ANNAPOLIS, Md.—The annual Navy football banquet took place on Friday night at Alumni Hall where several prestigious awards were handed out.
 
Senior linebacker Diego Fagot (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) was named the winner of the E.E. "Rip" Miller Award, which is presented to the season's most valuable player as voted on by his teammates.
 
Fagot, who was one of Navy's four team captains, finished his career on a high note in Navy's 17-13 win over Army. He led the team with nine tackles, including teaming up with sophomore defensive end Jacob Busic on the final stop of the game, and pulled off a four-yard run on a surprise fake punt that picked up a critical first down and set up Navy's final three points of the contest.
 
Fagot led the Mids in tackles with 94 and 11 tackles for loss. He was named First-Team All-AAC, All-East and a Fourth-Team All-American by Phil Steele. He is just the third Navy player in school history to lead the team in tackles three-straight years, joining Josh Smith (2002-04) and Andy Ponseigo (1981-83).  Tackles were not kept prior to 1970.  Fagot was also named the Defensive MVP of the East-West Shrine Game.
 
Senior slot back Chance Warren (Enterprise, Ala.) was named the winner of the Napoleon McCallum Award, which is presented to the Navy varsity football player of the graduating class who has gained the most all-purpose yards in his career.  
 
Warren, who was one of Navy's four team captains, finished his career with 1,229 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns.


Warren was also the recipient of the Joe Bellino Award, which is presented to the varsity football player whose inspiring on-the-field performance made a significant impact on the team and contributed to its overall success during the season.
 
Warren was a sparkplug for the Mids in 2021, rushing for 260 yards and a touchdown, catching 11 passes for 169 yards and three touchdowns, completing his only pass for 16 yards, returning 13 punts for 139 yards and returning one kickoff for 19 yards. His biggest run of the year was a 26-yard run off a reverse against Army that set up a touchdown.
 
Senior safety Kevin Brennan (Westfield, N.J.) was named the winner of the Roger Staubach Award, which is presented to the varsity football player who demonstrated consistent, outstanding leadership and an "Expect to Win" attitude in contributing to the team's success during the season and embodied honor, courage and commitment on and off the playing field.
 
Brennan, who was one of Navy's four captains, saw his senior season end in the fifth game of the year when he injured his shoulder against SMU.  Despite the prognosis, Brennan never hung his head and continued to come to position meetings and helped tutor Navy's young safeties.  Brennan served as a de facto assistant coach both in practice and in games and was a key contributor to Navy's improvement on defense as the season wore on.
 
Brennan finished his career with 169 tackles, four tackles for  loss, three interceptions and 10 pass breakups.
 
Senior fullback Isaac Ruoss (Mohton, Pa.) was named the winner of the Cmdr. Ralph Sentmann Award, which honors the member of the graduating class from the varsity football team who has achieved the highest ranking in academic order of merit. 
 
Ruoss has a 3.89 grade-point average while majoring in quantitative economics and has taken a wide range of STEM classes, including physics, electrical engineering, thermodynamics and aeronautics.  He was also named a CoSIDA Second-Team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America in the fall.
 
On the field, Ruoss led the Midshipmen in rushing this season with 641 yards and five touchdowns.
 
Ruoss also took home the Jeffrey R. Korn Memorial Scholar-Athlete Award, which is given annually to the first classman on the team who has demonstrated excellence both in the classroom and on the football field. 
 
Senior wide receiver Michael Salisbury (Shelbyville, Tenn.) was named the recipient of the First Lieutenant Ron Winchester Unsung Hero Award, which is presented to an unheralded senior recognized as an overachiever and role model as selected by a vote of his teammates. 
 
Salisbury, despite seeing limited action in his career, was revered by his teammates by how hard he worked in the weight room and on the practice field and was one of the most respected players on the team.
 
Senior wide receiver Mychal Cooper (San Antonio, Texas) was named the winner of the Cooke Award, which is given to the player who has done the most to promote team spirit.
 
Cooper, who was not only one of Navy's four team captains but was also voted the captain of all the team captains at the Naval Academy, was a positive influence both on the field and off with his positive demeanor and friendly nature.
 
On the field, Cooper finished his career with 46 catches for 894 yards and seven touchdowns, while also serving as an outstanding blocker for the Navy running game.
 
Cooper's career average of 19.4 yards per catch ranks fifth in school history and remarkably, his seven touchdown catches came from six different quarterbacks over his career.  Cooper played in the NFL Players Association Collegiate Bowl in January.
 
Senior defensive tackle J'arius Warren (Long Beach, Miss.) was awarded the Outstanding Lineman Award, presented annually to a member of the graduating class who, as a football interior lineman, has excelled as a student-athlete and contributed to the overall team leadership and spirit.     
 
Warren played in 35 games on the defensive line, starting 27, and finished with 116- career tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles while playing both defensive end and defensive tackle.  He had a career-high 14 tackles against Army as a junior.