Brenten Wimberly is in his third season at the Naval Academy assisting defensive coordinator P.J. Volker with the linebackers.
In his second year, Wimberly helped lead led 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.
Colin Ramos (Sr. / LB) was named First-Team All-AAC by the league head coaches.
In its 10 wins in 2024, Navy outscored the opposition 104-7 in points off turnovers.
Ramos received Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy National Player of the Week, the Lott Impact Trophy Player of the Week and AAC Defensive Player of the Week accolades after posting a career-high 20 tackles, Navy’s only sack, Navy’s only two tackles for loss and broke up a pass in the end zone that kept Memphis off the scoreboard in the Mids’ 56-44 victory over No. 23 Memphis. The 20 tackles tied for the second-most by any player in the FBS in 2024.
Ramos led Navy in tackles in 2024 with 129 after recording 110 in 2023. The last Navy player to record back-to-back 100-tackle seasons for Navy was Ross Pospisil in 2008 and ‘09. His 129 tackles are the most by a Navy player since 2013 when Cody Peterson recorded 142.
In 2023, the Mids tied Penn State for the most shutouts in the country with 3. The 3 shutouts are the most by a Navy team since 1978 when George Welsh’s stop troops recorded 4 shutouts. Navy also held a potent UAB attack out of the end zone in its 31-6 win over the Blazers, giving up just 2 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%).
Junior linebacker Colin Ramos was named First-Team All-American Athletic Conference, while senior linebacker Will Harbour was named Honorable Mention All-Conference. Ramos and Harbour were also named All-East.
Ramos led Navy in tackles with 110, while recording 9 tackles for a loss, 4 pass breakups, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. He was twice named AAC Defensive Player of the Week for his performances against UAB (12 tackles, a sack, a TFL and a pass breakup) and ECU (10 tackles, 1.5 TFL). His 110 tackles are the most by a Navy player since Cody Peterson recorded 142 in 2013.
Harbour finished second on the team in tackles with 84, tied for 3rd in tackles for loss (7.5) and tied for 4th in sacks (3). He had a career-high 11 tackles against USF and Charlotte.
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.
The five wins were the most by a Navy team since 2019, while five of Navy’s seven losses came at the hands of a team that played in a bowl game including two teams that finished in the top 25 (Notre Dame at #14 and SMU at #22).
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.
The five wins were the most by a Navy team since 2019, while five of Navy’s seven losses came at the hands of a team that played in a bowl game including two teams that finished in the Top 25 (Notre Dame at #14 and SMU at #22).
Wimberly came to Navy from Alabama, where he was a graduate assistant for one year. Wimberly helped the Alabama defensive staff put together one of the top defenses in the nation. The Crimson Tide ranked sixth in pass efficiency defense, ninth in scoring defense, 11th in total defense and 36th in rushing defense.
Wimberly came to Tuscaloosa from the Georgia Tech, where he spent the previous two seasons as a defensive graduate assistant (2020-21) and earned his master’s degree in building construction and facility management.
Wimberly is a 2018 graduate of Kennesaw State where he played linebacker for two years on the football team.
Wimberly appeared in 25 games and totaled 63 tackles, 1.5 sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery while helping the Owls to a Big South Championship and the FCS playoffs in 2017. His position coach his senior year was current Navy defensive coordinator PJ Volker, while Navy head coach Brian Newberry was his defensive coordinator both years.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in integrative studies, Wimberly transitioned into a graduate assistant role at his alma mater, working primarily with the Owls’ safeties and nickel backs. He helped lead Kennesaw State to another Big South title (2018) and two more FCS playoff berths (2018 and ’19) as a GA.
Wimberly transferred to Kennesaw State after spending his first-two collegiate seasons at Georgia Military College. A native of Albany, Georgia, Wimberly was an honorable mention all-state performer at Westover High School.
