Jeff Monken on Navy: 'It's not a great year at Army unless you beat them'

If there’s one thing Jeff Monken wants to accomplish each season with Army, it’s to beat Navy at the end of the season.

Amid a historic season for Army football, which included an 11-1 record and American Athletic Conference Championship, the Black Knights still have the Navy game on tap. Even for a team that made a little College Football Playoff noise, Monken puts nothing above Army playing Navy.

The 2024 edition is down in Landover, Maryland, near the nation’s capital, and the Black Knights want to put a stamp on the fall amid one of the program’s best seasons ever.

“I don’t know if anything can add to this game, and that’s just the magnitude of this game,” Monken told Sirius XM. “It doesn’t matter what the records are, it doesn’t matter where we play it. This is a big game, and the emotion and the sheer want to and will in both of these teams is incredible. So it certainly would be a great way to finish our season. It’s been a good year, but it’s not a great year at Army, unless you beat them. 

“So we’ve got a lot on our shoulders, just from that standpoint. We got to beat our biggest rival, and it’s such a source of pride for us, for our academy, for the men and women that serve in the army. And so, you know, there’s a lot on these guys, but I know they’re up to it and excited for it.”

Monken has been the head coach of Army since 2014 and is 81-56 during his time on the sideline. Ironically, he coached at Navy from 2002-07 as the running backs coach and eventually special teams coordinator.

Monken has seen a lot when it comes to the Army-Navy game. Monken is 6-4 in the game, including winning three of the last four and six of the last eight.

The last two years, Army edged out Navy 20-17 in double overtime in Philadelphia and 17-11 in Foxborough last season.

Navy leads the all-time series 62-55-7 and won 14 straight games from 2002-15. Monken, as previously mentioned, was with Navy and was 6-0 with Midshipmen against Army as an assistant coach.

Kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m. ET Saturday on CBS.