Long-time option coach Tommy Laurendine is in his third year at Navy and his second year coaching the offensive line. Laurendine coached the fullbacks in his first season at Navy.
In 2024, Laurendine 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 (Sr. / OT) and Ben Purvis (Jr. / OG) 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.
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 despite having to play 4 different quarterbacks due to injury (second most in the country) and was the only FBS school to start 3 different quarterbacks in a win.
Fullback Alex Tecza was named All-East and Honorable Mention All-American Athletic Conference after his sensational sophomore campaign. Tecza led the Mids in rushing with 758 yards and 5 touchdowns on 126 carries. He had a career-high 163 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries against Memphis in the AAC opener, including a career-long 75 yard run.
Laurendine came to Navy from Mississippi College, where he was the offensive coordinator for the last five seasons.
Mississippi College finished second in the nation in rushing in 2022, averaging a school-record 325.1 yards per game, while the Choctaws averaged 274.8 yards per game on the ground over his five years as the offensive coordinator.
Laurendine served as the head football coach and offensive coordinator at Sewanee from 2011-16. Under Laurendine’s leadership, Sewanee continued to be one of the top rushing teams in the nation. In his first season as head coach (2011), Laurendine guided Sewanee to its best season since 2005. The Tigers finished with more overall wins in 2011, five, than the previous four seasons combined. For his efforts, Laurendine was honored as the SCAC Co-Coach of the Year.
An Oak Ridge, Tennessee native, Laurendine came to Sewanee from The Citadel, where he served as the offensive coordinator in 2010. In addition, Laurendine coached the quarterbacks and fullbacks for the Bulldogs.
Before his stint at The Citadel, Laurendine served as the offensive coordinator, quarterbacks and fullbacks coach at NCAA Division II Lenoir-Rhyne College for two seasons.
In 2008, his offense improved by more than 126 yards per game and finished the season ranked fifth in Division II in rushing, averaging 295.3 yards per contest.
A year later, Laurendine and the Bears improved to 294.3 rushing yards per game, finishing the year with the second-best rushing average in Division II.
Prior to his stint at Lenoir-Rhyne, Laurendine served as the offensive coordinator at Washington & Lee University in 2007. During his time with the Generals, he coached quarterbacks and wide receivers. Laurendine also served as the Generals’ offensive coordinator from 1995-1997.
From 2001-2006, Laurendine was the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Southern Arkansas. While at Southern Arkansas, Laurendine’s offenses set a combined 18 school records and earned a berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs in 2003.
The 2005 squad broke records for total offense (4,677), rushing attempts (630), first downs (250), touchdowns (44), rushing offense (296.4 ypg), total offense (425.2 ypg), scoring offense (29.7 points per game), and single game yardage (615). He also spent the 2000 season as SAU’s assistant head coach, offensive line coach and team academic coordinator.
Laurendine also had coaching stops at West Alabama (1997-2000), Northwest Whitfield High School (1994-95), and West Georgia College (1991-94) as a graduate assistant
Laurendine is a 1990 graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne, having earned a bachelor of arts in education. He was a two-year starter at quarterback and was named the 1988 and 1989 South Atlantic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and was a 1989 Domino’s NAIA Player of the Year Finalist. Laurendine was team captain in 1989 and led the Bears to a conference championship in 1988.
A two-year letter winner, he was inducted into the Lenoir-Rhyne and South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame in 2008. He holds school records in career completion percentage (58.3), single-season total yards (2,409) and career total yards (4,064).
Laurendine began his coaching career as a student assistant coach at Lenoir-Rhyne from 1990-1991, before earning his master’s degree in physical education from West Georgia College in 1992.
Laurendine and his wife, Shawna, reside in Annapolis. They have two daughters, Lexie, who is an assistant volleyball coach at Wingate University, and Lakin, a redshirt sophomore volleyball player at Arkansas.
