Jerrick Hall enters his seventh year at Navy as the defensive line coach and his second as the defensive running game coordinator. In his first three years, he coached the nose guards and defensive tackles and in 2022 he added the defensive ends to his responsibilities.
In 2024, Hall 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.
Landon Robinson (Jr. / NG) was named First-Team All-AAC by the league head coaches. Justin Reed (Sr. / DE) was named to the second team.
In its 10 wins in 2024, Navy outscored the opposition 104-7 in points off turnovers.
In 2023, the Mids tied Penn State for the most shutouts in the country with three. The three shutouts are the most by a Navy team since 1978 when George Welsh’s stop troops recorded four shutouts. Navy also held a potent UAB attack out of the end zone in its 31-6 win over the Blazers, giving up just two field goals.
Navy’s defense finished second in the nation in fumble recoveries (14), third in red zone defense (allowed opponents to score just 72% of the time), fourth in turnover margin (+0.92) and 19th in the country in stop rate (71.3%).
A big part of Navy’s success on defense 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 Jr. started 42-consecutive games at nose guard, 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 defensive staff, led by coordinator Brian Newberry, installed a “Get 6” culture within the Navy defense that took off. Newberry told the defensive players if they got a combination of six three-and-outs, fourth down stops, turnovers and defensive touchdowns in a game, the Mids would win. In 2019, the Mids were 8-0 when they managed to “Get 6.”
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.
Hall returned to Elon in 2017 and immediately helped the Phoenix to one of the biggest turnarounds in the FCS going from 2-9 the year before to 8-4 and a berth in the FCS playoffs.
In 2018, Elon finished 6-5 and made the FCS playoffs for a second-straight year.
One of Hall’s pupils, Marcus Willoughby, recorded 117 tackles over two seasons and was named All-CAA. The Phoenix ranked 15th in the country in quarterback sacks, averaging almost three per game. In 2017, Elon’s defensive line was responsible for 18 of the team’s 31 sacks. Willoughby signed a free agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens in the spring.
Hall was the defensive line coach at Fordham in 2015 and 2016 and helped the Rams to a two-year record of 17-6.
The Fordham defense led the Patriot League and ranked 10th nationally in both turnovers gained and fumbles recovered in 2015. In 2016, Fordham ranked sixth nationally in passing efficiency defense and seventh in turnover margin.
Justin Vaughn was an All-Patriot League selection in 2016 and went on to play in the CFL with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Hall spent the 2014 season at the University of New Haven where he helped guide the Chargers to a 6-3 mark in the Northeast 10. New Haven finished 18th in Division II in rushing yards allowed per game and fourth in tackles for loss per game. One of Hall’s players, Drake Harris, was named all-conference in the NE10.
Prior to his year in New Haven, Hall spent four seasons at Elon. In 2011, Hall mentored a defensive line that amassed 141 total tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. With a young line in 2012, Hall’s unit recorded 6.5 of Elon’s 16 sacks. Both Jordan Gibson and Brandon Brant were named All-Southern Conference.
From 2007-09, Hall helped coach Campbell University’s defensive unit. During that stretch, the 2009 squad tallied 50 tackles for loss, including 12 sacks. Three of the 2008 squad’s defensive linemen ranked among the top-25 linemen in the league in tackles per game.
Prior to joining the Fighting Camels, Hall spent three seasons coaching at his alma mater, N.C. State, where he was responsible for defensive film breakdown, scouting reports, coaching the offensive scout team and working with the defensive line. During his tenure, Hall worked with four first-round NFL draft picks, including Mario Williams - the first overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.
A 2004 graduate of N.C. State, Hall was a four-year letter winner for the Wolfpack as a defensive tackle and helped the program to three bowl game appearances, including a win over Notre Dame in 2002 Toyota Gator Bowl. His defensive coordinator at N.C. State was former Navy defensive coordinator Buddy Green. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Park Recreation and Tourism Management in 2004 and completed his master’s degree in Liberal Studies in 2007.
Hall and his wife, Ashley, have four children, twins Ayden and Avery and twins Joshua and Jordan. Ayden will be a senior at the Naval Academy this fall.
