As Jeff Monken's success on the field leads has led to his name being attached to some quality Power Four openings over the years.
The mere mention of Monken and Army inspires images of option football, and that's fair as it has been Monken's preferred offensive attack the entire time he's been a head coach. His background also includes 13 seasons as an assistant under renowned option godfather Paul Johnson.
While coaches understand that schemes don't necessarily follow head coaches (see Ken Niumatalolo at San Jose State), that's a tougher concept for fan bases to grasp.
Those able to look past the ride-and-decide option approach can see the extremely high value placed in areas like discipline, needed to run a successful football program at any level.
That discipline was on full display in their 35-14 win over Tulane in the American Athletic Conference title game.
ESPN Research dug up an incredible stat that epitomizes Monken's stamp on a program, and this morning it was shared by Chris Low.
In that title game against the Green Wave, Monken's Black Knights became the only team in at least two decades to finish a game while accomplishing the following:
- Committed NO turnovers
- Committed NO penalties
- NO punts
That's a remarkable achievement.
Think of some of the best coaches of the best 20 years.
Exactly zero of them fielded a team who was able to do that, and being able to put together a game doing that against a team when you're favored by three or more touchdowns would have been pretty impressive by itself.
Doing it against one of the top Group of Five programs in a championship game is a whole different level.
Keep that in mind the next time Monken's name is mentioned for an opportunity outside what he's built at Army, and while you're enjoying the beauty of Army vs. Navy this weekend.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.