Is Army West Point The New “Linebacker U”?
Since Head Coach Jeff Monken’s arrival on the “Banks of the Hudson” in 2014, Army Football has produced an astounding number of high-quality linebackers. While no one will confuse Army with Penn State or Alabama when it comes the moniker “Linebacker U,” that takes nothing away from the success Monken and Army have seen at the Linebacker position over the past decade.
Monken has become the second winningest coach in Army football history and we are confident a lot of this success has been a result of the Linebacker play during his tenure.
Army has been through two defensive coordinators during that time – Jay Bateman (2014-2018), who is now the DC at Texas A&M and Nate Woody (2020-present). Woody and Bateman have deployed different versions of the 3-4 defense, although both employed two OLB’s and 2 ILB’s with different position names and call-outs over the years. Their philosophies have been slightly different as well, but both have been successful and Linebackers have shined in both systems.
Kansas City Chiefs LB Cole Christiansen Chimes In
“Army really has had a prolific Linebacker room for a long time now,” declared Cole Christiansen in his chat with GBK. “I was grateful to step in and watch Andrew King and Jeremy Timpf, two of the best ever, when I was a rookie. They set the standard for how linebackers were supposed to play and lead in our defense. I'd like to think that James Nachtigal, Scott Washle, Ryan Parker, myself, and the rest of the guys in our room carried that standard forward.”
“I certainly know Jon Rhattigan and Leo Lowin and the younger guys there now have maintained and exceeded what was done before them.
“The beautiful thing about the defense when I was there was that every position group fed the other,” added the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker. “Yes we had great linebackers, but the rush up front created so much productivity for us. Likewise, rush and coverage work together so the back-end guys covering also allowed us to make more plays. The culture at Army is selfless. Everyone does their job so that the team succeeds, not so much that any one individual gets all the glory. I think the staff over the years have also just recruited well and brought the right guys in, especially at linebacker. I'm honored to be a part of that legacy.”
For a Top 10 list of Army Linebackers during the Monken era, we refer you to this article written late in 2022 on GBK:
The Linebacker group has sent the most prospects to the NFL and NFL camps over the past 10 years as well. Linebackers who signed NFL contracts or got camp invites include:
• Andrew King (2014-2016)
• Alex Aukerman (2015-2017)
• Kenneth Brinson (2015-2018)
• Cole Christiansen (2017-2019)
• Jon Rhattigan (2020)
• Malkelm Morrison (2020-2021)
• Arik Smith (2019-2021)
• Andre Carter (2020-2022)
• Leo Lowin (2021-2023)
• Jimmy Ciarlo (2022-2023)
Rhattigan (Seahawks) Christiansen (Chiefs), Carter (Vikings) and Ciarlo (Jets) are all still on NFL rosters! This is wild when one takes into account how few academy players get invitations to NFL camps overall.
I had the opportunity to sit down with current Defensive Coordinator Nate Woody to talk about all the outstanding linebackers he coached over the years; the unique skill sets of each of his position groups and what is required of each of them; and who he believes will be the next generation of stand-out Linebackers at West Point:
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