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If Coach Monken was not there for two days of practice before the Navy game, then I think he bailed out on our team. You can't preach brotherhood and last of the hard if you put yourself first.

Having said that, I believe that Coach Monken is a great coach who made a mistake that he bitterly regrets. I believe that he will coach with even more intensity next season.

As is the case in victory, defeat is truly a team effort.
JM was not the onw who missed a tackle that gave the Navy receiver a clear path 40 yards to the end zone.
Nor was he the one who missed a wide open receiver in the end zone or threw 3 really bad interceptions.
I doubt if he was the one responsible for a man weighing 285 pounds, somehow managing to run 30 yards through a mass of bodies untouched for a key first down. A fake punt - who could possibly have anticipated that?
How about a receiver running a deep pattern while out of bounds? And on and on.....

I don't disagree with anything previously posted here. Obviously not JM's finest hour, but plenty of blame to go around here.

I accuse no one for this embarrassment. We win and we lose.
A bitter defeat? Yes, and for all of us.
In 79 years following the team, I can recall many sad moments.
1947-1950-1963 and many more against our top rival. I remember them all.
How about the good times like 1944-1945-1958 and many more of those too. Yes, I do remember personally those early games. I was just a kid then when I started my collection of everything connected to the football program. Still do at the autumn of my life.
Good moments. Bad moments. It all comes with the game and being just a fan.
Can't say much more about yesterday.

I started watching Army-Navy every year (when not deployed) starting in 1972, my plebe year. While every loss to the squids sucks, this one ranks in the worst three or four I can recall.

USMA76 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 15, 2024 6:33 pm I started watching Army-Navy every year (when not deployed) starting in 1972, my plebe year. While every loss to the squids sucks, this one ranks in the worst three or four I can recall.

Steelman fumble probably #1 on my list but agree this is high on the list especially if we win bowl. 13-1army finishes in top 15

monkensminion wrote: ↑Sun Dec 15, 2024 1:39 pm The bottom line is that Monken was away from practice for two days this past week interviewing for other jobs— UNC and West Virginia. That is bullshit. And I’m pissed.

Yeah I don't like that at all, but Army-Navy week is always going to fall square in the middle of the coaching carousel, isn't it? If we have the type of program and coaches that we all desire, isn't this going to be a problem that we'll repeatedly face? No excuses. Navy kicked our butt and we need to take it. But can we expect our coaches not to be interested in other jobs? We won't attract good coaches if the expectation is that they can't think about other jobs. How did Navy handle this during Coach N's long run of success?

Perhaps this is all the more reason why we should hope Army-Navy is permanently moved to the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Yeah, we won't be the only game that day, but we can count on our coaches being fully engaged, and we'll avoid the post-AAC championship pitfall.

Let’s be clear on one thing, Monken did not miss a practice last week, much less 2. While it appears he may very well have interviewed and been a finalist for 2 jobs over the past couple of weeks, the interviews would have been held in NY or via Zoom. Distracted? Quite possible. AWOL? Absolutely not.

One of the things Monken mentioned in the post game presser was that they shortened practices in an attempt to get healthy. Wondering if that strategy takes away from time to actively work against the Navy schemes and also if it takes the team out of their normal routine.
Other thing that had me perplexed…. The announcers realized quite early that Navy was shifting their linemen after 15sec left on the 25sec clock. Thus, the mic to Daily’s helmet was cut prior to the shift. Wouldn’t it have been prudent, especially since we we coming from behind, to start snapping the ball earlier to throw off the Navy shift?

Our coach is our treasure.
We all make mistakes.
I accuse him for nothing. I see the intensity of the man, his dedication to his team, his family, his school and to his profession.
What more can you ask of anyone?
Yes, we lost a football game. He will dedicate himself to the next and last game to win. He has produced the best team we have ever had in the modern era.
He may say we had a GOOD team. To me , I believe he had a unbelievable team. A storybook team whether we beat a team that we should have beat or not.
Congratulations to all. I mean that.

2mint wrote: ↑Sun Dec 15, 2024 9:35 pm Let’s be clear on one thing, Monken did not miss a practice last week, much less 2. While it appears he may very well have interviewed and been a finalist for 2 jobs over the past couple of weeks, the interviews would have been held in NY or via Zoom. Distracted? Quite possible. AWOL? Absolutely not.

Can you source this. I read multiple reports last week that he had flown for an interview. Can't find them now or I'd repost.