The top five Navy football teams of all time

Right now, we are living in some crazy and uncertain times. The United States government is shut down, there is political unrest and Navy football might be one of the best teams in the country.

Although they are coming off a loss against North Texas, the Midshipmen are currently 7-1 overall and have an American Athletic Conference record of 5-1, which puts them at the top of the AAC.

At this pace, the 2025 team might go down as one of the best in school history. But, that has me thinking, what are the top five football teams in the history of the United States Naval Academy?

Honorable Mention: The 1926 Team (9-0-1)

The only reasons why this team is an honorable mention, despite arguably having the best record in program history, are that this team only played a total of ten games and the result against Army. However, in those ten games, this team was among the best.

Under head coach William Ingram, the Midshipmen posted the third-best record in the country at 9-0-1. The most notable wins for Navy came against Purdue and Michigan. However, in one, if not the most historic and biggest rivalry in all of sports, Navy would tie Army 21-21.

In that season, Navy scored a total of 236 points and had 23.6 points per game, which was 14th out of 96 teams in the nation at that time. On defense, the Midshipmen gave up a total of 88 points and allowed 8.8 points per game, which was 56th out of 96 teams. According to sportsreference.com, Navy’s strength of schedule was 25th of 96.

5. The 1905 Team (10-1-1)

To kick off the top five, we have the 1905 team. Even though this team had slightly fewer points per game and also tied with Army, this roster had more impressive wins and played more games than the 1926 team.

Under head coach Paul Dashiell, this team boasted a record of 10-1-1. The most significant wins of this season for the Midshipmen came against Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Penn State. Their lone loss came by a score of 6-5 against Swarthmore.

In the year, Navy put up a total of 243 points and averaged 20.2 points per game, which ranked them at 30th out of 82 teams in the country at that time. The defense was the focal point of the team. Navy’s defense allowed just 23 points that season and allowed an average of 1.9 points per game, which was the fifth best in the nation.

The strength of schedule ranking for this team is the same as the 1926 roster, as they ranked 25th in the country, but there were 14 fewer teams in 1905. And by the way, this was before the invention of the forward pass.

4. The 2009 Team (10-4)

In his second season as head coach, Ken Niumatalolo has the fourth-best team in the history of the academy. In the year, Niumatalolo captained the ship and brought it to a 10-4 record and a dominant win over Missouri in the Texas Bowl.

During the regular season, Navy had a statement win against No.19 Notre Dame, along with other notable wins over programs such as SMU and Wake Forest. In a true military academy football game, Navy would end the regular season with a 17-3 win over Army.

The staple of the 2009 Navy Football team was its defense. This Navy defense conceded a total of 272 points. In terms of points per game, the Midshipmen defense ranked 18th in the country, allowing just 19.4 per game.

The cornerstone of this defense was Wyatt Middleton, who had four interceptions on the year.

Not only did Navy excel in the secondary, but it also got after opposing quarterbacks. Linebacker Craig Schaefer led the team in tackles for loss with 8.5 (tied with linebacker Ross Pospisil) and sacks with six.

On offense, the Midshipmen were good, but not great. On the season, they scored a total of 392 points and had the 57th-best points per game average with 28.

Through the air, quarterback Ricky Dobbs wasn’t anything special. But on the ground, he was a different animal. On the ground, Dobbs had 1,203 yards and 27 touchdowns on 315 attempts.

3. The 2024 Team (10-3)

In just his second season as head coach, Brian Newberry put Navy football on the map. In this season, Newberry led the Midshipmen to a 10-3 record and an Armed Forces Bowl win over Oklahoma.

On top of the impressive bowl game win, the Midshipmen had other statement wins over teams like Charlotte, South Florida, and Memphis. Then, to cap off the regular season, Navy dominated the No.19 Army by a score of 31-13.

Navy's strong record ranked it at 17th out of 134 teams in the country.

Surprisingly, one of Navy’s strong points was the offense. The Midshipmen offense put up a total of 407 points and averaged 31.3 points per game, which was the 39th best in FBS college football.

The catalyst of this strong offense was quarterback Blake Horvath. In the year, Horvath completed 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,353 yards, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions. On the ground, Horvath put up 1,246 yards and 17 touchdowns.

The defense was no slouch of a unit either. On defense, the Midshipmen allowed 288 points and averaged 22.2 points given up per game, which was the 34th best in the country.

The Navy secondary was terrifying to throw against in 2024. Cornerback Dashaun Peele led the team in interceptions with five. For teams that were unlucky and couldn't get the ball out in time, chances are, they felt the wrath of team sack leader Justin Reed, who, from the defensive end position, had six sacks on the year.

2. The 2015 Team (11-2)

After five years of being pretty decent, Navy football took flight in 2015. The Midshipmen would go 11-2 and cap off their season with a win over Pitt on their home turf in the Military Bowl.

During the 2015 season, Navy went on a dominant three-game stretch that brought them some of their most important wins of the season. This run went through Tulane, South Florida and No.15 Memphis. Then, Navy would win a nail-biter against Army by a score of 21-17.

Offense was by far the strongest aspect of this team. The Navy offense scored a total of 478 points on the year and averaged 36.8 points per game.

During this season, Navy had one of the best players in college football, quarterback Keenan Reynolds. Reynolds is one of the legends of Navy football, and for good reason. In 2015, Reynolds completed 53% of his passes for 1,203 yards and just one interception. On the ground, Reynolds ran for 1,373 yards and 24 touchdowns on 265 carries.

These numbers were enough to rank Reynolds fourth in the Heisman race. You read that right. A Navy quarterback was a Heisman finalist. Although he didn’t win it, Reynolds is in elite quarterback company as the only other Navy quarterback to be a Heisman finalist who won it. His name is Roger Staubach, and he is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Defensively, one player stood out above the rest. Defensive end Will Anthony led the team in tackles for loss with 11.5 and sacks with 7.5.

1. The 2019 Team (11-2)

As if going 11-2 once wasn’t enough, head coach Ken Niumatalolo did it again in 2019. And as he did in 2015, Niumatalolo led the Midshipmen to a bowl game victory to end the year. This time, it was by a score of 20-17 over Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl.

To get to that record and a bowl win, Navy picked up impressive wins throughout the season. The most notable of these wins came against Memphis, Tulsa and South Florida. Then, it was as if Army was an FCS school because Navy obliterated them with the score being 31-7.

As was the case in 2015, the offense was dominant once again. Navy put up a total of 483 points and averaged 37.2 points per game, which was just outside of the top ten in the country at 12.

The frontman of the offense was quarterback Malcolm Perry. By air, Malcolm completed 55.8% of his passes for 1,084 yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions. On the ground, Perry had 2,017 yards and 21 touchdowns on 295 carries. These statistics prove that option offenses go a long way.

On defense, Navy had a pair of linebackers who shot out like cannonballs. Diego Fagot was second on the team in tackles for loss with 12 and sacks with 5.5. The only man on the better roster was Jake Springer, who led the team in tackles for loss with 16 and sacks with eight.

This combination of a high-flying offense and a gritty, hard-nosed defense has taken the 2019 Navy Football team and put it at the top of this list as the best program in the history of the United States Naval Academy.

Max Malec is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email mvm7264@psu.edu.