By Gary Lambrecht
 
When Navy reversed its losing course on the football field in the early 2000s, the Mids main driver of success was its offense, led by the potency of its run-heavy, option attack.
 
Over a 17-season stretch that began in 2003 when Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk hired future College Football Hall of Fame Coach Paul Johnson, Navy recorded 15 winning years, went 8-7 in bowl games and earned possession of the all-important Commander-in-Chief's trophy 11 times, thanks largely to a productive offense that set a tone for the program.
 
Besides being able to put up 30 points on a regular basis, the offense was a clock-eating machine, able to string together long drives and occasional big plays, while limiting the stress on a Mids' defense that would bend more than break. With that formula intact, Navy was adept at winning many one-score battles.
 
When Brian Newberry, Navy's second-year head coach, arrived in Annapolis in 2019 as its defensive coordinator, he was determined to elevate the program's defensive stature.
 
The scheme that had served Newberry and Kennesaw State very well as FCS playoff quarterfinalists in 2017 and 2018 – an aggressive plan that relies on creativity and deception and combines pre-snap looks and unpredictable quarterback pressure tactics with old-fashioned, relentless pursuit to the ball – was an immediate and effective hit at Navy.
 
"When I got here in '19, I knew we had to be different on defense," Newberry said.
 
The 2019 campaign ranks as one of Navy's greatest football seasons. Quarterback Malcolm Perry capped an outstanding career with an otherworldly senior season that propelled the Mids to an 11-2 finish, matching the same record four seasons earlier, achieved with the great Keenan Reynolds at quarterback.
 
Perry set a single-season Navy record in 2019 with 2,017 of his 4,359 career rushing yards, as Navy scored at least 41 points in six victories and at least 31 points in 10 wins.
 
But part of Navy's offensive explosiveness occurred because its new defense fueled the fireworks with stops and forced turnovers that created many extra possessions and lots of good field position for the Navy attack.
 
The Mids of 2019 forced opposing offenses off the field in three plays or fewer in 36 percent of its drives,  10^th best in the nation. They surrendered 15.2 first downs per game, which tied for third in the country. They held opponents to 17 or fewer points in seven victories.
 
Navy improved dramatically by other defensive measures in the FBS. The Mids ranked 10^th in rushing defense (90^th in 2018), 20^th in third-down defense (121^st in 2018), 39^th in passing defense (75^th in 2018), 16^th in total defense (86^th in 2018) and 34^th in scoring defense (103^rd in 2018).
 
"That was a magical season," said P.J. Volker, who had worked with Newberry at Kennesaw, before following him to Annapolis and becoming a linebackers coach. Volker is heading into his second season as defensive coordinator under Newberry.
 
"We had a bunch of guys who totally bought into what Coach Newberry's defense was about," Volker recalled. "They were hungry for knowledge and they worked extremely hard and got better and better as the year went along. [Newberry] has an extremely sharp defensive mind. He's got that 'wizard' moniker for a reason."
 
Five years ago who could have guessed that a solid, sometimes spectacular defense would assume the status as Navy's backbone and identity?
 
At Navy, defense now sets the tone.
 
Having averaged only four victories over the past four seasons, Navy is recalibrating again on offense. That unit has struggled to sustain drives consistently over the last four seasons.
 
First-year offensive coordinator Drew Cronic, who replaced Grant Chesnut following Navy's 5-7 finish last season, went 28-17 over four seasons as the head coach at Mercer. Last season, Cronic led the Bears to an historic 9-4 season that ended with their first FCS playoff berth. Its nine wins were the most over Division I opponents in the program's 50-year history.
 
Last year, Navy came painfully close to having a great season, but an inability to move the football ultimately cost them.
 
Navy's defense was one of only two FBS schools last year, Penn State was the other, to record three shutouts. The Mids held four opponents without a touchdown. They hung with high-powered Memphis on the road, before dropping a 28-24 decision. 
 
Navy ranked second nationally with 14 fumble recoveries, third in red zone defense (allowing scores 72% of the time), fourth in turnover margin (+0.92) and 19^th in stop rate (71.3%).
 
"We've been able to create a certain culture on that side of the ball, with the brand, the style we play with," Newberry said. "I think it's the unselfishness and relentlessness we've played with that has really helped. There is an expectation when our defense steps on the field, and our guys really hold each other accountable. I don't think there is anybody in the country who plays harder than we do on defense."
 
Stopping the run has been a consistent emphasis since Newberry arrived, and the Mids have been remarkably good at it. Navy finished third against the run in 2022, when they allowed 89 yards per game. That helped the Mids rank third nationally in fewest first downs allowed [137]. That year, behind striker John Marshall, Navy also averaged 2.8 sacks per game, good for 23^rd in the country.
 
In 2021, the Navy defense finished 32^nd in rushing defense and 34^th in total defense and red zone defense. Linebacker Diego Fagot capped his outstanding career with All-American honors and was named MVP of the East-West Shrine All-Star Game.
 
"I still remember day one at my first [preseason] camp being kind of a shock, with the way everyone was being physical. Everyone was flying around like their heads were on fire," recalls Colin Ramos, Navy's co-captain and senior linebacker. He has started 24 games, dating to the final two games of his freshman season.
 
Ramos, one of seven returning starters on Navy's defense, led the Mids with 108 tackles last year – the first Navy player to reach 100 tackles in a season since Fagot did it in 2019.
 
"It's been great to have the same [defensive] coaches, the same scheme, same mindset and standard trickling down," Ramos added. "My pre-play recognition has been a big part of my improvement. You trust your eyes to see what might happen and you know what to do [to counter your opponent]. You play faster."
 
"I'm blessed to be a part of this defense. It all starts with mentorship from the older guys like Diego and Will Harbour, who took us under their wings when we arrived," said senior defensive end Justin Reed, who ended his junior year with 49 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and team-tying 4.5 sacks.
 
"We know we're not going to be the biggest guys out there. But the type of attitude and effort we play with are very crucial. Our coaches do an excellent job of putting us in the right positions to make the plays we need to make," Reed said. "It's been good to see how much closer we are getting [to being a winning team again]. We are closing the gap."
 
"What we did last year as a defense has no correlation to what we're going to do this year. We start fresh every year," Volker said. "We have to be phenomenal fundamentally. We have to be better tacklers. It all starts with our effort. We have played hard for years, but this team needs to up the ante and overwhelm people with how we swarm around the ball."
 
"We've got to be fixated on the details. We've been knocking on the door," Volker added. "We need to be done with coming in on Monday mornings and looking at this play or that play [that cost us]. Everything about the work we've done this whole offseason needs to point to one thing. This is our breakthrough year."