Ellerson has Army finally moving in right direction
First-year coach has Black Knights eyeing bowl bid

By Camille Powell <http:// projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/articles/camille+powell/> 
Washington Post Staff Writer 
Thursday, December 10, 2009 

Rich Ellerson loves the rivalry between Army and Navy, calling it "a template" and "the example of what a rivalry should look like." He is aware that Navy has dominated the competition recently, winning the past seven games by an average score of 39-10. But he wants to make one thing clear. 

"I haven't lost any to Navy," he said. 

It's true; this is Ellerson's first season as the Black Knights' head coach, and the 110th meeting between Army and Navy will be his first on the sideline. He's brought plenty of changes to West Point -- for starters, he turned a 6-foot-10 left tackle into a wide receiver -- and has Army playing for its first bowl berth in 13 years. 

The Black Knights (5-6) already have won more games than they have in any season since 1996, when they went 10-2 and lost to Auburn in the Independence Bowl. A victory over Navy (8-4) in Philadelphia on Saturday would be their first win against a service academy team since 2005, and it would put them in the EagleBank Bowl against Temple on Dec. 29 at RFK Stadium. 

"Just look at them; they're better," said Navy Coach Ken Niumatalolo, who has known Ellerson for more than two decades. "Army is a better football team, and it's because of Coach Ellerson. He knows what he wants, he has a vision and he's as smart as they come." 

Ellerson was hired late last year from Cal Poly, where he posted a 56-34 record in eight seasons. His familiarity with both the triple-option offense (he worked with Paul Johnson at the University of Hawaii) and West Point made him an ideal fit for an Army program that was bringing in its third coach in four years. 

He did not attend West Point -- he graduated from Hawaii in 1977 -- but he has a deep understanding and respect for the academy. His father and two brothers are West Point graduates and retired Army officers; his oldest brother, John, was a three-year letter-winner in football and served as the Black Knights' captain in 1962. 

So Ellerson believes that his goal as football coach is to make sure his players are "pulling in the same direction that everyone else is on post; we're all on the same team," he said. That philosophy, he added, is reflected in everything that the team does: from the offense that it runs (a variation of the triple-option that Navy has used to great success), to the defense that it uses (the double-eagle flex, a complex, aggressive scheme that Ellerson helped devise as an assistant at Arizona), to the players whom it recruits ("future officers who run fast"). 

"I was told when I got here -- it wasn't quite said this way, but I heard it this way -- 'Ellerson, your job is to develop leaders of character,' " he said. "We are part and parcel to the larger [goals of the academy]. 

"The greatest professional compliment I'll ever receive is I got to participate in the execution of the mission of the United States Military Academy. My venue is football, the greatest leadership, team-building laboratory on post." 

Ellerson has done things to try to bring the football players closer to their (non-athlete) classmates and to their teammates. He required all of his players to take the Army physical fitness test; in previous years, certain players -- many of the linemen, for instance -- were allowed to do a bike test instead of doing the two-mile run. That gesture had an impact on the Corps of Cadets, said senior defensive tackle Victor Ugenyi, "They see us doing the exact same things they're doing, and it's okay, maybe they are working for us, maybe they're part of us." 

On the football field, Ellerson made changes as well. A total of 18 players switched positions, including five players who are currently starting. Ugenyi moved from defensive end to defensive tackle, and senior Fritz Bentler went from defensive tackle to left guard. 

Ali Villanueva, a 6-foot-10 senior, made the biggest switch, moving from left tackle -- where he started 12 games as a junior -- to wide receiver. Ellerson likes having a big receiver on the perimeter of his offense -- at Cal Poly, he had 6-6 Ramses Barden, who's now with the New York Giants. Villanueva leads Army with 29 catches for 460 yards and has all five of the team's touchdown receptions. 

Ellerson is "a little bit different compared to the other coaches," said Ugenyi, who also played for Bobby Ross and Stan Brock. "I'd say he's more like a hippie football coach. He's from the West Coast. He gives a different perspective because you're used to everything being by the book. When Coach Ellerson comes and switches it up, it makes you think." 

So far, Ellerson has the players thinking that they can put Army back on the right track. 

"This game will hopefully turn the program in the right direction," Ugenyi said. "When the seniors came here as freshmen, we all got together and said that our goal was to bring winning football back to Army. With this game -- and hopefully the bowl game afterward -- we can do that." 
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/football/bal-sp.cowherd10dec10,0,1650198.column?page=2 
Don't think Army-Navy still matters? You're wrong
            
Listen to the players and learn the reason
                          
                  Kevin Cowherd                              

  Go ahead and tell me why you don't think the Army < http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/unrest-conflicts-war/defense/u.s.-army-ORGOV0000126141142.topic > -Navy football < http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/intl/iraq-PLGEO0000012.topic >  game is a big deal anymore.

No BCS glamour teams? No Heisman Trophy candidates? Nobody who'll be decked out in a pricey designer suit and jabbering into a cell phone when the TV cameras show him as a top pick in the next NFL < http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/sports/football/nfl-ORSPT000007.topic >  draft?

Not enough big-time atmosphere, not enough glitz - that's your problem with the Army-Navy game?

If so, you're missing the whole point of the best pure rivalry in college sports, which takes place for the 110th time Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

"This is a game in a lot of ways that transcends football," Ross Pospisil,Navy's inside linebacker and co-captain, said at the recent kickoff luncheon. "We know [the Army players'] lifestyle, and we know what they're going through.

"It makes the game something special. ... It has a deeper meaning for [U.S.] servicemen all across the world."

See, that's what you have to understand about this game: It's between two arch-rivals who have nothing but respect for each other.

Go take in another big college football rivalry like Alabama-Auburn or Oklahoma-Texas or Ohio State <http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/education/colleges-universities/ohio-state-university-OREDU000048.topic > -Michigan.

Tell me what you hear from the players and their fans: WE CAN'T STAND THOSE GUYS. WE WANT TO DESTROY THEM.

You never hear anything like that during Army-Navy week.

For one thing, the players know their counterparts at the other service academy face the same challenges they do: the long hours, the demanding academic regimen, the emphasis on serving their country once their military commitment begins.

And they know that a few months after they graduate, these midshipmen and cadets could find themselves fighting alongside one another in Iraq and Afghanistan and God knows where else, with real bombs going off and real bullets flying and real people dying.

Don't get me wrong: The outcome of the Army-Navy game is still important to both sides.

Incredibly important, if you want to know the truth.

No matter how many wins Army or Navy has going into the big game, a loss makes the season a disappointment.

And a win confers bragging rights to Army and Navy personnel who serve around the world and look forward to the game each year.

"We know that Army members who are abroad listen to this game on their radios," said Victor Ugenyi, Army's defensive tackle and co-captain. "It feels great to be able to help out fellow soldiers who are fighting - even if it's in a small way."

Navy (8-4) has had the upper hand in this rivalry for years, having won the past seven games.

No, check that. The Midshipmen haven't just won those seven games - they've crushed the Black Knights in almost every one. (Final scores: 34-0 last year, 38-3 in 2007, 26-14 in 2006, 42-23 in 2005, 42-13 in 2004, 34-6 in 2003 and 58-12 in 2002.)

But there's actually talk of Army (5-6) giving Navy a game this year, something that could kick off a party at CBS <http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/economy-business-finance/cbs-corp.-ORCRP002841.topic > , which televises the game.

For one thing, there's a sense that new head coach Rich Ellerson, hired last December from Cal Poly after eight successful seasons, has begun to turn the program around. (This will take some doing, since Army hasn't had a winning season in 12 years.)

And an Army win would guarantee that the Black Knights play in the Eagle Bank Bowl, their first bowl appearance since 1996.

Make no mistake, the Army players and coaches look with envy at Navy's recent record in football, which includes six winning seasons in a row and six bowl appearances.

But there's a war going on, and it has been going on since not long after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.

And in a time of war, Army people know West Point is a much harder sell than Annapolis when you're trying to recruit young athletes to a service academy.

"Their [dress] uniforms look better than ours," Army wide receiver and co-captain Ali Villanueva said with a faint smile. "And if you go to West Point, the instructors tell you the first day: 'You're going to Iraq or Afghanistan.' "

Said Ellerson: "When you're 17 and 18 years old, what we do [at West Point], you can't shine it up."

But at least for three hours Saturday in Philadelphia, there will be no talk of war for the Brigade of Midshipmen and the Corps of Cadets.

There will be only talk of football.

And that's another reason the game still matters.

Coaches' past will be present for Army-Navy
By Mike Fratto < http:// www.washingtontimes.com/staff/mike-fratto/> 

When Army hired Rich Ellerson in December, it was a bittersweet moment for Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo. 

The second-year Navy coach was happy his close friend landed a top spot at a Football Bowl Subdivision school, but he also knew beating his rival just became a lot tougher. 

"It's funny considering that Coach Ellerson recruited me out of high school," Niumatalolo said. "So I had a lot of mixed emotions when he became the coach at Army. I know what he represents, and I know he likes to win." 

One of the hottest topics at last week's Army-Navy luncheon was the longtime relationship between the coaches. Each shared his memory of the fateful night it all started more than 20 years ago when Ellerson, then an assistant at Hawaii, traveled to the town of Laie to recruit Niumatalolo. Niumatalolo's family served a traditional Samoan meal and made sure Ellerson's plate was full. 

Niumatalolo became a graduate assistant after his career was over. And only when Ellerson left for Arizona in 1992 did Niumatalolo become a full-time assistant at Hawaii. 

That relationship will come full-circle Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field. The Midshipmen (8-4) are favored over the Black Knights (5-6) in the schools' 110th meeting. 

"I would not be here if it wasn't for Coach Ellerson," Niumatalolo said. "My playing career and my coaching career got a start because of Coach Ellerson." 

The two kept in contact as they bounced around the country moving up the coaching ladder. That became easier in 2001 when Ellerson landed the top spot at Football Championship Subdivision school Cal Poly. 

There he installed the triple option, having learned its finer points from former Mids coach Paul Johnson when they were on the Hawaii staff together. And since Ellerson's tenure at Cal Poly coincided with Johnson's in Annapolis, Ellerson often consulted with Johnson and his staff. 

After elevating Cal Poly to the ranks of FCS elite with a 56-34 record in eight seasons, Ellerson has Army on the verge of an EagleBank Bowl berth in his first season. 

"It's appropriate that in this contest, in this game between these two institutions, that our coaching staffs should have those kinds of feelings. This rivalry is built on respect," Ellerson said. "I care what Coach Niumatalolo thinks about our preparation and how prepared our team is to play, just like I know that our players care about that guy lined up across from them thinks." 

Ellerson was a perfect fit for the vacant Army job. His father and two older brothers attended West Point, and he brought with him a knowledge of the option; athletic director Kevin Anderson coveted both factors after seeing the program struggle much of the decade with a pro-style offense. 

Naturally, Niumatalolo was happy for Ellerson. But in becoming the Black Knights' coach, he guaranteed one thing: For one week a year, their friendship is on standby. 

"Coach Niumatalolo and I are fierce competitors," Ellerson said. "The last thing we said to each other [last week] after we patted each other on the shoulder was, 'See you after it's over.' 
Support Navy football coverage in USA Today by clicking on this link:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2009-12-10-navy-army-triple-option_N.htm 

Navy reaps success from triple option; Army tries to follow suit 

By Gary Mihoces < http://www.usatoday.com/community/tags/reporter.aspx?id=220 > , USA TODAY

PHILADELPHIA  The U.S. Naval Academy football team, riding a triple-option offense that clicks with military precision, already has wrapped up its seventh consecutive season with at least eight wins and a bowl berth. So what's left?

A little business here Saturday: the 110th Army-Navy game. The past decade, it has been all Navy. The Midshipmen have won a series record seven in a row and nine of the last 10. Combined score in the seven-game streak: 274-71.

Triple-option coaching wizard Paul Johnson <http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/People/Sports+Coaches,+Team+Owners,+Execs,+Officials/NCAA/Paul+Johnson > ran his offense for six seasons at Navy before leaving two years ago for Georgia Tech, where his scheme yielded an Atlantic Coast Conference title this season. His successor and protégé at Navy, Ken Niumatalolo, stuck with an offense that fits the type of players Navy can recruit with its academics and five-year military commitment. 

In the triple option, the quarterback can give the ball to the fullback, run or pitch back to a trailing slot back. It has clicked for Navy, the NCAA < http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Sports+Leagues/NCAA/National+Collegiate+Athletic+Association >  rushing leader the last four years and third this year (279.7 yards a game).

At 8-4, Navy has beaten Notre Dame <http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Sports+Leagues/NCAA/Notre+Dame+Fighting+Irish >  for the second time in three years and nearly knocked off Ohio State <http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Sports+Leagues/NCAA/Ohio+State+Buckeyes > , losing by four. The Midshipmen will play Missouri in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 31. 

BOWL SCHEDULE: Matchups for all 2009-10 bowl games < http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bowls.htm > 
Given Navy's domination of Army, is the game here at Lincoln Financial Field still the game on its schedule?

"It's definitely the biggest, just from the tradition and everything on the line and by being so more much more than just a football game," says Navy junior Ricky Dobbs, who tied a Football Bowl Subdivision record for quarterbacks by rushing for 23 touchdowns this season.

The game is being played a week later this year, moving it away from sharing the spotlight with traditional first-weekend-in-December conference championship showdowns. Both teams will pin their hopes on the triple option. 

"These guys know we have been beating them a couple of times. So no senior class or no team wants to be the ones that end it," says Niumatalolo (KNEE-uh-mot-uh-lo-lo), a native Hawaiian.

The U.S. Military Academy is starting over with another new coach in Rich Ellerson, who recruited Niumatalolo to play at the University of Hawaii when Ellerson coached there and shares Niumatalolo's commitment to the triple option.

With freshman quarterback Trent Steelman running Army's version of the offense, the Black Knights are 5-6 after working through a less rigorous schedule than Navy's. That's the most victories by an Army team since the 1996 squad went 10-2. With a win against Navy, Army can clinch its first bowl trip since 1996 and play in the EagleBank Bowl on Dec. 29 in Washington against Temple.

Ellerson, who came to Army from a winning, eight-year stint as coach at Cal Poly, welcomes the Navy challenge.

"We expect it to be fiercely contested. We expect to win," Ellerson says. "Obviously, they're the more accomplished football team. … We're anxious to measure ourselves against the service academy that right now is dominant."

Army defensive tackle/co-captain Victor Ugenyi borrows a seagoing analogy: "We haven't turned the whole ship around, but we're starting to face it in the right direction. If we win this game, I may sit on the field and stare up at the sky. That would mean the world to me."

Players who fit the scheme 

The road to success at Navy started when the academy fired coach Charlie Weatherbie <http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Charlie+Weatherbie >  after his 2000 and 2001 teams went a combined 1-20. Athletics director Chet Gladchuk < http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Chet+Gladchuk > hired Johnson, who had used the triple option successfully at Georgia Southern and in a two-year stint in the mid-1990s as Navy's offensive coordinator.

"The No. 1 criteria was the triple option, and of course it just fit beautifully," Gladchuk says.

Earlier this decade, Army ran pro-style offenses under former coaches Todd Berry and Bobby Ross <http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Bobby+Ross > . Stan Brock < http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Stan+Brock > , fired after going 3-9 in each of the last two seasons, went pro style his first year and switched to the option last year.

Navy has won with continuity under Johnson and Niumatalolo. It has not only run the triple option, it has recruited players who fit it.

Navy uses two wide receivers split wide. But they block far more than they catch passes. Niumatalolo says the selflessness of the offense fits Navy. "It's a team offense. … You can't be worried about who touches the ball," he says.

With the military commitment, Navy doesn't tend to appeal to players who see the NFL in their futures. That goes beyond 6-5 quarterbacks with big arms.

Week after week, Navy faces teams with 300-pound-plus offensive linemen. Navy's offensive line starters are in the 255- to 265-pound range.

But the triple option keeps defenses guessing. While plays might look similar in the backfield, there's an intricate mix of blocking schemes from all angles. "You can use those smaller linemen to block bigger guys," Niumatalolo says.

Ellerson: "They knew what they were looking for when they went to recruit. They weren't looking for guys that somebody else was looking for. … They said that guy can play here. That's part of their secret, I suspect."

Dobbs is one of Navy's recruiting finds. As a high school quarterback in Georgia, he was about 5-9, 165 pounds. He was interested in Georgia Tech, but the Yellow Jackets wanted him to play wide receiver.

Dobbs was born Jan. 31, 1988, the Super Bowl < http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Events+and+Awards/Sports/Super+Bowl >  Sunday that Doug Williams < http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Doug+Williams >  of the Washington Redskins <http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Sports+Leagues/NFL/Washington+Redskins > became the first African-American quarterback to win a Super Bowl. Navy successfully recruited Dobbs, who is African American, as a quarterback.

He's grown to 6-1, 198, and he has big plans beyond his playing days. He says he wants to run for president of the United States in 2040.

"Growing up, people always told me I was quite the politician," he says. "I just wanted to be president. That I could have an effect on people's lives."

For now, he is commander-in-chief of Navy's triple option, and that primarily involves running the ball. Dobbs' touchdown record ties Florida's Tim Tebow < http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/People/Athletes/NCAA/Tim+Tebow >  (who ran for 23 in 2007) and Air Force's Chance Harridge (who did it in 2002).

Navy beat Wake Forest < http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Schools/Wake+Forest+University >  in the rain this season without throwing a pass. It did the same last season against SMU <http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Schools/Southern+Methodist+University > . Navy ranks 119th of 120 teams in the FBS in passing. Army is 120th (14th in rushing). Dobbs has thrown for four touchdowns. Army's Steelman has thrown for three.

Link between coaches 

Ellerson, 55, is the son of a career Army officer who graduated from West Point. Two of his brothers are West Point graduates, including one who captained the Army team in 1962.

Ellerson played center and linebacker at Hawaii. As a Hawaii assistant in the 1980s, he recruited in-state quarterback Niumatalolo. "I wouldn't be here (at Navy) if it wasn't for coach Ellerson," he says. "He got me into college football."

Niumatalolo, 44, of Samoan heritage, recalls his family putting out a Samoan feast for Ellerson during his recruiting visit. "I don't think he was too acclimated to that food even though he coached at Hawaii for a while," he says. "But my family brought a ton of food to him."

Ellerson definitely developed a taste for the triple option, even though he was a defensive assistant. His time at Hawaii as defensive coordinator (1987-91) overlapped with Johnson's stint there as offensive coordinator.

"If there is a family tree here with Kenny and I, Paul is the patriarch of the family, because he's obviously influenced our choices and style of play," Ellerson says.

At game time, the coaches will put friendship aside. "Coach Ellerson will try to beat our brains in. We're going to try to beat their brains in," Niumatalolo says. "But after that, we have great respect for each other."

Alumni Association Controversy (Foundation, Elections, By-Laws, Governance)

Football: Navy picks up travel costs for Tulane

By BILL WAGNER, Staff Writer

Tulane athletic director Rick Dickson hasn't held a staff meeting in months.

When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, it essentially shut down the university that has been based there since 1834. With its facilities destroyed or damaged, Tulane's entire athletic department has been forced to pick up and move. Dickson is based in Dallas while his basketball team is across the state in College Station. Meanwhile, Tulane's football team is operating out of Ruston, La.

Dickson was personally affected by the hurricane, losing his home in New Orleans along with most of his personal belongings. "Rick asked if he could come casual to dinner on Friday night because he currently doesn't own a necktie," Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk said.

Gladchuk has an emotional attachment to New Orleans and especially Tulane University since he served as the school's athletic director from 1987-90. Hearing that such a great institution is in danger of financial collapse sends shivers down his spine. Tulane is coming to Annapolis this weekend to play Navy in football, and Gladchuk is making certain the trip doesn't cost the visitors a dime. With the support of Adm. Rodney Rempt, the Naval Academy Superintendent, Gladchuk has wiped out all the travel costs normally associated with a football road trip. "We've tried to come up with a way to make this trip on Navy," Gladchuk said. "We're just doing everything we can to help them, to support them." Visiting teams are normally guaranteed an average of $120,000 from the host school. Gladchuk upped that amount by $50,000 and sent the check to Dickson in advance. Tulane is using the additional money to cover air fare for the entire football traveling party.

"Everything involving Tulane athletics is so disjointed right now. There's no cash flow and the school president has basically told Rick Dickson to figure it out," Gladchuk said. "They're really worried about losing everything. We feel compelled to do what we can to help ease the burden."

Navy has come up with ways to save Tulane approximately $50,000 more in expenses for this trip. At the academy's urging, the Wyndham Hotel in Baltimore is providing complimentary rooms for the entire traveling party. When players, coaches and support staff arrive at their hotel rooms, they will find gifts bags filled with all sorts of goodies as a welcome offering from the Naval Academy. Navy has also arranged for free bus transportation for the team throughout its stay in the area. The entire Tulane traveling party has been invited to a dinner at the academy on Friday night. Finally, all Tulane students that wish to attend the game will receive a free ticket by simply presenting a valid student identification card.

Gladchuk estimates the total relief Navy is offering the Tulane athletic department to reach roughly $200,000. "We just want this entire trip, except for the 60 minutes on Saturday, to be very enjoyable for the Tulane folks," Gladchuk said.

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