Army Black Knights Boss Finalist for Prestigious National Coaching Award

The Army West Point Black Knights head coach continues to rack up the awards for his team’s performance this season.

Dec 6, 2024; West Point, NY, USA; Army Black Knights head coach Jeff Monken speaks to his players in the locker room after a 35-14 win against the Tulane Green Wave in the American Athletic Conference championship at Michie Stadium. / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Army West Point Black Knights head football coach Jeff Monken is one of the finalists for the Bobby Dodd Award, given to the nation’s coach of the year.

Monken is preparing his Black Knights for the Independence Bowl, which will be held on Dec. 28 at 9:15 p.m. eastern in Shreveport, La., against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

Monken is a finalist alongside Shane Beamer of South Carolina, Kenny Dillingham of Arizona State, Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame and Dan Lanning of Oregon.

The award will be presented at halftime of the Peach Bowl, along with a halftime presentation on campus next year.

Last week Monken was presented the inaugural Buddy Teevens award earlier this week. The new award is given to a coach who have been an innovator in growing and improving college football.

Even with the Black Knights’ 31-13 loss to Navy on Saturday, this has been a historic season for Army (11-2) and it can still win 12 games for the first time in program history with a win over the Bulldogs.

Monken has already guided the Black Knights to just their fourth season or 10 or more wins in school history, three of which have come under his watch. Army won its first conference title in school history earlier this month, as the Black Knights won the American Athletic Conference championship game.

Before he arrived, the Black Knights were stuck in a 17-year slump. With Monken, Army has gone 81-57 under his watch. That includes a winning record over Navy, even with Saturday’s loss.

Monken is competing against three coaches that led their team to the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, along with Beamer, who turned the Gamecocks around in-season and were ranked in the Top 20 in the final CFP Top 25 rankings.

The Black Knights were also in those final rankings, the first time they've been included in the CFP Top 25 in school history.

Army also been ranked in the AP Top 25 every week since mid-October. It ended the regular season at No. 19. Army hasn't been ranked that many weeks in a row in the AP Top 25 since 1958.

The award is named for former Georgia Tech coach Bobby Dodd and was first presented in 1976. Former Army coach Bob Sutton won the award in 1996 after he led the Black Knights to their first 10-win season in program history.

The award is given to the Division I FBS coach whose team excels on the field, in the classroom, and in the community.