List of Navy Midshipmen head football coaches

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The Navy Midshipmen football team has represented the United States Naval Academy in intercollegiate college football since 1879. The team participated as an independent school for the majority of its existence, but joined the American Athletic Conference (formerly the Big East Conference) as an expansion team in 2015.[1][2] The Midshipmen joined the NCAA Division I-A when it was created in 1978, becoming one of the first independent schools in that division. The program has had 37 head coaches, one interim coach, and two separate periods where it went without a coach since its formation.[3] Ken Niumatalolo served as head coach of the Midshipmen from 2007[4] to the end of the 2022 season, when he was let go immediately after losing to Army to close out a 4–8 season.[5]

Paul Johnson talks to two of his players during a game
Paul Johnson coached the Midshipmen to five straight bowl games during his six seasons as head coach.

The academy adopted the nickname "Midshipmen" for its students when it was founded in 1845. Between 1870 and 1902, the school tried out a number of different ideas, before Congress restored the name "Midshipmen" as the academy's nickname.[6][7] The term has been accepted since.[8] The Midshipmen have played in over 1200 games during the program's 133 seasons (through the 2015 regular season). In those seasons, seven coaches have led the Midshipmen to postseason bowl games, ten have been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, and one, Bill Ingram, has led the school to a recognized national championship.[3]

Vaulx Carter, the program's first coach, is the all-time leader in win percentage, with a perfect 1.000.[NOTE 1][NOTE 2] Of coaches who have served in more than one game, Gil Dobie has the highest win percentage with .850 after completing a record of 17–3. George Sauer has the lowest win percentage of any non-interim coach, amassing a percentage of .222 and a record of 3–13–2. Ken Niumatalolo overtook George Welsh's 55 wins in 2014, for the most games won at Navy, and his 9 seasons in 2017 for the most seasons coached at Navy. In 2014, Niumatalolo overtook Paul Johnson, his predecessor, for the most bowl games coached, with seven,[NOTE 3] and most bowl games won (3).[3][10]

Key

Coaches

More information No., Name ...
List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, postseason records, and national championships[NOTE 7]
No. Name Term GC OW OL OT O% PW PL PT BG NC
N/A No coach 1879 1 0 0 1 .500 — — — — 0
1 Vaulx Carter 1882 1 1 0 0 1.000 — — — — 0
N/A No coach 1883–1891 40 23 15 2 .600 — — — — 0
2 Ben Crosby 1892 7 5 2 0 .714 — — — — 0
3 John A. Hartwell 1893 8 5 3 0 .625 — — — — 0
4 William Wurtenburg 1894 7 4 1 2 .714 — — — — 0
5 Matthew McClung 1895 7 5 2 0 .714 — — — — 0
6 Johnny Poe 1896 8 5 3 0 .625 — — — — 0
7 Bill Armstrong 1897–1899 25 20 5 0 .800 — — — — 0
8 Garrett Cochran†[15] 1900 9 6 3 0 .667 — — — — 0
9 Doc Hillebrand†[16] 1901–1902 21 8 11 2 .429 — — — — 0
10 Burr Chamberlain 1903 12 4 7 1 .375 — — — — 0
11 Paul Dashiell 1904–1906 34 25 5 4 .794 — — — — 0
12 Joseph M. Reeves 1907 12 9 2 1 .792 — — — — 0
13 Frank Berrien 1908–1910 29 21 5 3 .776 — — — — 0
14 Douglas Legate Howard 1911–1914 36 25 7 4 .750 — — — — 0
15 Jonas H. Ingram†[17] 1915–1916 19 9 8 2 .526 0 0 0 0 0
16 Gil Dobie†[18] 1917–1919 20 17 3 0 .850 0 0 0 0 0
17 Bob Folwell 1920–1924 38 24 12 2 .658 0 0 1 1 –
1924 Rose Bowl		 0
18 Jack Owsley 1925 8 5 2 1 .688 0 0 0 0 0
19 Bill Ingram†[19] 1926–1930 49 32 13 4 .694 0 0 0 0 1 –
1926
20 Rip Miller†[20] 1931–1933 29 12 15 2 .448 0 0 0 0 0
21 Tom Hamilton†[21] 1934–1936
1946–1947		 45 21 23 1 .478 0 0 0 0 0
22 Hank Hardwick 1937–1938 18 8 7 3 .528 0 0 0 0 0
23 Swede Larson 1939–1941 27 16 8 3 .648 0 0 0 0 0
24 Billick Whelchel 1942–1943 18 13 5 0 .722 0 0 0 0 0
25 Oscar Hagberg 1944–1945 18 13 4 1 .750 0 0 0 0 0
26 George Sauer†[22] 1948–1949 18 3 13 2 .222 0 0 0 0 0
27 Eddie Erdelatz 1950–1958 84 50 26 8 .643 2 0 0 2 –
1955 Sugar Bowl,
1958 Cotton Bowl		 0
28 Wayne Hardin†[23] 1959–1964 62 38 22 2 .629 0 2 0 2 –
1961 Orange Bowl,
1964 Cotton Bowl		 0
29 Bill Elias 1965–1968 40 15 22 3 .413 0 0 0 0 0
30 Rick Forzano 1969–1972 43 10 33 0 .233 0 0 0 0 0
31 George Welsh†[24] 1973–1981 102 55 46 1 .544 1 2 0 3 –
1978 Holiday Bowl,
1980 Garden State Bowl,
1981 Liberty Bowl		 0
32 Gary Tranquill 1982–1986 55 20 34 1 .373 0 0 0 0 0
33 Elliot Uzelac 1987–1989 33 8 25 0 .242 0 0 0 0 0
34 George Chaump 1990–1994 55 14 41 0 .255 0 0 0 0 0
35 Charlie Weatherbie
[NOTE 8]		 1995–2001 75 30 45 0 .400 1 0 0 1 –
1996 Aloha Bowl		 0
Int Rick Lantz
[NOTE 8]		 2001 3 0 3 — .000 0 0 — 0 0
36 Paul Johnson
[NOTE 3]		 2002–2007 74 45 29 — .608 2 2 — 5 –
2003 Houston Bowl,
2004 Emerald Bowl,
2005 Poinsettia Bowl,
2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl,
2007 Poinsettia Bowl		 0
37 Ken Niumatalolo
[NOTE 3]		 2007–2022 192 109 83 — .568 6 5 — 11 –
[NOTE 9]		 0
38 Brian Newberry 2023–present 38 26 12 — .684 2 0 — 0 0
Close

Footnotes

  1. [1]
    Vaulx Carter was a player-coach who led Navy in only one game, an 8–0 shutout of Johns Hopkins.[9]
  2. [2]
    A calculated percentage taken as a whole number on a scale of one (1.000). When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[14]
  3. [3]
    Paul Johnson coached Navy for the entirety of the 2007 season, but left to coach the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets before 2007 Poinsettia Bowl. Offensive coordinator Ken Niumatalolo, took over coaching duties for the bowl game, and served as head coach through the end of the 2022 season.[27][28]
  4. [4]
    A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "N/A" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record.
  5. [5]
    Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[11]
  6. [6]
    Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[12][13]
  7. [7]
    Statistics correct as of the end of the 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season.[3]
  8. [8]
    Charlie Weatherbie was fired as head coach on October 28, 2001, after losing 17 of his last 18 games. Defensive coordinator Rick Lantz was named as the interim head coach. He was fired at the end of the season, after going 0–3.[25][26]
  9. [9]
    The eleven bowl games coached by Niumatalolo are the 2007 Poinsettia Bowl, 2008 EagleBank Bowl, 2009 Texas Bowl, 2010 Poinsettia Bowl, 2012 Fight Hunger Bowl, 2013 Armed Forces Bowl, 2014 Poinsettia Bowl, 2015 Military Bowl, 2016 Armed Forces Bowl, the 2017 Military Bowl and the 2019 Liberty Bowl.

References

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