• 15th-year Navy head football coach Ken Niumatalolo will open the 2022 season when the Midshipmen report for fall camp on Tuesday, Aug. 2. Navy will hold its first practice on Wednesday, Aug. 3 and its first day of full pads will be on Tuesday, Aug. 9.
• Media Day / Fan Fest is set for Saturday, Aug. 6 at 10:00 am at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
• The annual Blue & Gold BBQ will take place on Saturday, Aug. 13. Practice starts at 10:00 am and the BBQ at 11:30 am.
• The Brigade of Midshipmen will return to the Academy on Thursday, Aug. 18 with the first day of classes set for Monday, Aug. 22.
• Navy will resume its normal Monday-Friday practice schedule on Aug. 22, practicing daily from 4-6 pm. August 22 is also the first day the plebes will be available for interviews.
• Navy will kick off the 2022 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 3 when it plays host to Delaware at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium at 12-Noon.
Mids End 2021 Season On High Note
• Navy closed out the 2021 campaign by defeating Army 17-13 in front of 82,282 fans at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. It was the second time in the last three years and the 16th time in the last 20 years Navy has defeated Army.
• The 82,282 in attendance was the largest crowd for a college football game at MetLife Stadium and the largest for an Army-Navy game since 1974 when 83,246 fans witnessed Navy's 19-0 win over Army at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia.
• The win over Army gave Navy a share of the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy as Navy beat Army, Army beat Air Force and Air Force beat Navy. It's the first time the three schools all went 1-1 against one another since 1993.
• With 10 wins, Navy's Ken Niumatalolo is the winningest coach in the history of the Army-Navy game. College Football Hall of Famer and former Army coach Col. Earl "Red" Blaik is second with eight.
• Niumatalolo is the eighth-longest tenured coach in the FBS.
• Navy's 12 opponents in 2021 finished the year with a combined 94-48 (.662) record, which was the third-toughest schedule in the country based on opponent winning percentage (the record does not include games against Navy).
• The ELO strength of schedule rankings by WarrenNolan.com had Navy's schedule rated as the eighth toughest in the country.
• The Mids faced three teams ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25 - Cincinnati (#4), Notre Dame (#8) and Houston (#17).
• Eleven of Navy's 12 opponents played in bowl games, which was the most in the country. Among those 11 opponents was American Athletic Conference foe Cincinnati, who played Alabama in the College Football Playoffs. No team played the Bearcats closer in the regular season than Navy, who lost to Cincinnati 27-20 on Oct. 23 in Annapolis.
• Navy fielded one of its youngest teams in recent memory in 2021. The Mids had 2 freshmen and 11 sophom*ores on the offensive depth chart and 8 freshmen and 8 sophom*ores on the defensive depth chart (10 freshmen and 19 sophom*ores combined). Those numbers do not include a sophom*ore kickoff specialist, a freshman long snapper, a freshman punter and a freshman kickoff return specialist. Navy started 9 freshmen on the kickoff return team.
• Due to injuries, Navy put together 9 different starting combinations along the offensive line in its 12 games in 2021 and started 5 different tackles, 5 different guards and 3 centers.
Navy Well Represented on Preseason Teams
• Six Navy players have been named to the Preseason American Athletic All-Conference Team by Athlon Sports.
• Senior offensive tackle and tri-captain Kip Frankland and junior nose guard Donald Berniard Jr. were named to the third team, while junior offensive guard Lirion Murtezi, senior striker and tri-captain John Marshall, senior kicker and tri-captain Bijan Nichols and sophom*ore kick returner Maquel Haywood were named fourth team.
• Cincinnati placed 20 players on the four teams, while UCF had 15, Houston 14, East Carolina and Tulane 13, Tulsa 12, USF and Memphis 11, SMU 9 and Temple 5.
• Meanwhile, four Mids were named to the Preseason American Athletic All-Conference team by Phil Steele.
• Berniard Jr. was named to the third team, while junior defensive tackle Clay Cromwell, Nichols and sophom*ore punter Riley Riethman were named to the fourth team.
• Cincinnati placed 18 players on the four teams, while UCF had 16 and Houston 13. East Carolina, Tulane, USF and Memphis all had 11 each, SMU placed 10, Tulsa nine and Temple two.
Mids Return Three All-East Performers
• The Navy football program had 5 players named All-East by the East Coast Athletic Conference in 2021, including three of which who return this year.
• Tackle Kip Frankland, center Pierce Banbury, linebacker Diego fa*got, kicker Bijan Nichols and kick returner Maquel Haywood were all honored by the organization.
• Syracuse had 7 players named All-East, Temple 6, Rutgers and Navy 5, Penn State 4 and Army and Liberty 1 apiece.
• Frankland was the only Navy offensive lineman to start all 12 games a year ago for an offensive line that was forced to start 9 different combinations, including 5 different tackles, 5 different guards and 3 different centers.
• Nichols went 15-19 on field goals (2 of his misses were blocked and his other 2 misses were from 53 and 55 yards out) and 28-28 on PATs. He tied his career long field goal with a 50-yarder against SMU.
• Haywood averaged 31.0 yards per kickoff return, which is the third-best average in school history and it's even more impressive by the fact Navy had 9 freshmen on the kickoff return team. He returned an East Carolina kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, tying Reggie Campbell (2007 vs. Army) for the longest kickoff return in school history. Pro Football Focus, which grades every player nationwide, ranked Haywood as the eighth-best kick returner in the country with a minimum of 10 returns.
Kip Frankland, John Marshall and Bijan Nichols Named Team Captains
• Navy head football coach Ken Niumatalolo announced that offensive tackle Kip Frankland, striker John Marshall and kicker Bijan Nichols have been voted as team captains by their teammates.
• A native of Germantown, Tenn. and a Houston High School graduate, Frankland has started 15 games in his career at offensive tackle, including being the only offensive lineman to start all 12 games in 2021. Frankland, who was named All-East, will not only have the honor of serving as a team captain, but will also wear No. 68 in memory of former Navy offensive lineman David Forney.
• Marshall, who is from Highland, Md. and went to Gonzaga College High School, has started 20 games in his career at striker, including 11 games in 2021. He finished last year as Navy's second-leading tackler with 54, while also recording 3.5 tackles for a loss and a sack.
• Nichols has been Navy's starting kicker since arriving in Annapolis and is believed to be the first Navy place-kicker to be named a team captain and the second kicker to be named team captain. Punter Bob Bowstrom was named team captain in 1930.
• Nichols was named Second-Team All-AAC and All-East in 2021, as he finished the year with 73 points making 15 of his 19 field goal attempts and all 28 of his extra points. He has made three game-winning field goals in his career – 48 yards vs. Tulane in 2019, 23 yards vs. Kansas State in the 2019 Liberty Bowl and a 33-yard field goal vs. Tulane in 2020. He also scored the deciding points in the Mids' 2020 win over Temple with a career-long 50-yard field goal.
Frankland Named Captain of the Captains
• Senior offensive tackle Kip Frankland has been elected to serve as the 2022-23 Captain of the Captains at the Naval Academy. The vote was conducted among all the varsity sports captains representing Navy's 35 programs. Frankland is the third Navy football player to serve in the role over the last four years. Ford Higgins was selected for the 2019-20 academic year, while Mychal Cooper was honored in 2021-22.
• Frankland will lead discussions once a month with all the team captains on how they can improve what they are doing with their individual teams and as a group.
Frankland to Wear #68
• The Navy football team honored former football player David Forney two years ago by wearing a sticker on the back of its helmets that pictured Forney running out of the tunnel at the 2019 Army-Navy game carrying the American flag with the word Brotherhood underneath.
• Additionally, Navy did not issue jersey No. 68 until the Army-Navy game when starting offensive lineman Billy Honaker wore it to honor his friend.
• At the start of the 2021 season, it was determined that a senior offensive lineman would be assigned No. 68. Starting center/guard Pierce Banbury was the first to be tabbed with the honor.
• This year it will be senior offensive tackle Kip Frankland.
• Forney, who was a senior offensive lineman on the 2019 team, died on Feb. 20, 2020, after being found unresponsive in Bancroft Hall. He was 22 years old.
• He was a three-year letter winner for the Mids and played in 39-consecutive games over his final-three years.
• In 2019, he started all 13 games at guard and was the anchor of an offensive line that set a school record and led the nation in rushing, averaging 360.5 yards per game. Forney was extremely proud of being part of a senior class that authored the second-greatest turnaround in the history of FBS football as the Mids won a school-record tying 11 games, won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy, shared the American Athletic Conference West Division title and won the Liberty Bowl. Forney was named First-Team AAC and First-Team All-East.
• A native of Walkersville, Md. and a 2015 graduate of Georgetown Prep, Forney is survived by his parents, Rick and Erika Forney, younger brothers, Chris and Erik, and sister, Rebekah.
• Forney, who was a member of the ninth company at the Naval Academy and a political science major, would have graduated on May 22, 2020. He was due to serve as a cryptologic warfare officer.
Nichols on Wuerffel Trophy Watch List
• Navy senior kicker and tri-captain Bijan Nichols is on the watch list for the 2022 Wuerffel Trophy, which is college football's premier award for community service.
• Named after Danny Wuerffel, the 1996 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from the University of Florida, the Wuerffel Trophy is presented each February and honors college football players who serve others, celebrate their positive impact on society and inspire greater service in the world.
• Semifinalists for the award will be announced on Nov. 1, and finalists will be announced on Nov. 22.
• The formal announcement of the 2022 recipient is scheduled to be made on Dec. 8, and the presentation of the 2022 Wuerffel Trophy will occur on Feb. 24, 2023.
Haywood Named To 2022 Paul Hornung Award Watch List
• Navy sophom*ore Maquel Haywood is among the 52 college football players who have been named to the 2022 Watch List for the Paul Hornung Award presented by Texas Roadhouse.
• Now in its 13th season, the Paul Hornung Award is given annually to the most versatile player in major college football by the Louisville Sports Commission in the memory of the late football legend and Louisville native Paul Hornung. The winner and his family will be honored at the annual Paul Hornung Award dinner at the Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville in March 2023.
• As a freshman, Haywood was an All-East kick returner who appeared in the last 8 contests and made his first-career start at slot back in the win over Army.
• He closed out the 2021 campaign averaging 31.0 yards per kickoff return which was the third-best single-season mark in school history.
• Pro Football Focus, who grades every player nationwide, ranked Haywood as the seventh-best kick returner in the country last year with a minimum of 10 returns.
• Haywood's 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter against East Carolina was the first kickoff returned for a touchdown by a Navy player since Gee Gee Greene's 95-yard return against Arizona State in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on Dec. 29, 2021. Additionally, he tied the school record for the longest kickoff return (Reggie Campbell, 98-yard kickoff return vs. Army in 2007).
• Players on the 2022 Watch List represent 52 teams from all 10 FBS conferences and independents. The Big Ten leads the conferences with 8 players on the Watch List, the Big 12 and the AAC each have 7, the MAC has 6, the SEC and the ACC have 4, the Pac 12 has 3 and the Sun Belt has 2.
• The Paul Hornung Award has created an impressive legacy in 12 years including 7 winners who were first round NFL draft picks – Tavon Austin, Saquon Barkley, Odell Beckham Jr., Christian McCaffrey, Jabrill Peppers, DeVonta Smith and Shaq Thompson. Houston speedster Marcus Jones won the Award in 2021 as a defensive back who returned kickoffs and punts and saw spot duty on offense. Jones was drafted by the New England Patriots.
• The 2022 Watch List was compiled by a panel of college football experts based on a combination of statistics, career performance, SID recommendations and expectations heading into the 2022 season. In addition to the Watch List, the Paul Hornung Award Weekly Honor Roll will recognize players whose performances during the regular season meet the Award's criteria. Players from both the Watch List and the Weekly Honor Roll are eligible to win the Award.
Terrell II Presented with Admiral Mack Award
• Navy head football coach Ken Niumatalolo announced at the conclusion of spring practice that rising junior slot back Vincent Terrell II was the 2022 recipient of the Vice Admiral William P. Mack Award.
• The Admiral Mack Award is given annually to the Navy football player who has shown the most improvement during spring practice. The award was established in 1976 and is named in honor of Vice Admiral Mack, the Naval Academy Superintendent from 1972-75.
• Terrell is just the second slot back / running back to win the award and the first since Josh Bock in 2000.
• Terrell, who stands 5-8 and weighs 170 pounds, is a 2020 graduate of the Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawai'i. He was a three-sport athlete at Punahou where he earned three varsity letters in football and four each in track & field and wrestling, while also serving as team captain in all three sports as a senior.
• Terrell was named All-State in football his senior year and as a junior was named the Cover2 Chad Owens Special Teams Player of the Year in the state thanks to his four kickoff returns for a touchdown.
• On the track, Terrell was the 2019 Hawai'i state champion in the 200 meters as he helped lead Punahou to three-straight state championships (2017, 2018, 2019).
• Terrell appeared in 5 games last year for Navy, primarily playing special teams. He returned 3 kickoffs for 69 yards against East Carolina.
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