bowl eligible with a victory in the 2009 contest ( which they did not get ) , and both teams entered the game with a winning record in 2010 . In fact , 2011 marked the first time in several seasons that neither Army nor Navy were either bowl eligible or could have qualified with a victory . During wartime the game is even more emotional because some seniors will not return once they are deployed . For instance , in the 2004 game , at least one senior from the class of 2003 who was killed in Iraq , Navy ' s J . P . Blecksmith , was remembered . The players placed their comrade ' s pads and jerseys on chairs on the sidelines . Much of the sentiment of the game goes out to those who share the uniform and who are overseas . Commander - in - Chief ' s Trophy . The Commander - in - Chief ' s Trophy is awarded to each season ' s winner of the triangular college football series among the United States Military Academy ( Army ) , the United States Naval Academy ( Navy ) , and the United States Air Force Academy ( Air Force ) . In the event of a tie the award is shared , but the previous winner retains the trophy . Navy controlled the trophy from 2003 to 2010 , marking one of the longest times any academy has had possession of the prestigious trophy . First awarded in 1972 . the Commander - in - Chief ' s trophy was the idea of Air Force General George B . Simler , the commander of Air Training Command and former Air Force Academy athletic director ; who felt the need for such a trophy as a means to ensure the Air Force games played against traditional rivals Army and Navy were given some meaning at least slightly more significant than all other normal collegiate opponents that those two storied programs were to play on any given Saturday . Typically , the Navy – Air Force game is played in early October , the Army – Air Force game is played in mid - November , and the most significant game , between Army and Navy is played in early December , typically in Philadelphia . The game , however , has also been played in such locations as New York , Baltimore , Chicago and Pasadena . When Navy has possession of the trophy , it is displayed in a glass case in Bancroft Hall , the Midshipmens ' dormitory . Notre Dame . Navy has played Notre Dame , also an independent , in 84 annual games without interruption since 1927 with a record of 12 – 71 – 1 . From 1963 , when Navy beat Notre Dame 35 – 14 , to 2006 , Notre Dame won 43 consecutive games against Navy , the longest such streak in Division 1 - A football . This streak ended on November 3 , 2007 , when Navy beat Notre Dame 46 – 44 in triple overtime . Notre Dame plays this game to repay Navy for helping to keep Notre Dame financially afloat during World War II . This series is scheduled to continue indefinitely . In 2008 , while the Midshipmen had the opportunity to pull another victory at the end , however the game ended in a 27 - 21 victory for Notre Dame . On November 7 , 2009 Navy played an inspired game and upset the # 22 ranked Irish 23 to 21 in South Bend . This was Navy ' s 2nd win in 3 years , marking a turning point in the rivalry , whereby Navy is once again competitive with Notre Dame . Navy again bested Notre Dame 35 - 17 at the New Meadowlands on October 23 , 2010 , making the class of 2011 only the third class in Navy history to have beaten Notre Dame 3 times . When Navy is the home team for this game in even - numbered years , the Midshipmen host the game off - campus at large stadiums used by NFL teams , usually FedEx Field in Landover , Maryland or M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore . The Midshipmen have also hosted the Irish at John F . Kennedy Stadium and Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia . Maryland . The intrastate rivalry between Maryland and Navy is referred to as the " Crab Bowl Classic . " Starting in 1905 , the two teams have played sporadically over the years . Many of the early games were lop - sided and Navy leads the series 14 – 7 . In 2005 , the two teams renewed their rivalry and Maryland won , 23 – 20 . The teams met again on Labor Day 2010 and Maryland won again , 17 – 14 , after the Terps ' goal - line stand with under a minute remaining . Crab Bowl trophy . As of 2010 the winner of the Crab Bowl Classic is awarded the Crab Bowl Trophy , created by the Touchdown Club of Annapolis with underwriting from the D ' Camera Group . Rutgers . This rivalry stems from Navy and Rutgers being two of the only three programs ( the third is Army ) to come out of the original , informal " Ivy League " that are still members of the top tier of NCAA college football ( currently Division I - FBS ) . ( " See " Before There Was An Ivy League " and " Ivy League # History of the athletic league . ) Although the two teams only began a regular series relatively recently in 1995 , the games between the two schools are often close and sometimes have controversy as in the 2004 and 2007 editions of the series . The rivalry dates to 1891 making the two schools each other ' s oldest active football rivals . The schools have met 24 times , with Rutgers leading the series at 12 – 11 – 1 all time after the 2011 Navy loss . Army is Rutgers ' second oldest active rivalry . Navy and Rutgers have played every year since 1995 with the exception of 2002 and are currently scheduled through at least 2014 , with the exception of 2009 and 2010 . SMU . The Gansz Trophy was created in 2009 through a collaboration between the athletic departments of The United States Naval Academy and Southern Methodist University . The trophy is named for Frank Gansz who played linebacker at the Naval Academy from 1957 through 1959 . Gansz later served on the coaching staffs at numerous colleges , including all three service academies and Southern Methodist , as well as several professional teams . The two teams have met 15 times with Navy leading the all - time series 8 - 7 , and the trophy series 2 - 0 . 1926 national championship . Three undefeated teams with nearly identical records would cause a stir among fans and pollsters today , but this was the case when Navy earned its lone national championship in 1926 , as the Midshipmen shared the honor with Stanford and Alabama . A 7 - 7 tie between Alabama and Stanford in the 1926 Rose Bowl gave Stanford a 10 - 0 - 1 mark , while the Crimson Tide and the Mids each had identical 9 - 0 - 1 records . The Midshipmen opened the ' 26 season with a new coach , Bill Ingram . A former Navy standout from 1916 – 1918 , Ingram took over a Navy team that had only won seven games in the previous two seasons combined . One of the keys to Navy ’ s 1926 squad was a potent offense led by All - America tackle and team captain Frank Wickhorst , who proved to be a punishing blocker for the Navy offense . One member of the Navy offense that appreciated the blocking of Wickhorst was Tom Hamilton . The quarterback and kicker had a pair of 100 - yard rushing games en route to All - America honors . Navy ' s biggest win that year was against Michigan in front of 80 , 000 fans in Baltimore . The Mids scored 10 second half points to upset the Wolverines , 10 - 0 . Navy ’ s offense tallied 165 yards behind the powering attack of Hamilton and Henry Caldwell who scored Navy ’ s lone touchdown on a one - yard plunge . Jubilation from the victory continued after the game , as the Midshipmen tore down the goal post at each end of the field and carried away all the markers that lined both sides of the field . Navy headed into its season finale against Army with a 9 - 0 record . The game was to be played in Chicago at Soldier Field , which had been built as a memorial to the men killed in World War I . It was only natural Army and Navy would be invited to play the inaugural contest there . James R . Harrison of the " New York Times " described the game as " " the greatest of its time and as a national spectacle . " " Over 110 , 000 people witnessed the Midshipmen open up a 14 - 0 lead on the Cadets , only to see Army fight back to take a 21 - 14 lead early in the third quarter . The Navy offense responded behind its strong ground game led by running back Alan Shapley . On fourth down and three yards to go , Shapley ran eight yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 21 . As the final quarter concluded , Army mounted a brief threat only to miss a 25 - yard field goal . The tie gave the Midshipmen a share of the national championship based on retroactive rankings by both the William Boand and Deke Houlgate mathematical poll systems . Coaches . The current coach is Ken Niumatalolo . Individual award winners . College Football Hall of Fame . Navy has 19 players and 3 coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame : National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame National Scholar - Athlete Awards . " The Most Prestigious Scholarships In College Football Since 1959 " Athletic Hall of Fame . The Athletic Hall of Fame is housed in Lejeune Hall . Among the exhibits are two Heisman Trophies , won by Joe Bellino in 1960 and Roger Staubach in 1963 .