How Navy Carved Out its Niche in College Football's New Era

Newberry, who joined the program in 2019, turned things around in his second season at the helm. He says many of the perceived disadvantages of coaching at the academy — the Midshipmen will not be participating in revenue sharing, either — actually work in its favor.

“It’s been good for us,” says Newberry, who notes that none of his players who saw the field in 2024 entered the portal. “NIL for these guys is on the back end.”

Navy is a developmental program, says Newberry, which puts a greater emphasis on recruiting. He says the prominence of the transfer portal has also allowed the Midshipmen to recruit higher-caliber players out of high school and be more selective in that process. Of course, winning helps, but Newberry believes parents and players see value in the experience at the Naval Academy relative to the rest of college football.

“We’re a unicorn in college football right now,” says Newberry.

The Midshipmen are used to playing at a competitive disadvantage. On paper, their size and speed do not stack up against other teams in the American, much less a team such as Oklahoma, which Navy upset in the Armed Forces Bowl last season.

“There’s always going to be a talent discrepancy when we play in our league games — even if we’re the favorite, we’re not going to be the most talented team,” Newberry says. “We gotta figure out how we can make up for that separation. I think the way we do it is with what we’re doing, and more importantly, how we do it.”

Newberry says the triple-option has always been an equalizer due to its difficulty to prepare for and its rarity. Navy’s approach got a facelift with the arrival of offensive coordinator Drew Cronic, who implemented the hybrid Wing-T offense last season. Navy’s scoring average improved by more than 14 points from 2023 to 2024.

Horvath was at the heart of that offensive rejuvenation. An Athlon Sports preseason all-conference selection, Horvath became the first Navy quarterback since 2019 to eclipse 1,000 passing yards. He also led the team in rushing with over 1,000 yards and tallied four total touchdowns in an upset win over archrival Army.

“He’s really a perfect fit for what we’re doing,” Newberry says.  “If this is what we want to do offensively, and you’re going to have to recruit a quarterback, you want a Blake Horvath.”

The Midshipmen bring back versatile slotback Eli Heidenrich, who had over 1,000 yards of offense in 2024, and fullback Alex Tecza, the team’s second-leading rusher behind Horvath. That level of consistency on offense — even with the defense in transition — is a big reason they’re one of the favorites to win the American for the first time this fall.

Navy has a manageable schedule ahead, starting with Saturday’s season opener against Virginia Military Institute. The Midshipmen only play one preseason top-25 team (No. 6 Notre Dame), avoid Tulane in the regular season and get South Florida at home. A late-season trip to Memphis could decide whether Newberry’s team plays for the conference championship, which is scheduled the week before the annual Army-Navy game.

If the Midshipmen were to win the conference, like the Black Knights did a season ago, there’s an outside chance they could advance to the College Football Playoff as the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion.

Newberry says there's a confidence about his team now where they expect to win. Wins over Army and Oklahoma to punctuate the program’s best season since 2019 contribute to that self-belief. With rare roster consistency in the modern college football landscape, perhaps Navy can emerge as a consistent winner.