Jeff Monken calls it his favorite time of the year.
Army will open spring football practice on Thursday at West Point. Fourteen practices will conclude with the annual Black and Gold scrimmage at Michie Stadium on April 11, a Friday evening.
“I’m just so excited to be back out on the field,’’ Monken said this week. As Army’s second-winningest coach, Monken will be prepping for his 12th season as head coach. “I guess just the excitement of starting a new season for me … I always look forward to that.’’
Army was 12-2 last season, setting a mark for most victories, but Monken will always lament the one that got away: chief rival Navy beat his Black Knights 31-13, requiring the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy to be shipped from West Point to Annapolis for the coming year. “We lost the only game that we’ve got to win around here so that was a bit of a disappointment there at the end of the season,’’ Monken said.
Despite the loss to the Midshipmen, Army had a lot to celebrate: a perfect 8-0 mark in its inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference; winning the AAC championship by beating Tulane; and, defeating Louisiana Tech in the Independence Bowl. Army finished No 19 in the coaches poll and No. 21 in the AP writers and broadcasters poll. As a team, the Black Knights earned numerous awards for their players and coaches, and Army returned to its desired place as the top rushing team in the nation.
“It was a good year this past year but certainly some things to build on and some accomplishments that we would have liked to have attained and didn’t get,’’ Monken said.
As is the case every season, Army sends off a senior class that contributed heavily and must introduce numerous players who saw little or no varsity action, and participated in scout team preparation, into a lineup that needs to fill vital roles. The rising seniors, juniors and sophomores will take part in spring drills, and the incoming freshman class will join the squad in July.
Two established players who are expected to sit out spring ball for medical reasons are Andon Thomas and Cody Harris-Miller, in addition to other developmental players. As for experimental position changes, Monken said no returning regulars or travel team players are slated to do so but he said there will be some younger players who may try new roles as their bodies develop with weight training.
“There’s a lot of guys that played on the scout team this past fall that will really get a chance to kind of compete for jobs this spring – it’s hard to do that sometimes as a freshman’’ Monken said. “To see those guys get out there and have a chance to compete and really find out who might be able to help us in that class is pretty exciting.’’
Monken said having the young players go through meetings, walk-throughs and practices is valuable to “re-learn the offense and the defense.’’ As always, the Army coaches are sticklers for preaching and teaching fundamentals.
As Army tries to extend the magic and professional work ethic of last season, Monken is mindful that the rising seniors and juniors each had a taste of struggles at the outset of the 2022 and 2023 seasons and still found a way to win some games in the latter half “to balance it out a bit,’’ Monken said.
“Those are some hard, frustrating times, and hopefully our veteran players realize how important it is for us to have a good spring (camp) and to prepare so that we can start off in the season with some success and get off to a good start, like we did last year,’’ said Monken, whose team opened 9-0 before a loss to Notre Dame.
On offense, Army must replace three starters on the line, a two-year starting quarterback and top running back, a tight end and half of the wide receiver corps. On defense, the void includes four linebackers, two ends and a captain at free safety. Army also needs to find new return men and a kick holder.
“There’s plenty of guys for us to train and develop,’’ Monken said, “and hopefully we can train and develop those guys to become really good players.’’
The season begins August 30 when Tarleton State visits Michie.
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army football 2025 spring camp set to start
