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Free: Retain and Develop - Two more legs of the team building triangle

Former Rivals 3-star center and so-to-be Army West Point senior, Bryce Holland
Former Rivals 3-star center and so-to-be Army West Point senior, Bryce Holland


In his first press conference as the new head coach back in December of 2013, Jeff Monken was asked to identify five things atop the list of things he needed to get done, and he responded as follows:

"One is recruit,” he immediately stated. “We've got to get the right kids in here and we have to identify them. We do that by putting together a staff that can evaluate and seek out those young men that belong here at West Point. I don't know if there are other things that are more important than those two. The next would be the return of our veteran players and getting them ready to go for the 2014 season. Recruit, retain the ones we've got, and develop them all.”

“Those are the three things that I think are really important,” Monken added. “You won't sustain success unless those things are continuous in the program.”

At the time he held this press conference, there were several Army recruits that had already committed to dismissed head coach Rich Ellerson. However, now Ellerson was gone, and his assistants were still uncertain of their future at West Point as well. The success of the 2014 recruiting year would depend, in part, on retaining some of those key recruits.

A couple of Ellerson’s recruits de-committed, while others just needed to rethink their positions, including two who Monken’s staff retained and developed into leaders of this coming season, Alex Aukerman and Bryce Holland.

Three years ago, GoBlackKnights.com interviewed both recruits shortly after the change in head coaches was announced and as recently as yesterday surrounding mood of the time and both remaining steadfast to their initial pledge.

Aukerman Quickly Confirmed his Commitment (GBK article dtd 12/15/13)

“My commitment is still solid and I'm 100% Army," confirmed Aukerman. "I actually just had my in-home visit from Coach Waugh [Tucker] tonight and it went great. He just showed me the path the academy is going and some of the changes that may be made."

"It was really nice, because he doesn't even know if he'll be back. So for him to go out on the limb like that, it was really comforting.”

A little more than four years have passed, and GBK spoke with the starting outside linebacker to get Aukerman’s recollections and current perspective.

Soon to be senior OLB, Alex Aukerman
Soon to be senior OLB, Alex Aukerman
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GBK: After Rich Ellerson was fired, what people did you talk to and what factors lead you to stay the course to R-Day and ultimately to their senior season under head coach Jeff Monken?

Alex Aukerman: For me it was really the other players, the brotherhood and the opportunity to play at a Division I level. Coach Ellerson wasn’t the main factor.

GBK: Your relationship with current running backs coach Tucker Waugh, who recruiting you out of high school ... between the time you initially committed and R-Day, do you still has a special relationship with Coach Waugh as a result.

Alex Aukerman: Coach Waugh and I still have a special relationship. When Ellerson was let go, Coach Waugh was very transparent and he didn’t even know if he was going to be retained. When he was, I was very excited. He is always trying to recruit me on his position teams .... for example, I am on the starting punt team and KOR, although Coach Bateman is always trying to get me off those teams {laughing}.

GBK: What is the current vibe of the team, especially coming off of a very productive season, which included the emotional win over Navy that was followed by the bowl win over North Texas?

Alex Aukerman: Everyone has bought into the system and program and they can see from last season what hard work gets you. I think everyone is more hyped in our winter workouts now ... even compared to last year.

HOLLAND WAIVERED … for a Day (GBK article dtd 12/15/13)

Rivals 3-star offensive center Bryce Holland had these initial thoughts upon hearing of Ellerson's termination. "Well now I have to see what happens as far as coaching changes," claimed the prospect out of Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton High School. "I'm not ruling out Army, but I have to make sure a new coaching staff will fit me.”

That was on December 15th, but 48 hours later, he was back on board. "Hey I felt as I was a little out of line yesterday, the coaching change hit me very hard," said a more vivacious Holland. "I'm still 100% Army, that is my home, I committed there for a reason. "Who knows, this could be a great thing for Army and could be a start to the new era of Army football. I'm looking forward to the meeting the new coach and seeing what he has in store for the Army football team ... Go Army Beat Navy.”

So what did Holland have to say about all that four years later?

GBK: After Rich Ellerson was fired, what people did you talk to and what factors lead you to stay the course to R-Day and ultimately to their senior season under head coach Jeff Monken? I recall that you were close to former high school teammate and offensive lineman Patrick Joseph. How much influence did Patrick have on his initial commitment and going forward. You were ideally suited for Ellerson’s triple option scheme while Monken had a slightly different view of the ideal offensive lineman. Was that a cause for concern?

Bryce Holland: Yeah, Patrick was a year ahead of me, but he went to prep school and I came in direct, so we both entered West Point the same year.

With regards to my decision after Coach Ellerson was fired, I consulted with my family and high school coaches, but him being fired didn’t factor into it. I knew I wanted to come to West Point and become an Army officer, so I was committed all along.

Regarding the different style of triple option offense ... well, since I never played under Coach Ellerson’s style, it was just going to be that growing period under Coach Monken’s offense, so I personally didn’t have anything to compare one to the other to.

GBK: The current vibe of the team as take in winter conditioning?

Bryce Holland: As a team we say keep climbing, which embodies everything. Last season was great, but that’s behind us and we are looking forward.

Retention Accomplished

We are happy to note that the staff succeeded in retaining both of those 2014 recruits, and clearly they have been developed into two of the outstanding players and recognized leaders of the 2017 team. Holland developed into what most fans expected him to be, an outstanding center on what promises to be a very good offensive line, while Aukerman is the poster child for an attribute that coach Monken described as “position flexibility” in a recent interview.

"That’s precisely what our philosophy is," shared Monken in his one-on-one post National Signing Day interview with GoBlackKnights.com. "We know who we are, we know that the guys that are ... the highly recruited guys that everybody talks about on TV and all that stuff ... we are not going to be in that pool of recruits, very rarely would we be there. But it is to find guys with position flexibility, guys who are tough, guys who are winners and competitive. They fit in this environment and so we try to find as many of those guys as we can and recruit them.”

Development to be Continued

Spring practice season is a little over a month away, and the development process will take center stage for 3 weeks. GBK will be watching to see where Aukerman ends up in the 2017 lineup, and we expect that both of these rising seniors will play a role in the development of younger players moving up to join them in the staring lineup, as the process continues…..

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