Army finished No. 19 in the final US LBM Football Coaches Poll but the biggest surprise may be the four coaches, out of 53 in all, who did not name the Black Knights as a top-25 team.
Failing to put Army on the ballot were Air Force’s Trey Calhoun; San Jose State’s Ken Niumatalolo; Southern Methodist’s Rhett Lashlee; and, Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea – all but Lea gave service academy rival Navy a No. 25 vote.
It is clear that Army’s shocking 31-13 loss to Navy on Dec. 14 had a lasting impact on the voters. Navy (10-3) went on to beat Oklahoma 21-20 in the Dec. 27 Armed Forces Bowl, and Army (12-2) beat Louisiana Tech 27-6 in the Dec. 28 Independence Bowl.
It was an historic season for Army. The Black Knights – who also finished No. 21 in the final AP poll – captured the American Athletic Conference championship in its first season as a member, and their 12 wins matches a service academy record for most in a single season.
Navy finished No. 27 in the coaches poll. The Midshipmen appeared on 12 top-25 ballots and outpaced the Black Knights on seven of them. Army head coach Jeff Monken voted Army No. 19 and Navy No. 25 on his ballot.
Most surprising may be the decision by San Jose’s Niumatalolo, a long-time close friend and former coaching colleague of Monken. Less surprising may be Air Force’s Calhoun voting Navy No. 25 and Army not at all, even though the Black Knights beat his Falcons 20-3 on Nov. 2.
Army’s highest vote, at No. 14, came from Tulane’s Jon Sumrall, whose team bowed to the Black Knights 35-14 in the American Athletic Conference championship on Dec. 6. Army got No. 15 votes from Jamey Chadwell of Liberty; Jeff Fisch of Washington; and, Butch Jones of Arkansas State.
Ryan Day, head coach of national champion Ohio State, picked Army No. 22. Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman voted Army No. 21 – his national runner-up Fighting Irish beat the Black Knights 49-14 on Nov. 23.
Army also faced three other coaches who cast votes: Jeff Traylor of Texas San Antonio picked Army No. 19 – his Roadrunners bowed 29-24 on Nov. 30; Louisiana Tech’s Sonny Cumbie voted Army No. 17; and, Rice’s Mike Bloomgren picked Army No. 18 – the Owls bowed on Sept. 21.
Memphis (11-2) surged late in the AAC season and garnered votes from 47 coaches, finishing No. 23 in the coaches’ poll. The Tigers got one No. 18 vote and a pair at No. 19 (Monken voted Memphis at No. 24). Tulane (9-5) lost momentum late in the season, ending with losses to Memphis, Army and Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl, failing to garner a single top-25 vote.
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
Army placing on coaches’ ballots
(Navy vote in parenthesis)
14 – Jon Sumrall, Tulane (-)
15 – Jamey Chadwell, Liberty (-); Jedd Fisch, Washington (-); Butch Jones, Arkansas State (-)
16 – Tim Albin, Ohio (25); Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State (-); Alex Golesh, South Florida (21); Mike Houston, East Carolina (25); Gus Malzahn, Central Florida (-)
17 – Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech (-)
18 – Mike Bloomgren, Rice (-); Fran Brown, Syracuse (-); Neal Brown, West Virginia (-); Spencer Danielson, Boise State (-); Kalen DeBoer, Alabama (-); Chris Klieman, Kansas State (-); Barry Odom, UNLV (-); Gerad Parker, Troy (-); Kirby Smart, Georgia (-)
19 – Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan (-); Willie Fritz, Houston (-); Mike Locksley, Maryland (-); Jeff Monken, Army (25); Mark Stoops, Kentucky (-); Lance Taylor, Western Michigan (-); Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio (-)
20 – GJ Kinne, Texas State (-); Pete Lembo, Buffalo (-)
21 – Major Applewhite, South Alabama (-); Jeff Brohm, Louisville (-); James Franklin, Penn State (-); Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame (-)
22 – Tim Beck, Coastal Carolina (-); Ryan Day, Ohio State (-); Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri (25); Tony Elliott, Virginia (20); Brent Key, Georgia Tech (-); Dan Lanning, Oregon (-); Lance Leipold, Kansas (-); Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee (-); Bronco Mendenhall, New Mexico (21); Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh (-); Brent Pry, Virginia Tech (-)
23 – David Braun, Northwestern (-); Joey McGuire, Texas Tech (-)
24 – Bob Chesney, James Madison (-); Mike Elko, Texas A&M (-); Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio) (23)
25 – Sean Lewis, San Diego State (24)
None – Troy Calhoun, Air Force (25); Rhett Lashlee, SMU (25); Clark Lea, Vanderbilt (-); Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State (25)
Army finishes in national polls
Associated Press
No. 1 – 1944; 1945
No. 2 – 1946; 1950
No. 3 – 1958
No. 4 – 1949
No. 6 – 1948
No. 7 – 1954
No. 11 – 1943; 1947
No. 14 – 1953
No. 18 – 1957
No. 19 – 2018
No. 20 – 1955
No. 21 – 2024
No. 25 – 1996
United Press International
No. 3 – 1958
No. 5 – 1950
No. 7 – 1954
No. 13 – 1957
No. 15 – No. 15
No. 16 – 1953
USA TODAY/CNN
No. 22 – 1984; 1985
No. 24 – 1996
US LBM
No. 21 – 2024
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army in 2024 final coaches poll
