10/22/2003 - Football
Paul Johnson: National Coach-Of-The-Year Candidate

It's pretty easy to make a case for Navy head football coach Paul Johnson to be a candidate for National Coach-of-the-Year when you consider the following:

*Johnson took over a program that had gone 1-20 the previous two years, the worst stretch in the 122-year history of Navy football.

*Navy, at 5-2, has equaled it's best start in 23 years and is tied for the third-best start in 40 years.

*Navy's five wins this year are two more than Navy had won the previous three years combined (3-30).

*Navy defeated Air Force for the first time since 1996 and put Navy in line to win the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy for the first time since 1981.

*Two more wins would give Navy just its ninth winning season in 40 years.

*The Mids are leading the nation in rushing, averaging 321.29 yards per contest, 27 yards more than the next closest team.

*Navy's victory over Air Force was the first over a ranked opponent since 1985 and broke a 35-game losing streak against ranked opponents.

*Johnson is doing all this with the youngest team in school history as the Mids are dressing 18 freshmen and playing 11 (unheard of at a Service Academy).