It almost escaped our attention here at GoBlackKnights.com, and apparently most others as well, but the win over UConn last Saturday was Jeff Monken’s 100th win as a head coach.
Monken’e Record at Georgia Southern 2010 -2013
Prior to coming to West Point, Monken compiled an impressive record as the head coach at Georgia Southern
In his first season, Monken led the Eagles to a 10–5 record and a trip to the FCS Semifinals. In 2011, his Eagles compiled a record of 11–3, winning the Southern Conference championship and earning a second-straight trip to the FCS Semifinals. He was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year.
The following season Monken led Georgia Southern to their second straight conference championship with a 10–4 overall record, earning a third consecutive trip to the FCS Semifinal appearance and a No. 3 national ranking.
Georgia Southern accepted an invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference in March 2013 and made their transition season to the FBS with a 7-4 record. Monken finished his tenure at Georgia State with a record of 38 wins and 16 losses.
Army Came Calling in 2013
Coach Monken was hired shortly after the end of the 2013 season and launched his first season at West Point in 2014.
Monken began his tenure at West Point with a mediocre 4-8 season in 2014 and followed it up with an even more disappointing 2-10 season in 2015.
In 2016, Monken finally got things turned around as he started the season with 3 straight wins and came into the final game of the regular season against Navy with a 6-5record that included two wins over FCS opponents. He capped off the season in grand fashion with a 21-17 win that snapped Army’s 14-game losing streak. against the Midshipmen. Army received an invitation to the Heart of Dallas Bowl, and defeated local favorite North Texas to finish with an 8-5 record.
The Black Knights continued to roll under Monken in 2017 with a 10-3 season that tied the Army record for most wins in a season set in 1996. His 21-0 win over Air Force in Colorado Springs and 14-13 win over Navy brought the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy back to West Point for the first time since 1996, Army capped off the season with a 42-35 upset over San Diego State in the Armed Forces Bowl.
The following year, Monken’s Black Knights broke the record for wins in a single season with an 11-2 record including wins over Air Force and Navy and another trip to the Armed
Forces Bowl, where they capped off the season with a 70-14 beat down of Houston.
2019 saw a setback to the upward momentum. After starting the season with a 3-1 record that included a heartbreaking 21-24 loss to the Michigan Wolverines, the injury-riddled Black Knights suffered a series of losses that resulted in a 5-8 season.
2020 was the season that almost didn’t happen as Covid concerns resulted in cancellations of most of the original games on the schedule. West Point established a safety bubble around the academy and invited teams from the FCS and FBS to compete in a secure environment. Army played 9 home games that year including back-to-back wins against Navy and
Air Force in Michie to finish out the regular season with a 9-2 record. Army accepted an invitation to the Liberty Bowl where they were edged by ‘West Virginia 24-21.
NCAA football returned to post-Covid scheduling in 2021, and the Black Knights put together another winning year with an 8-4 regular season record and a thrilling 24-22 win over Missouri in the Armed Forces Bowl to bring Monken’s career record to 96 wins and 59 losses at the end of the 2021 season.
The Final Four Wins in 2022
We at GBK must admit that we were not fully attuned to the approaching milestone, but had we given it more attention most of us would have predicted that Monken would reach the 100-win mark about halfway through the season. Unfortunately, it took a little longer than expected.
Army traveled to South Carolina to start the season against a tough Coastal Carolina team and came away on the short end of a 28-38 score. UTSA came to Mickie the following week and won in overtime 38-41.
Monken’s 97th career win came at the hands of a highly rated FCS team with their 49-10 win over Villanova.
After taking an unexpected loss at the hands of Georgia State, Army headed south to face 15th-ranked Wake Forest and came back with another loss and a disappointing 1-3 record.
Monken’s 98th win came against Colgate and then the team headed back south to capture No. 99 against ULM.
If this had been a movie script, Monken would have won his hundredth game against Air Force in Arlington, Texas, but the Falcons prevailed and the Black Knight traveled to Troy a week later to drop another heartbreaker to the Trojans 9-10.
It was Senior Day at Michie when Monken finally reached the 100-win mark with the 34-17 win over UConn.
Monken’s Memories
GoBlackKnights.com connected with the Army football mentor to get his comments on reaching the milestone and as he chimed in on some of his most memorable wins as a coach, especially at Army West Point.
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