David Cole is in his second year at Navy coaching the snipes (formerly known as slot backs).
In his first year at Navy, Cole helped lead the Mids to a 10-3 record, wins over Air Force and Army to win the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy and a victory over Oklahoma to win the Armed Forces Bowl. The 10 wins marked just the sixth time in school history Navy has won 10 or more games in a season.
The win over Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl was the first time Navy has defeated a team from the SEC in a bowl game since 1954 (1955 Sugar Bowl) when the Mids beat Ole Miss 21-0. It was the first win against an SEC team overall since Navy defeated Vanderbilt in 2004.
Navy finished the regular season with a complete domination of Service Academy rival #19 Army, knocking off the Black Knights 31-13 in the 125th playing of the Army-Navy Game presented by USAA. With wins over Air Force and Army, the Mids won the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, which is presented annually to the winner of the football competition among the 3 major service academies (Navy, Air Force and Army) and is named in honor of the President of the United States.
Navy won the two Service Academy games in 2024 by a combined 45 points, which ties the 2019 Navy team for the biggest combined CIC blowouts by any of the three Service Academies since 2007 when Navy beat Air Force and Army by a combined 46 points.
Navy’s win over Army gave Navy victories over two ranked opponents for the first time since 1958, when the Mids defeated #8 / #7 Rice 20-7 and #14 / #12 Michigan 20-14. Navy defeated #24 (Coaches) Memphis 56-44 on Sept. 21, 2024.
Navy was predicted to finish 11th in the 2024 American Athletic Conference preseason poll and ended the year tied for third with Memphis (Navy beat Memphis head-to-head) with a 6-2 mark.
The Navy offense scored 407 points in its 13 games in 2024, which was a whopping 195 more than it scored in its 12 games in 2023.
Navy averaged 247.5 rushing yards per game in 2024, the 6th-best average in the FBS and the program’s best since 2019.
The Mids finished 37 of 42 (.881) in the red zone with 34 (.810) of those scores resulting in touchdowns. Navy finished #1 in the country in red zone touchdown percentage.
Eli Heidenreich’s (Jr. / SB) six touchdown receptions tied for Navy’s single-season touchdown catches record. Heidenreich closed out the year being named a Third-Team All-American by College Football Network.
Prior to Navy, Cole spent four years at Mercer as the associate head coach, special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach at Mercer in 2023. Cole has coached alongside Navy’s new offensive coordinator Drew Cronic for six seasons, including the 2018 and 2019 campaigns at Lenoir-Rhyne where he also served as the interim head coach.
Cole helped lead Mercer to an historic 9-4 record in 2023, including a 6-2 mark in the Southern Conference. The nine wins are the most against Division I opponents in the 50-year history of the program, while the team earned an FCS playoff berth for the first time in school history. The 6-2 conference mark tied the 2021 team for the most Southern Conference wins in school history.
In 2022, Cole helped the Bears achieve their highest ranking in program history at No. 11 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll. Cole coached the cornerbacks in 2022, which was part of a Mercer defense that led the FCS in total interceptions with 17.
As special teams coach, Cole worked with returner Devron Harper who was named 2022 SoCon Special Teams Player of the Year by Phil Steele. Harper, who led the conference in kick return average at 29.1 yards per return, was also named First-Team All-SoCon by the coaches and media as a kick and punt returner. He was the only player in the SoCon to have a kick and punt returned for a touchdown. Mercer’s Trey Turk led the SoCon with 44.4 average yards per punt.
In 2021, Cole helped guide the Bears to the most Southern Conference wins in school history and set the stage for a regular-season finale against ETSU for the conference championship. Mercer’s kicking game, under the direction of Cole, was as good as anyone in the SoCon with Turk averaging 40.6 yards per punt. Harper was among the most exciting punt returners in the league, averaging 12.14 yards per return and a long return of 52 yards. Harper also averaged 21.33 yards per kickoff return with a long of 53 yards.
Cole helped lead the Bears to five SoCon wins in 2020-21, including three consecutive triumphs over ranked foes. He also helped the Bears achieve a No. 23 ranking in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll for Mercer’s first appearance in the poll. Mercer defeated No. 9 Chattanooga (35-28), No. 17 Furman (26-14) and No. 20 ETSU (21-13) in three consecutive weeks and at one point had a four-game winning streak in league play.
Cole spent a total of four seasons prior to Mercer in Hickory, N.C., with Lenoir-Rhyne, including the last two years with Cronic. Cole mentored an explosive special teams’ unit in 2018 that featured return man Kyle Dugger and posted a 25-3 record, two conference championships and two quarterfinal playoff appearances.
Dugger earned the National Special Teams Player of the Year award under Cole after becoming the first player in the 99-year history of Lenoir-Rhyne football to return two punts for a touchdown in the same game. Dugger’s TD returns of 69 and 64 yards sent Lenoir-Rhyne to a 34-21 victory over Newberry. Dugger would go on to break the program record for most punt return yards in a season (534) and would be named all-conference, all-region and an Honorable Mention All-American for his returning prowess.
In his time in Hickory, Cole also served as co-recruiting coordinator for the Bears in 2017 and the interim head coach prior to Cronic’s hiring.
Prior to his time at Lenoir-Rhyne, Cole spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at California (Pa.) University.
While with the Vulcans, Cole headed up the secondary and was the team’s recruiting coordinator and pass game coordinator. California (Pa.) posted 149 interceptions from 2005 to 2015 with Cole coaching the defensive backs.
During Cole’s tenure with California (Pa.), the Vulcans advanced to three-straight NCAA Division II National Semifinals (2007-09) in addition to five playoff appearances and seven-consecutive PSAC West Conference Championships (2005-11). The 2007 Vulcans’ defense was ranked No. 1 in the nation in total defense.
In the summer of 2013, Cole was selected for an NFL Internship - the Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship Program - for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Cole, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees (both in geography and regional planning) from California (Pa.), started his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Vulcans in 2004.
Cole was a four-year letter winner and two-year starter for the Vulcans.
Cole and his wife, Sharron, are the parents of three daughters, Saniya, Rebekah and Savannah and a son, the late Davin Roberson.
