ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Navy head football coach Brian Newberry announced Friday that defensive line coach Jerrick Hall has been promoted to Defensive Running Game Coordinator.  Hall will also continue to coach the defensive line.

"Jerrick is an outstanding coach and has done great work with the defensive line," said Newberry.  "He has been instrumental in our success on defense since he got here in 2019.  He does as good of a job developing and getting the most out of his players as any coach I've been around.  Our defensive line has been the heart and soul of our defense since his arrival and we are fortunate to have him on our staff.  This promotion is well deserved."

"I am excited to take on this new role and contribute to the success of the team," said Hall. "I want to thank Coach Newberry for this amazing opportunity and for his continued support."

Hall enters his sixth year at Navy as the defensive line coach.  In his first three years, he coached the nose guards and defensive tackles and in 2022 he added the defensive ends to his responsibilities.
 

Last year the Navy defense tied with Penn State for the most shutouts in the country with three.  The three shutouts were also the most by a Navy team since 1978 when George Welsh's stop troops recorded 4 shutouts.  Navy also held a potent UAB attack out of the end zone in its 31-6 win over the Blazers, giving up just 2 field goals.

Navy's defense finished second in the nation in fumble recoveries (14), third in the country in red zone defense (allowed opponents to score just 72% of the time), fourth in the country in turnover margin (+0.92) and 19th in the country in stop rate (71.3%) in 2023.
 

A big part of Navy's success on defense last fall was the stout defensive line of Justin Reed, Donald Berniard Jr., Landon Robinson and Clay Cromwell.  Reed finished tied for sixth in the nation in fumble recoveries with three, while Berniard started 42-consecutive games at nose guard which were the most by any nose guard in the country and the second most among all defensive linemen.
 

Navy finished third in the nation against the run in 2022 (88.9 yards per game), which is even more impressive when you consider it was the only defense ranked in the top 25 that faced three of the top-10 rushing offenses in the country (#1 Air Force, #2 Army and #9 UCF). Navy also finished third nationally in fewest first downs allowed (187), 23rd in sacks (2.8 per game), 22nd in fumbles recovered (11) and 32nd in total defense (339.0 yards per game).
 

Defensive end Jacob Busic was named First-Team All-East in 2022. He finished with 38 tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss, 6 sacks, forced 2 fumbles and recovered a fumble while teaming up with John Marshall to give Navy one of its best pass rushing duos since 2005 when Tyler Tidwell (10) and David Mahoney (8) combined for 18 sacks.
 

In 2021, despite playing one of the toughest schedules in the country, the Navy defense acquitted itself well by finishing 32nd in the nation in rushing defense (130.4 yards per game), 51st in passing defense (218.2 yards per game), 34th in total defense (348.6 yards per game) and 34th in red zone defense (.778).  
 

In 2020, after a slow start, the Navy defense finished the year with a flurry, holding Memphis (205 yards), Tulsa (296) and Army (162) to under 300 yards of total offense. It was the first time a Navy defense had achieved that feat since 1997 when the Mids did it seven-consecutive games.
 

In 2019, Navy had one of the greatest seasons in school history, winning a school-record tying 11 games against just two losses, winning the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy, sharing the American Athletic Conference West Division title with Memphis and winning the prestigious Liberty Bowl. The Mids' eight-game improvement from 2018 was the second-biggest turnaround in FBS history.
 

The Mids finished the 2019 campaign ranked 20th in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls. It marked just the second time in the last 56 years that Navy finished in the AP Top 20 (18th in 2015).
 

A big part of that turnaround was the massive improvement Navy showed on the defensive side of the football, as the Mids improved in every major category.

Navy finished the 2019 campaign ranked 20th in third down defense (121st in 2018), 10th in rushing defense (90th in 2018), 39th in passing defense (75th in 2018), 16th in total defense (86th in 2018), 34th in scoring defense (103rd in 2018), 68th in pass efficiency defense (117th in 2018), 55th in sacks (129th in 2018) and 53rd in tackles for a loss (129th in 2018).
 

The Mids finished 10th in the nation against the run, giving up just 105.8 yards per game, despite facing the #2, #3 and #11 rushing offense's in the country. The Mids forced the opposing offense off the field in three plays or less in 36 percent of its drives, which was the 10th best average in the country. The Navy defense gave up just 15.2 first downs per game, which was tied for third best in the country.
 

Hall is a 16-year coaching veteran and was a standout player at North Carolina State. He came to Navy from Elon, where he was an assistant for five years in two different stints.