Army West Point Black Knights Boss Praised by College Football Analyst

An Army West Point Black Knights coach received some major praise from a college football analyst recently.

Nov 9, 2024; Denton, Texas, USA; Army Black Knights head coach Jeff Monken during warmups before a game against the North Texas Mean Green at DATCU Stadium. / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Arguably the biggest surprise in college football during the 2024 season has been the performance of the Army West Point Black Knights.

In their first season as a member of the American Athletic Conference, the Black Knights weren't regarded as the favorites. But, the media did pick them fifth in the league in the preseason, with one first-place vote.

Nationally, depending upon the outlet, Army was ranked somewhere between 90-100 in the preseason.

Those predictions have proven no one really knows what will happen once games are played because Army has been one of the best teams in the nation.

With a 9-0 record and 7-0 in the AAC, the Black Knights have already clinched a spot in the championship game against the Tulane Green Wave. Army has never played in a conference championship game before.

That is enough for Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated to select head coach Jeff Monken as the Coach of the Year in the conference to this point.

“In its first year in the conference, his hard-edged team is 9–0 and has trailed in just one game, for a portion of a quarter, while winning every game by double digits. Now Army is prepping for the program’s biggest game since the 1950s on Saturday, against Notre Dame. Shock the world there, and Monken could surpass (Indiana coach Curt) Cignetti for national Coach of the Year.”

Runner-up behind Monken, and just as deserving of the recognition, is Jon Sumrall, the head coach at Tulane. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Tom Herman of the Florida Atlantic Owls, who Forde named Not Coach of the Year and has already been fired.

While that is an incredible honor for Monken to receive, he and his team know the job is not yet done. The Black Knights have their sights set on bigger goals.

The importance of this weekend’s game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish cannot be emphasized enough. 

As Forde pointed out, it is the biggest the program has had in at least 70 years as they are playing in what is essentially a College Football Playoff eliminator game. Whichever team loses can likely kiss any chance of making the 12-team field goodbye.

After that, they play the UTSA Roadrunners ahead of the AAC Championship Game. To finish out the season, their annual game against the Navy Midshipmen will be played. By then, Army will know its CFP fate, but the game is still the biggest showcase before the bowl season and the expanded CFP begins.

Monken and his squad are hoping to make the CFP committee's decision as hard as possible with their first undefeated season since 1958. That season was also the last time Army beat Notre Dame, which was a 14-2 victory in South Bend, Ind.