Notre Dame's Rivals site has a print magazine, and they ask me to answer some questions about Navy every year as a season preview. Here's this year's Q&A, if you're interested:
1. Navy reached its zenith under Niumatalolo in 11-2, its first year in the AAC. It has taken a step back each season and bottomed out last year. Is that just a blip on the radar or are there bigger issues afoot?
That’s the million-dollar question. Reading the various season previews that are out there, the general sense seems to be that Navy is in decline. While there were certainly issues the last two years, I feel like they have been addressed and that the team should be able to rebound this season.
2. With that being said, what are your expectations for Navy heading into 2019?
The standard for Navy over the last 15 years has been a winning record, a bowl game, and the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. The team is capable of all three.
3. What is Navy’s plan for Malcolm Perry this season? He’s played all over the last two years, have they finally settled in on him at QB?
Perry is a quarterback once again and should remain at that position. It’s been an interesting career for him as he’s moved back and forth between QB and slotback over the last three years.
Given that Perry started his career as a quarterback and will start his senior year as a quarterback, I asked Ken Niumatalolo before spring practice if he had second thoughts about making Perry a slotback in the first place. He said that he had, although it’s easy to understand why he made the switch.
Tago Smith was a similar player to Perry as a backup to Keenan Reynolds. He finally got his chance to start as a senior in 2016 but suffered an injury in the season opener that sidelined him for the rest of the year. Niumatalolo felt terrible about the situation; Smith was a good enough athlete to have gotten onto the field at other positions sooner, but instead waited patiently for his chance to start under center. With Perry, Niumatalolo was determined to make sure that history wouldn’t repeat itself.
I’m not sure that too much second-guessing is warranted, though. Perry was an outstanding slotback and has a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons under his belt. As a quarterback, he caught a lot of the blame for the offense’s struggles last year, but most of the criticism was undeserved. The offense didn’t improve after Navy changed quarterbacks, which suggests that the quarterback wasn’t really the problem. I still think that Perry will be an excellent option quarterback.
4. The run game took major steps back last season? What were the factors behind that, and can Navy bounce back despite all the personnel losses?
This gets to the heart of Navy’s issues last year.
Navy’s offense was its most efficient in 2015, when it had a top-25 scoring offense and finished third in the country in points per drive. One of the reasons why the offense was so effective that year was that it could move seamlessly between veer and zone schemes, and defenses that prepared for one were punished by the other. That success, however, came with a catch.
Teams that run the triple option effectively only do so after a tremendous amount of preparation and repetition. However, the more the Mids have utilized zone schemes and other bolt-ons to the offense, the less they have practiced the bread-and-butter option. In 2015, it wasn’t a big deal; the players on that team had already been through 3-4 years of option boot camp, so they were still able to execute at a high level as other complimentary pieces were incorporated. That isn’t the case anymore. The teams of the last two years didn’t have the same solid foundation in option football as past Navy teams, and it showed. Recent Navy teams haven’t looked like the teams that we’re used to seeing in Annapolis. Penalties, slow-developing plays, missed assignments, missed blocks; all these things are symptoms of a lack of quality reps. To regain their customary precision, Navy must rededicate themselves to the core of their offense.
And that’s exactly what they are doing. Niumatalolo and offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper have both talked about shaping the offense to fit Perry’s skill set this season, and there has been a lot of speculation about what that entails. All it means is that they intend to use Perry as a true spread option quarterback rather than as an off-tackle battering ram like Will Worth and Zach Abey. Navy hasn’t always looked like an option team over the last two years. This year, they will.
5. What kind of weapons will surround Perry this season?
One of the side effects of Navy’s drift away from the triple option the last few years is that the fullback has become less of a factor in the offense. That will change this season, and Nelson Smith stands to be the primary beneficiary. Smith isn’t what one usually thinks of in an option fullback; at 5’9” and 212 pounds, he’s more in the mold of a traditional tailback. You don’t have to be a bowling ball to be effective in the spread option, though. Smith averaged more than five yards per carry last year, but he just didn’t get many opportunities. When he did, he delivered. He ran for 108 yards against Temple and had 86 yards on only ten carries at Hawaii. Making him more active in the offense will be a positive development.
Some of the buzz around Navy is that their passing game will be getting a little bit of an overhaul this season, incorporating more run and shoot ideas. That could mean big things for sophomore wide receiver Mychal Cooper. At 6’5”, Cooper is a big target, but there is more to his game than just his size. He is a good route runner with soft hands and isn’t afraid to catch the ball in the middle of the field. Perry has yet to demonstrate in a game the passing ability that he shows in practice, but if he does, Cooper could have a monster year.
6. Navy gave up just 21.8 points in 2015, but it has given up over 30 points in two of the last three seasons. What has caused this drop?
The offense’s troubles are part of problem. Navy’s inability to sustain drives has led to the defense spending more time on the field. That doesn’t explain everything, though.
For the last 15 years, the Mids have employed a bend-but-don’t-break zone defense, trying to avoid giving up the big play and forcing offenses to drive the field. The thinking was that, more often than not, opposing quarterbacks would eventually make a drive-ending mistake. Few offenses were able to match Navy’s own offensive execution. That is no longer the case. Many spread offenses are more than happy to nickel and dime their way down the field. While Navy has won plenty of games in this environment, the offense has had to be almost perfect and hope to win in a shootout. Last year, when the offense was anything but perfect, the wheels fell off the wagon.
Over the last few years, Navy has tried to evolve away from the bend-but-don’t-break approach, but they never looked comfortable doing so.
7. Any hope for Navy’s defense getting back on track with the new DC? What changes is he bringing?
Navy’s new defensive coordinator is Brian Newberry, who came to Annapolis after building the Kennesaw State defense into one of the finest in FCS. His scheme is often described as a 4-2-5, but that isn’t really true. Newberry's Kennesaw State defenses liked to create disruption through confusion, and one part of that concept is the avoidance of conventional structure. He wants the defense to look more like a cloud of players rather than a rigid formation, and whether they resemble a 3-4, 4-3, or 4-2-5 can depend on whatever offense he’s facing that week.
Like many defensive coordinators, Newberry emphasizes speed. Unlike some others, he’s willing to sacrifice size to get it. In modern spread offenses, the tight end is as adept at lining up next to the tackle and blocking as he is splitting wide as a fourth receiver. Newberry wants his defenses to be similarly versatile and not have to constantly change personnel to match the offense’s formation. If everyone on the field can run, he feels like his defense can do that.
One of the goals that Newberry sets for his defenses is for 20 percent of their plays to be what he calls "disruptive." A disruptive play could be several different things. It could be a sack, batting the ball down, a tackle for loss-- anything that gets the offense off schedule and sets up long yardage situations. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Navy will be blitzing all the time. Instead, the goal is to achieve this through confusion. With an unstructured defense full of players who can run, offenses can have a difficult time identifying who is rushing and who is dropping into coverage. For a defense that ranked last in both sacks and tackles for loss in 2018, any progress at all in making plays behind the line of scrimmage would be a welcome change.
8. What are the reasons for optimism with Navy this season?
On paper, Navy’s schedule doesn’t look as daunting as last year’s. The Mids will replace UCF, Cincinnati, and Temple on the AAC slate with ECU, USF, and UConn. They also get Air Force at home and won’t have to travel to Honolulu and San Diego, which doesn’t hurt.
In Newberry, Niumatalolo has hired a defensive coordinator who specifically addresses Navy's biggest weaknesses. Last year, Navy was 121st in third down conversions, allowing a first down 46.5 percent of the time. Kennesaw State was 11th in FCS at 28.9 percent. Navy was 117th in passing efficiency defense (156.29), while Kennesaw State was 18th (112.33). Navy was the only team in FBS to average less than three tackles for loss per game. Kennesaw State was 25th in FCS with 7.5. It is unlikely that Newberry's Navy defenses will match the numbers of his Kennesaw State teams, but they don’t have to. Even if Navy can improve to a middle-of-the-pack defense statistically, it would take enormous pressure off the offense. If the rededication to the option comes with a return to classic Navy efficiency, the Mids could be in store for a huge rebound season.
9. What are the biggest areas that could keep Navy from bouncing back?
That’s a lot of “if.” While the potential is there, Navy has yet to demonstrate their ability to achieve any of this. The new defense brings with it a learning curve, and Perry has yet to show that he is able to complete passes downfield. Navy is in the unfamiliar position of having to find a new winning tradition instead of maintaining an existing one. This is a team with a lot to prove.
1. Navy reached its zenith under Niumatalolo in 11-2, its first year in the AAC. It has taken a step back each season and bottomed out last year. Is that just a blip on the radar or are there bigger issues afoot?
That’s the million-dollar question. Reading the various season previews that are out there, the general sense seems to be that Navy is in decline. While there were certainly issues the last two years, I feel like they have been addressed and that the team should be able to rebound this season.
2. With that being said, what are your expectations for Navy heading into 2019?
The standard for Navy over the last 15 years has been a winning record, a bowl game, and the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. The team is capable of all three.
3. What is Navy’s plan for Malcolm Perry this season? He’s played all over the last two years, have they finally settled in on him at QB?
Perry is a quarterback once again and should remain at that position. It’s been an interesting career for him as he’s moved back and forth between QB and slotback over the last three years.
Given that Perry started his career as a quarterback and will start his senior year as a quarterback, I asked Ken Niumatalolo before spring practice if he had second thoughts about making Perry a slotback in the first place. He said that he had, although it’s easy to understand why he made the switch.
Tago Smith was a similar player to Perry as a backup to Keenan Reynolds. He finally got his chance to start as a senior in 2016 but suffered an injury in the season opener that sidelined him for the rest of the year. Niumatalolo felt terrible about the situation; Smith was a good enough athlete to have gotten onto the field at other positions sooner, but instead waited patiently for his chance to start under center. With Perry, Niumatalolo was determined to make sure that history wouldn’t repeat itself.
I’m not sure that too much second-guessing is warranted, though. Perry was an outstanding slotback and has a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons under his belt. As a quarterback, he caught a lot of the blame for the offense’s struggles last year, but most of the criticism was undeserved. The offense didn’t improve after Navy changed quarterbacks, which suggests that the quarterback wasn’t really the problem. I still think that Perry will be an excellent option quarterback.
4. The run game took major steps back last season? What were the factors behind that, and can Navy bounce back despite all the personnel losses?
This gets to the heart of Navy’s issues last year.
Navy’s offense was its most efficient in 2015, when it had a top-25 scoring offense and finished third in the country in points per drive. One of the reasons why the offense was so effective that year was that it could move seamlessly between veer and zone schemes, and defenses that prepared for one were punished by the other. That success, however, came with a catch.
Teams that run the triple option effectively only do so after a tremendous amount of preparation and repetition. However, the more the Mids have utilized zone schemes and other bolt-ons to the offense, the less they have practiced the bread-and-butter option. In 2015, it wasn’t a big deal; the players on that team had already been through 3-4 years of option boot camp, so they were still able to execute at a high level as other complimentary pieces were incorporated. That isn’t the case anymore. The teams of the last two years didn’t have the same solid foundation in option football as past Navy teams, and it showed. Recent Navy teams haven’t looked like the teams that we’re used to seeing in Annapolis. Penalties, slow-developing plays, missed assignments, missed blocks; all these things are symptoms of a lack of quality reps. To regain their customary precision, Navy must rededicate themselves to the core of their offense.
And that’s exactly what they are doing. Niumatalolo and offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper have both talked about shaping the offense to fit Perry’s skill set this season, and there has been a lot of speculation about what that entails. All it means is that they intend to use Perry as a true spread option quarterback rather than as an off-tackle battering ram like Will Worth and Zach Abey. Navy hasn’t always looked like an option team over the last two years. This year, they will.
5. What kind of weapons will surround Perry this season?
One of the side effects of Navy’s drift away from the triple option the last few years is that the fullback has become less of a factor in the offense. That will change this season, and Nelson Smith stands to be the primary beneficiary. Smith isn’t what one usually thinks of in an option fullback; at 5’9” and 212 pounds, he’s more in the mold of a traditional tailback. You don’t have to be a bowling ball to be effective in the spread option, though. Smith averaged more than five yards per carry last year, but he just didn’t get many opportunities. When he did, he delivered. He ran for 108 yards against Temple and had 86 yards on only ten carries at Hawaii. Making him more active in the offense will be a positive development.
Some of the buzz around Navy is that their passing game will be getting a little bit of an overhaul this season, incorporating more run and shoot ideas. That could mean big things for sophomore wide receiver Mychal Cooper. At 6’5”, Cooper is a big target, but there is more to his game than just his size. He is a good route runner with soft hands and isn’t afraid to catch the ball in the middle of the field. Perry has yet to demonstrate in a game the passing ability that he shows in practice, but if he does, Cooper could have a monster year.
6. Navy gave up just 21.8 points in 2015, but it has given up over 30 points in two of the last three seasons. What has caused this drop?
The offense’s troubles are part of problem. Navy’s inability to sustain drives has led to the defense spending more time on the field. That doesn’t explain everything, though.
For the last 15 years, the Mids have employed a bend-but-don’t-break zone defense, trying to avoid giving up the big play and forcing offenses to drive the field. The thinking was that, more often than not, opposing quarterbacks would eventually make a drive-ending mistake. Few offenses were able to match Navy’s own offensive execution. That is no longer the case. Many spread offenses are more than happy to nickel and dime their way down the field. While Navy has won plenty of games in this environment, the offense has had to be almost perfect and hope to win in a shootout. Last year, when the offense was anything but perfect, the wheels fell off the wagon.
Over the last few years, Navy has tried to evolve away from the bend-but-don’t-break approach, but they never looked comfortable doing so.
7. Any hope for Navy’s defense getting back on track with the new DC? What changes is he bringing?
Navy’s new defensive coordinator is Brian Newberry, who came to Annapolis after building the Kennesaw State defense into one of the finest in FCS. His scheme is often described as a 4-2-5, but that isn’t really true. Newberry's Kennesaw State defenses liked to create disruption through confusion, and one part of that concept is the avoidance of conventional structure. He wants the defense to look more like a cloud of players rather than a rigid formation, and whether they resemble a 3-4, 4-3, or 4-2-5 can depend on whatever offense he’s facing that week.
Like many defensive coordinators, Newberry emphasizes speed. Unlike some others, he’s willing to sacrifice size to get it. In modern spread offenses, the tight end is as adept at lining up next to the tackle and blocking as he is splitting wide as a fourth receiver. Newberry wants his defenses to be similarly versatile and not have to constantly change personnel to match the offense’s formation. If everyone on the field can run, he feels like his defense can do that.
One of the goals that Newberry sets for his defenses is for 20 percent of their plays to be what he calls "disruptive." A disruptive play could be several different things. It could be a sack, batting the ball down, a tackle for loss-- anything that gets the offense off schedule and sets up long yardage situations. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Navy will be blitzing all the time. Instead, the goal is to achieve this through confusion. With an unstructured defense full of players who can run, offenses can have a difficult time identifying who is rushing and who is dropping into coverage. For a defense that ranked last in both sacks and tackles for loss in 2018, any progress at all in making plays behind the line of scrimmage would be a welcome change.
8. What are the reasons for optimism with Navy this season?
On paper, Navy’s schedule doesn’t look as daunting as last year’s. The Mids will replace UCF, Cincinnati, and Temple on the AAC slate with ECU, USF, and UConn. They also get Air Force at home and won’t have to travel to Honolulu and San Diego, which doesn’t hurt.
In Newberry, Niumatalolo has hired a defensive coordinator who specifically addresses Navy's biggest weaknesses. Last year, Navy was 121st in third down conversions, allowing a first down 46.5 percent of the time. Kennesaw State was 11th in FCS at 28.9 percent. Navy was 117th in passing efficiency defense (156.29), while Kennesaw State was 18th (112.33). Navy was the only team in FBS to average less than three tackles for loss per game. Kennesaw State was 25th in FCS with 7.5. It is unlikely that Newberry's Navy defenses will match the numbers of his Kennesaw State teams, but they don’t have to. Even if Navy can improve to a middle-of-the-pack defense statistically, it would take enormous pressure off the offense. If the rededication to the option comes with a return to classic Navy efficiency, the Mids could be in store for a huge rebound season.
9. What are the biggest areas that could keep Navy from bouncing back?
That’s a lot of “if.” While the potential is there, Navy has yet to demonstrate their ability to achieve any of this. The new defense brings with it a learning curve, and Perry has yet to show that he is able to complete passes downfield. Navy is in the unfamiliar position of having to find a new winning tradition instead of maintaining an existing one. This is a team with a lot to prove.
