Clearing Some Tabs

In his blog, Sal also talks about some things that exemplify the positive changes in Army's football culture, citing Army's never quit attitude late in the Ohio State game. One of the things I notice is the size of the athletes. Rich Ellerson's guys were pretty small with notable exceptions. The Army players today all look like they belong on the field. Right away you can look at more competitive recruiting and a good strength and fitness routine and some academy's move to  institutional. I didn't realize it when it was announced, but Army is now operating their athletic department funding as a 501(c)3 charitable nonprofit. As it was, academy money went to fund all athletics which, since the school is a funded federal academy, meant the football team was operating on federal funds

With Jeff Monken's contract figures withheld to this point we can assume the salary is now allocated from the West Point Athletic Association fund. Back 2013 in Mike at the Birddog gave his own assessment of why Army lagged behind on the gridiron. With the formation of Army's nonprofit entity for the athletic department Army can finally get competitive financially, which in the sense of hiring coaches and staff, should make a positive difference in terms of wins and losses. If anything, a move to the more flexible financial model will bring better chances at stability at the coaching spot.  Better money should equal better coaching, better coaching coupled with what the lighter scheduling that we've seen produces a winning culture. With wins come a chance at stability at the head coaching spot. The Birddog blog did a good job there at gauging the disparity between the tools that Navy uses and the way Army used to operate its athletic department. Take a look for yourself and make a check list of the things West Point has done to change the direction of Army football.

None of that is to overshadow what a great job Jeff Monken has done to improve the program. We're on the topic of wholesale upgrades to the program, and it's clear that Jeff Monken as head coach is the upgrade that's been needed. Hopefully it's a long term situation. Army is lucky to have Coach Monken and I can only hope the contract will continue Army's improvement for the long term.




What really had me holding my breath - Rhyan England's status is a little bit more clear. Sal has the word on England's knee. It's no sigh of relief, but I expected the absolute worst when I saw Rhyan go down. Adding to England's injury Sal looked at some other injuries incurred in Columbus. As is

Here's to a complete recovery for all and hopefully some good fortune in terms of getting back on the field again.


Danny Wild has some great pictures of Army's game at Ohio State. There are some impressive closeup shots of pregame and action from the game - it's the kind of up close and personal shots you don't really see anywhere else. Par for the course for Danny - go ahead over there and check out all of his stuff, he's got great pictures on many subjects beyond Army football.











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