HC Jeff Monken talks about ‘The Game’ and the Army Football 'Brotherhood'

Today was the official press luncheon for Army-Navy Game that was held at the West Club Level at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Both teams were represented at today’s official kick-off for the scheduled December 8th show-down.

Army West Point: Boo Corrigan, Director of Athletics; Jeff Monken, Head Coach; Cole Christiansen, Team Captain; Bryce Holland, Team Captain; Darnell Woolfolk, Team Captain (was unable to attend).

Navy: Chet Gladchuk, Director of Athletics; Ken Niumatalolo, Head Coach; Anthony Gargiulo, Team Captain; Sean Williams, Team Captain

Needless to say, this served as a great opportunity for members of the media to meet and conduct interviews the aforementioned assembled group as they remain in preparation mode for this year’s Army-Navy Game, the 119th edition of the greatest rivalry in all of sports, and the 88th time the game has been hosted in the City of Philadelphia. The game will be played at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday, December 8, 2018.

GoBlackKnights.com had an opportunity to chat with 5th year head coach Jeff Monken, who if the Army Black Knights win on the 8th of December would mark win No. 3 in a row over their academy rival Navy ... whereby No. 1 was “we finally did it”, No. 2 “we did again” and now #3, “we have a football program for sure”.

So, we asked the Army mentor, what winning three in a row over Navy would mean to him as a head coach, but also the current status of the Army football program.

“This is an important game in itself, no matter what the records are, what we’ve done in the past,” explained Monken. “As you said and I agree with you Charles, it’s the biggest rivalries in college football and the best rivalry in sports. So, just here is all that really matters.”

“Whether it’s three in a row, the first one or whatever ... it’s just great to win this game. What even I think makes it more special for us this year and to win this game is to win the CiC Trophy for the 2nd year in a row which has never been done. To retain it is one thing, but to win it and win it outright is something else.”

“So, we were able to take care of the first step and now this is the second step,” he went on to explain. “That’s what ... we want to beat Navy and that is what makes this such a great rivalry. Three-Hundred-Sixty-Five (365) days you think about this game and you want to win this game. Nobody is going to fault you for talking about this rivalry everyday. We’ve got signs up and we don’t pull down and they stay up all year long.”

“We want to win this game, it’s the biggest game of the year no doubt, but is also means winning the CiC Trophy,” Monken added. “So really for this team, for the 2018 team that’s all that important. We’ve got guys that are going to play in this game that weren’t even on the team two years ago or a freshman ... they’ve never been part of this game, so this team is responsible for this year’s game and that’s the way we are going to approach it and try to win this game. So, I think the players have done a great job this year, our staff has done a terrific job in preparing this team, and our guys just execute and that’s what it’s going to take to win this game. Execution of the plan and hopefully we can do it and it would be a very proud moment for our team and I think the program is in a good place.”

“Regardless what happens on December 8th, I think the program is in a really good place and it’s because of the effort of the players and what they’ve done to change this program.”

We went on to ask Monken if the success of this 2018 season and being ranked in the Top 25 was also a representation of all those players that he had initially inherited, recruited and eventually coached at Army West Point .... such former players as Geoffery Bacon and so many others, who of course they won’t be suited up in the Gold & Black on December 8th.

"Oh sure ... everybody has had their part, everybody," declared Monken. "You know that first team that we had and you mentioned Geoffery Bacon, along with guys like Terry Baggett and Glover on that first team we had .... they’re proud. This is their team, their program and they are part of this ‘Brotherhood’."

"They are excited to see the success and they certainly had a hand in building the program and helping build the culture."

"We have a lot of guys that won’t suit up for the game ... they are either injured or haven’t quite develop through the program enough to be one of those guys that is going to play and get on the field on December 8th," the coach added. "But everyone on our team is important and I talked to our team about that. Everybody has a role and everyone had to do their job in order for the whole operation to work the way we want it to."

"I think our guys really embrace that and they know that they make a difference, that they play a part in the success. That’s why when we play a home game and this game in Philadelphia, everybody will be on the sidelines ... whether they are in sweatsuit or whole gear."

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