The Rise

[Iron Dragon]

West Point retains HC Jeff Monken, OC A.J. Jackson

WEST POINT, NY --- After a thrilling 9-4 football season, Army head coach Jeff Monken and staff will remain intact for the 2017 season.

With a variety of jobs open from Arizona, Cal, Boston College, Kansas and others - Monken and offensive coordinator A.J. Jackson were both rumored candidates for a few jobs. ESPN's Brett McMurphy reported that the Jayhawks targeted the current Army head coach as Kansas wanted to "redefine its football program from the ground up."

Monken met with Kansas last week, but it was never announced if an offer was made, regardless, Monken did not take it. Monken and Jackson were rumored to be a HC-OC pair if Monken decided to take a new job.

With Monken out of the running, some teams turned to first-year offensive coordinator A.J. Jackson to the same position. Jackson tested the waters but will return to Army for at least a second season. There is a rumor that Army did try to extend Jackson through 2019, a one-year extension to match Monken's current deal - but that allegedly was declined.

Army can now focus on its offseason after one of its best football seasons in many years and hope to continue the success of 2016.

[Iron Dragon]

2016: The Rise Begins (OC @ Army)
Season Record: 9-4
Prestige: 2-star
Grades: 72/70/74
Preseason Ranking: Not checked
Final Ranking: #36
Bowl Game: Military Bowl Win vs Tulsa
Award Winners: Jeremy Timpf, MLB - Best LB

All-Americans -
1st Team AA: DE John Voit, MLB Jeremy Timpf
2nd Team AA: None
Freshman AA: None

1st Team Indp: FB Andy Davidson, DE John Voit, MLB Jeremy Timpf, CB Marcus Hyatt
2nd Team Indp: None

* Graduating
Passing Leaders:
QB Ahmad Bradshaw: 44-77 pass, 734 yards, 5 TD, 0 INT, 57% comp, 16.6yds/comp
QB Chris Carter: 4-10 pass, 99 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 40% comp, 24.7yds/comp

Rushing Leaders:
QB Ahmad Bradshaw: 232 carries, 1285 yards, 9 TD
FB Andy Davidson: 284 carries, 1209 yards, 15 TD
RB Kell Walker: 82 carries, 512 yards, 2 TD
RB Jordan Asberry: 84 carries, 399 yards, TD
QB Chris Carter: 30 carries, 155 yards, 2 TD
FB Darnell Woolfork: 20 carries, 65 yards
RB Elijah St. Hiliare: 4 carries, 95 yards, TD *
17 players recorded carries

Receiving Leaders:
WR Edgar Poe: 20 rec, 453 yards, 5 TD *
FB Andy Davidson: 11 rec, 140 yards, TD
RB Kell Walker: 6 rec, 75 yards
TE Quintin Parker: 3 rec, 64 yards
RB Jordan Asberry: 3 rec, 28 yards
WR Jeff Ekejam: 2 rec, 55 yards
4 other players with 1 rec

Defensive Leaders (CPU coached):
MLB Jeremy Timpf: 92 tackles, 11 TFL, 4 sacks, 2 FF, 2 FR *
OLB Alex Aukerman: 58 tackles, 12 TFL, sack, INT
DE John Voit: 56 tackles, 26 TFL, 11 sacks, 2 FF
Sacks: DE Voit 11, DT Andrew McLean 7, DE Eddy Ruzga 5, MLB Timpf 4 *, OLB Kenneth Brinson 3, 7 others with 1
INT: CB Marcus Hyatt 4, CB Mike Reynolds 4, CB Steven Johnson 2 *, 3 others with 1

Special Teams Leaders:
K Mitchell Howard: 18-24 FG, long of 46 *
P Nick Schrage: 43.5avg/punt, 5 inside 20, 9 touchbacks

Misc Team Stats:
Worst pass offense, #1 rush offense
T-2 for Rush TD (30)
T-last w/ 4 teams for Pass TD (6)
11 sacks allowed (best in NCAA)
7th ranked rush defense in NCAA
T-11th in sacks (37)
4th in fumbles forced (13)
38% on 3rd down conv.
59% defensive red zone (t-2 in NCAA)
+11 turnover differential (t-6 in NCAA)
Only team in NCAA without an INT thrown (3 others tied with 4 INT thrown)
T-9th in turnovers forced

Offensive MVP: FB Andy Davidson
Defensive MVP: MLB Jeremy Timpf
Newcomer of the Year: RB Kell Walker

DEPARTING PLAYERS
(all seniors)
RB Joe Walker, reserve
RB Elijah St. Hilaire, reserve
WR Edgar Poe, starter
LT Colby Enegren, starter
LG Justin Gilbert, starter
C Lofi Tamasese, reserve
MLB Jeremy Timpf, starter
MLB Andrew King, starter
CB Steven Johnson, starter
FS Matthew Kaufmann, reserve
SS Xavier Moss, starter
K Mitchell Howard, starter

INCOMING TRANSFERS
None

[Hellisan]

Congrats on an incredible season with some exciting ups and downs. It's pretty hard not to throw INT even if you're mostly throwing it downfield off the play action.

I love the ideas that you added to make it more realistic for Army with the weight limit. Like the idea of the work ethic boosts as well. I think the summaries you do on the around the NCAA are succinct yet effective, great stuff. Overall, really enjoyed the first season. Looking forward to the offseason and another year of the Black Knights.

[dabeastmodetey]

Hopefully you can have a good recruiting class!

[dabeastmodetey]

You did a great job on the first season, very detailed.

[Iron Dragon]

COACHING MOVES
Arizona - Rich Rodriguez fired, hires P.J. Fleck (HC, Western Michigan)
Arkansas State - Blake Anderson left for BC, hires Kirk Ciarrocca (OC, Western Michigan)
Boston College - Steve Addazio fired, hires Blake Anderson (HC, Arkansas St.)
Cal - Sonny Dyes fired, hires Greg Schiano (asst-DC, Ohio St.)
Duke - David Cutcliffe fired, hires Ed Pinkham (DC, Western Michigan)
Eastern Michigan - Chris Creighton fired, hired Rich Rodriguez (former Ariz HC)
Georgia State - Trent Miles fired, hires Chad Glasgow (DC, TCU)
Kansas - David Beatty fired, hires Mark Hudspeth (HC, Louisiana)
Kentucky - Mark Stoops fired, hires Jeff Brohm (HC, Western Kentucky)
Louisiana - Mark Hudspeth left, hires Scott Frost (former UCF HC)
Miami OH - Chuck Martin fired, hires Joe Cauthen (DC, Arkansas State)
Ohio - Frank Solich retired, hires Kennedy Polamalu (OC, UCLA)
Old Dominion - Bobby Wilder fired, hires Nick Holt (DC, Western Kentucky)
San Diego State - Rocky Long retires, hires Ed Warinner (asst-OC, Ohio St.)
Troy - Neal Brown fired, hires Kendal Briles (OC, Baylor)
UCF - Scott Frost fired, hires Todd Grantham (DC, Louisville)
UConn - Bob Diaco fired, hires Lane Kiffin (OC, Alabama)
UMass - Mark Whipple fired, hired Neal Brown (former Troy HC)
Western Michigan - P.J. Fleck left for Arizona, hires Lincoln Riley (OC, Oklahoma)
WKU - Brohm left for Kentucky, hires Rhett Lashlee (OC, Auburn)

Offers declined (had to decline all per rules):
Georgia State HC
Kansas OC
Duke OC
Purdue OC
Western Michigan OC
UCF OC
WKU OC
Akron OC

[Iron Dragon]

Army Recruiting Class of 2017

3-star QB Buck McCoy - 6'0"/200lbs - 68 OVR
>> Coach Jackson Notes: McCoy is a perfect fit for the option system, and he has a good mix of speed and moves. He played some WR in HS and has the tools to do so, he may see his first time on the field as a WR and could have some wildcat/trick play potential as that is something we wish to incorporate this spring.

3-star RB Evan Schwartz - 6'2"/220lbs - 70 OVR
>> Coach Jackson Notes: Schwartz runs just as hard as FB Andy Davidson, but he just isn't a good blocker. With that being said, he's probably the fifth or sixth RB off the bench this year.

3-star FB David Poreda III - 5'10"/240lbs - 75 OVR
>> Coach Jackson Notes: Somehow we found this talented kid playing in a Wing-T offense in high school. He is a better blocker than Davidson based on tape and he is not afraid to lower his shoulder for tough yards. Should see a good workload behind Davidson.

3-star JC Les Studholme II - 6'5"/225lbs - 76 OVR
>> Coach Jackson Notes: Georgia Military College brings us one of the newly aquired Stedholme brothers to the team. DC Jay Bateman will have his younger brother join the LB crew. Studholme is the immediate replacement to WR Edgar Poe. Studholme won't rack up the receptions most likely as he may for other schools, but he will be a key part to our passing game.

3-star WR Johnnie Schilling - 6'4"/225lbs - 64 OVR
>> Coach Jackson Note: Another big target to develop. Schilling is a WR/TE project. He does not have great speed, but he has rock solid hands. He could easily move to TE down the road. With his hands being as good as they are, he will get red zone work this year.

3-star TE Dante Barnes - 6'4"/254lbs - 68 OVR
>> Coach Jackson Notes: Do you see a trend in our WR/TE class? Another big body to catch the football and be a solid blocker. We would have love to have seen more receptions to TEs last year - Parker only had 3 catches all year. Parker's starting role will be determined before the start of the year and we could see Barnes push him for the top TE spot.

3-star OT Jayson Schipper - 6'5"/279lbs - 71 OVR
>> Coach Jackson Notes: Schipper has slimmed down 20 pounds since his commitment and on tape he was consistently down field blocking for a run-heavy high school offense. With two new offensive lineman set to start, Schipper has a shot to be one.

2-star G Raeshon Lawson - 6'1"/280lbs - 64 OVR
>> Coach Jackson Notes: A late season commitment from Lawson, who has moved from center to guard already. Lawson is a quicker guard who has a nice strength in plays where he pulls. His overall blocking needs some work before he can contribute.

2-star DE>C Jeremy Mays Jr. - 6'2"/256lbs - 59>65 OVR
>> Coach Jackson Notes: This is one we didn't see coming. Mays committed as a defensive lineman but after looking at his early work, he is much more suited to be on the offensive line.

3-star OT Matt Allegrotto - 6'0"/280lbs - 73 OVR
>> Coach Jackson Notes: Allegrotto may be the LT of the future, and the future may start as a true freshman. Easily one of the most all-around blockers we've seen, we'd love for him to keep improving as a run blocker.

1-star K James Mason - 5'11"/213lbs - 66 OVR
>> ST Notes: Mason will take over kicking duties for the Black Knights in 2017. It appears his comfortable range is <45 yards.

That's it for our offensive recruits. Coach Jay Bateman has passed along some quick takes on the defensive recruits:

3-star DE Jarrid Devendorf - 6'5"/268lbs - 71 OVR
"Devendorf has the size and speed to be a rotational lineman immediately and is line to start in 2018."

3-star DT Robby Raybourne - 6'1"/270lbs - 65 OVR
"Raybourne is not quite as quick on his initial moves to get to the QB, but he loves to sack the QB."

3-star MLB Noah Hixenbaugh - 6'1"/245lbs - 70 OVR
"Cole Macek, a FB, is returning to LB in camp. If he didn't, Hixenbaugh could be a day one starter with the loss of our top two middle linebackers."

3-star MLB J.J. Studholme - 6'3"/242lbs - 68 OVR
"Brotherly love - Studholme plays on the opposite side of his older brother, but his hands are just as good, at least I think so."

3-star FS>CB Andres Hadley - 5'11"/183lbs - 66 OVR
"While we wanted to get some bigger corners this off-season, Hadley may be the fastest corner on the roster in 2016. He originally projected as a safety but didn't quite fit what we look for there."

3-star SS Rob Roy - 6'1"/208lbs - 70 OVR
"There is a lot of rotating players and evaluation happening this offseason at safety and corner. Roy has the right mix of coverage and tackling ability to be a possible true freshman starter."

With its efforts, Army finishes with the 48th ranked class in the nation. The top five, to not much surprise consisted of Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas and Michigan.

Editor's note: There has been some matchmaking with RL '17 recruits and QBs - mainly for the two teams projected to start true freshman.

[LopaKa]

Pretty solid recruiting class there bro, can't wait to see how Roy does!