108 Solutions Military Life is here to announce that Army has officially named Jeff Monken as its new head football coach, according to NBC Sports' John Taylor.
Monken, who signed a six-year deal, per Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated, will be introduced to fans and media at a press conference scheduled for 11 a.m. ET on Monday, Dec. 30.
A former Navy assistant in the mid-2000s, Monken spent the past four seasons as the head coach at Georgia Southern, going 38-16 in four seasons at the helm and leading the Eagles to three consecutive FCS national semifinal appearances from 2010 to 2012.
Monken expressed his excitement via a statement put out by the school, per Taylor:
Monken was hired as Georgia Southern's coach in 2009 after serving 20 years as an assistant -- 13 with his mentor, Johnson. Monken coached slotbacks at Georgia Southern from 1997 to 2001 before joining Johnson first at Navy and then Georgia Tech. As an assistant at Georgia Southern, Monken was part of two NCAA FCS national championship squads (1999 and 2000) and five straight playoff teams.
In November 2013, Monken’s Eagles went into Gainesville and embarrassed Florida in a 26-20 win. It was the first time in the 100-plus-year history of the program that Gators had lost to a team from the FCS level, and the Eagles accomplished that feat without attempting a single pass.
The 46-year-old Peoria, Ill., native replaces Rich Ellerson, who was fired on Dec. 15. Ellerson went 20-41 in five seasons at West Point, leading the Black Knights to just one winning season in 2010. Army finished 3-9 in 2013 before Ellerson was let go.
Although Army has had just one winning season since the start of 1997, expectations will surely be high for Monken, who was extremely successful in his first head coaching stint with the Eagles. The newly appointed head coach can quickly make a name for himself if he's able to lead Army to a win over arch-rival Navy next season.
The Black Knights have dropped 12 straight to the Midshipmen and currently trail in the all-time series; 58-49-7. Ellerson went 0-5 against Navy and lost by two or more touchdowns on three occasions, so fans will be eager to see Monken get things turned around.
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