Army West Point Black Knights Coach Named Finalist for Prestigious Honor

An Army West Point Black Knights coach has been named a finalist for one of college football's most prestigious awards.

Nov 30, 2024; West Point, New York, USA; Army Black Knights head coach Jeff Monken watches his players against the UTSA Roadrunners during the first half at Michie Stadium. / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

The Army West Point Black Knights's goal every year is to win the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and defeat the Navy Midshipmen in their annual rivalry game.

While that didn’t happen in the 2024 college football season, it was still among the best campaigns in program history.

Army won a record 12 games, capped off with their win over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in the Independence Bowl. Their only losses came against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Navy, as they also won the American Athletic Conference championship game over the Tulane Green Wave in their first year as part of the AAC.

Given how much success the team had, it should come as no surprise that Black Knights players and coaches have been racking up the accolades and awards.

Among the recipients is head coach Jeff Monken, who could be adding to what has been an impressive number of awards already this year.

On Wednesday, the Army’s leader on the sideline was named a finalist for the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award, as shared by Brett McMurphy of Action Network.

He is facing some incredibly stiff competition as Shane Beamer of the South Carolina Gamecocks, Curt Cignetti of the Indiana Hoosiers, Spencer Danielson of the Boise State Broncos, Kenny Dillingham of the Arizona State Sun Devils, Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame, Rhett Lashlee of the SMU Mustangs and Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns are also finalists.

Bear Bryant Coach of Year finalists

Shane Beamer, South Carolina
Curt Cignetti, Indiana
Spencer, Danielson, Boise St
Kenny Dillingham, Arizona St
Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
Rhett Lashlee, SMU
Jeff Monken, Army
Steve Sarkisian, Texas

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 8, 2025

Six of those coaches led their teams to the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff and all are certainly worthy of taking home the prestigious award.

Awarded for the first time in 1986 to Joe Paterno of the Penn State Nittany Lions, the most recent winner was Mike Norvell with the Florida State Seminoles.

This is the second award that Monken has been named a finalist for, as he also made the cut for the Eddie Brown Coach of the Year Award.

He won the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year, AAC Coach of the Year, ECAC Coach of the Year and the inaugural Buddy Teevens Award.

This was the fourth time in program history that the Black Knights won double-digit games. Three of those came with Monken at the helm. He has a record of 82-57 as head coach with a 5-1 record in bowl games.