Navy Head Coach Brian Newberry found himself in some elite company this week when Mark Wolpert, executive director of the Maxwell Football Club, announced his name among the 24 semifinalists for the 2025 George Munger College Coach of the Year Award.
Newberry took over the program in 2023 after the Midshipmen finished with a 4-8 record the previous year, the last under Ken Niumatalolo, who was fired shortly after a double-overtime loss in the annual Army-Navy game.
Newberry was promoted from the defensive coordinator role, which he held for four years prior, and promoted linebackers coach P.J. Volker to be his defensive coordinator while keeping the triple option offense. While seeing some improvement, the team finished 5-7 during Newberry’s first season, including a 17-11 loss in the 2023 Army-Navy Game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
Knowing that a change was needed on the offense, Newberry brought over Drew Cronic, who resigned as head coach of the Mercer University Bears, to serve as the offensive coordinator for Navy. The Newberry-Cronic pairing was exactly what the Midshipmen needed as they opened the 2024 season with a 6-0 start. They finished 10-3 and ranked as high as No. 24 in the AP Poll. They handed Army a resounding 31-13 defeat in the 2024 Army-Navy Game at North West Stadium in Landover, Md., and then went on to down the Oklahoma Sooners 21-20 in the Armed Forces Bowl. It was Navy’s first Bowl Game appearance since the 2019 Liberty Bowl.
This year, the Midshipmen opened the season with a 7-0 start before losing a 31-17 contest at North Texas, and getting crushed 49-10 at No. 10 Notre Dame. They bounced back with a 41-38 win over No. 24 USF to hold a current 8-2 record. They travel to Memphis (8-3) at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thanksgiving and then finish the season against the Army Black Knights (5-5) in the 2025 Army-Navy Game at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 13.
Newberry has always talked about the importance of team. He has never been about his individual accomplishments, but perhaps being a semifinalist for an award like this, plus the team’s record, is an indication that the hard work and preparation that the coaching staff, support staff and players put in during the off-season and training camp, has been paying off.
When asked about what expectations he had for his team during the media availability as training camp opened, Newberry said, “For us, it’s always ‘How can we do things better than we’ve ever done them before?’ How can we continue to build on that and evolve in all three phases of the game? I think we’ve done that.”
“These guys understand again, that this is a different football team. We’ve got a lot of new faces and lost a lot of good players. We’ve got a ways to go. It’s a good thing we’ve got camp ahead of us. Just like everybody else. We’ve got to gel as a football team. We’ve got some great pieces, but those pieces have to come together here in the next four weeks. I’m optimistic about our ability to do that,” he added.
So far this team has gelled. Newberry’s challenge is now to get his team ready to beat Memphis. If the Midshipmen win, a trip to the American Athletic Conference championship will almost be assured, depending on what happens with Tulane and North Texas.
“We talk a lot about ‘No fear of failure’ in our program, and for young players who haven’t played a lot of snaps, sometimes that’s an issue. We want those guys to go cut it loose. They’re going to go make mistakes. We’re not chasing perfection. We’re chasing excellence. They’re going to make mistakes and we’ve got to make those mistakes full speed. We have to learn from those mistakes and move forward. We just need as much of that as we can possibly get right now,” said Newberry this summer.
The American Athletic Conference championship game will be held on Friday Dec. 5. The finalists for the George Munger College Coach of the Year Award will be announced Dec. 8, five days before the Army-Navy Game. The name of the winner will be released on Dec. 30. The formal presentation will be on March 14, 2026, in Atlanta when the Maxwell Football Club presents its other national awards from high school through the professional ranks.
The George Munger Award was established in 1989 and awarded annually to the sport’s most outstanding college coach. It recognizes exceptional leadership, strategic innovation and significant impact on the game. The award is named in honor of George Munger, who coached the University of Pennsylvania Quakers from 1938 to 1953. They won multiple Ivy League championships and gained a reputation for strong, disciplined play. Munger’s innovative strategies and dedication to his teams left a lasting legacy in college football for influencing coaching methods and inspiring future leaders.
The only service academy coach who previously won the Munger Award was Army West Point’s Jeff Monken in 2018. We’ll find out in a few weeks if Brian Newberry will be the second service academy coach to receive this honor.
The 2025 George Munger Award Semifinalists List
Kalen DeBoer, Alabama
Kalani Sitake, BYU
Kirby Smart, Georgia
Brent Key, Georgia Tech
Willie Fritz, Houston
Curt Cignetti, Indiana
Bob Chesney, James Madison
Jerry Mack, Kennesaw State
Brian Newberry, Navy
Eric Morris, North Texas
Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
Ryan Day, Ohio State
Brent Venables, Oklahoma
Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss
Dan Lanning, Oregon
Pat Narduzzi, Pitt
Sean Lewis, San Diego State
Mike Elko, Texas A&M
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech
