Naval Academy Athletics

Jay Guillermo is in his third year as the offensive line coach.

In his second year in Annapolis, Navy had one of the best seasons in school history finishing with an 11-2 record and ranked 23rd in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. It is only the fourth time since 1963 that Navy has ended the season ranked in the AP poll and the first time since 2019. 

Navy finished strong in 2025 with a 35-13 win over Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl. It was Navy’s fourth-consecutive bowl win, all against Autonomy 4 teams (Virginia, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Cincinnati). 

Navy has produced back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time in school history. The 11 wins this year tied the school record (Navy also won 11 games in 2015 and 2019). Navy’s 21 wins over the last 2 years are the most wins in school history over a two-year span, while Navy’s 21-5 record (.808) over the last two years is the eighth-best winning percentage in the FBS and the best among the Non-Autonomy 4. 

Navy defeated Army 17-16 to win the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, which is presented annually to the winner of the football competition among the three major service academies (Navy, Air Force and Army) and is named in honor of the President of the United States. Navy has won the CIC Trophy in back-to-back years and has won it 13 times in the last 23 years.

Navy was also named the winner of the Lambert Trophy, which is awarded to the best team in the East. It is the first time since 2015 and just the second time since 1963 the Mids have won the Lambert Trophy.

Navy finished in a three-way tie for the American Conference regular-season title with North Texas and Tulane, but did not play in the championship game due to Tulane being ranked in the CFP and North Texas beating Navy head-to-head. 

Navy defeated #24 USF on Senior Day in Annapolis 41-38. It was Navy’s third win over a ranked opponent in the last two years. Last year, Navy defeated #19 / #22 Army (31-13) and RV / #22 Memphis (56-44).

It is the first time Navy has beaten three ranked opponents over a two-year span since 1957-58 when the Mids beat #5 / #5 Notre Dame (20-6) and #10 / #9 Army (14-0) in 1957 and #8 / #7 Rice (20-7) and #14 / #12 Michigan (20-14) in 1958.

Navy finished 6-0 at home in 2025. It is just the sixth time in school history Navy has gone undefeated at home in years it has played 5 or more home games.

The Mids led the FBS in rushing in 2025, averaging 285.6 yards per game. Navy’s 41 rushing touchdowns tied with Utah for the 2nd most in the FBS behind North Texas (49). 

Navy finished second in the FBS in rushing yards per carry, averaging 5.76 yards per carry. 

Navy finished second in the country in passing yards per completion, averaging 15.9 yards per catch. 

Navy finished third in the nation with 10 offensive plays go for 60 yards or more. 

Navy gave up 3.1 tackles for loss per game, which was the fewest in the country. 

The Mids finished tied for third in the country for fewest sacks allowed (nine).

Navy’s offensive line was a candidate for the Joe Moore Award, while senior guard Ben Purvis was named First-Team All-East and Second-Team All-American Conference.

In his first year at Navy, Guillermo 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.

Offensive linemen Connor McMahon and Ben Purvis were named honorable mention all-conference.

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.

Guillermo was hired at Mercer at the conclusion of the 2023 season from East Tennessee State where he had served as the offensive line coach.

Guillermo was the engineer behind an offensive line at East Tennessee State that helped pave the way for one of the Southern Conference’s top rushing attacks last season. The Bucs topped the 200-yard rushing plateau four times in 2023, including a 286-yard performance in an early November shootout with league rival VMI.

The Maryville, Tenn., native got his start in coaching in 2019 as a graduate assistant coach at Georgia State and then broke into the profession on a full-time basis as the tight ends coach at Western Carolina for an abbreviated spring 2021 season.

Guillermo spent the 2021 campaign as the offensive line coach at Carson-Newman, a perennial national contender on the NCAA Division II level, and then made the move to Charlottesville, Va., where he served as a graduate assistant coach for Virginia during the 2022 season.

A dominant offensive lineman for head coach Dabo Swinney at Clemson from 2012-16, Guillermo helped the Tigers amass a 60-9 clip during his time in Death Valley, including a 35-5 record against Atlantic Coast Conference foes. Clemson captured a pair of ACC titles during that span, and made five bowl appearances, including berths into the College Football Playoffs (CFP) that culminated both the 2015 and 2016 campaigns for the Tigers.

Guillermo saw action in 46 games (29 starts) over his collegiate career, and amassed 69 knockdowns in more than 2,550 snaps as a leader on the offensive line.

A four-time ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week and 2016 Hammer Strength All-American selection, he was voted as a permanent captain as the starting center for the 2016 squad that posted a 14-1 record, including a 35-31 win over Alabama in the National Championship Game.

Guillermo earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Clemson in 2016. He and his wife, Ava, are the proud parents of a daughter, Luna, and sons, Roman and Milo.