Naval Academy Athletics

Ricky Brown is in his fourth year at the Naval Academy coaching the outside linebackers and his first as the co-defensive coordinator.

In his third year, 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.

Navy held Memphis to 17 points on Thanksgiving night in a 28-17 road win. It was the 1st time Memphis had been held to fewer than 20 points in 52 games.

The Navy defense held its final 3 opponents under 300 yards of total offense (Memphis-288 yards, Army-202 yards, Cincinnati-239 yards). It is the first time Navy has held 3-straight opponents upder 300 yards since 2020. 

Nathan Kirkwood made 119 career extra-points, which are the second most in school history. 

Kirkwood’s 53 extra-points this season puts him fifth in Navy history in single-season PATs.

His 59-consecutive extra-points made dating back to last year is the second-longest streak in school history. 

Kirkwood is just the eighth kicker in school history to be perfect on PATs for the year (min. 25 attempts).

Kirkwood was named First-Team All-East, while Rayne Fry was named the American Conference Long Snapper of the Year.

Jacob Carlson was impressive for Navy in his first year on the job as Navy’s punter. He averaged 44.5 yards per punt, which is the fourth-best punting average in school history and just off the record of 45.7 set by Riley Riethman set in 2024.
 
In his second year at Navy, Brown 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.

In its 10 wins in 2024, Navy outscored the opposition 104-7 in points off turnovers.

Riley Riethman was named Second-Team All-American Athletic Conference.

Riethman’s 44.4 career punting average (226 punts, 10,037 yds) is the best in school history (min. 50 att.). He owns 4 of the top-5 single-game performances in Navy history (min. of 5 punts). He finished sixth in the nation in punting average, averaging a school-record 45.7 yards per punt.    

In his first year at Navy, 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 stop rate (71.3%).

Navy’s special teams also produced some top national numbers as the Mids had the  23rd-ranked punt return defense (4.59 yds/return) and ranked 28th nationally in net punting (40.74 yds). Navy’s kickoff return defense was the 25th best in the country (16.92 yards per return).

Junior punter Riley Riethman was named First-Team All-American Athletic Conference and All-East. He was also named Academic All-District by the College Sports Communicators with a 3.96 grade-point average in Aerospace Engineering.

Riethman’s 44.0 career average is the best average in school history and he owns 3 of the 5-best single-game performances in Navy history. He averaged 44.8 yards per punt this season, which tied John Skaggs for the Navy single-season record.

Senior striker Xavier McDonald was one of 11 FBS players who were selected to the 2023 Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team. The Good Works Team was honored on Jan. 1 at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, an annual tradition provided courtesy of Allstate as an additional honor for being selected to the team. 

Sophomore raider Luke Pirris finished tied for sixth in the country in fumble recoveries with 3, as well as being named the AAC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against North Texas.

Navy finished with a 5-7 record and a 4-4 mark in the American Athletic Conference in 2023. The Mids, picked ninth in the preseason poll by the league’s coaches, finished tied for fifth in the AAC.

Brown came to Navy from Tulsa, where he was hired by new head coach Kevin Wilson in January as the special teams coordinator and defensive assistant.

Prior to Tulsa, Brown spent one season at Cincinnati as the special teams quality control coach (2022) and two years at Ohio State (2020-21) in the same role.

Prior to coaching at Ohio State, Brown was on the staff at his alma mater, Boston College, from 2016-19. He served in a quality control role on defense and special teams in 2016 before being promoted to special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach in 2017 for his final three seasons in Chestnut Hill.

In Brown’s first season back at Boston College, the defense recorded 47 sacks to rank fourth in the NCAA, while the BC special teams ranked seventh for opponent kickoff return average and 10th for punt returns. In 2017, his special teams unit ranked 11th in the nation in punt returns (13.11 avg.) and 22nd for kickoff return yards (946 yards), while ranking 26th in special teams efficiency.

A year later (2018), Brown coordinated a unit that ranked first nationally with three punt returns for touchdowns, was fifth with five blocked kicks, 16th for average punt return yards, 19th for average kickoff return yards and 30th in special teams efficiency.

Brown began his coaching career in a quality control role on defense at USC from 2014-15. In 2015, USC won the Pac-12 South title and made a second-consecutive appearance in the Holiday Bowl.

Before moving into the coaching profession, Brown worked for Morgan Stanley as a wealth advisory associate in Los Angeles following seven years in the NFL, playing for the Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens. Brown entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent.

Brown’s collegiate career spanned from 2002-05 at Boston College. The outside linebacker was the winner of the Scanlan Award in 2005, the highest honor bestowed upon a BC football player, which recognizes accomplishments on the field, in the classroom and in the community. In four seasons, he recorded 184 tackles (118 solo) with 4.5 sacks. The Cincinnati, Ohio native graduated with a degree in finance in 2006.

Brown and his wife, Brynne, have two daughters, Brixton and Koby, and a son, Niko.