The 2023 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

in the

2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 154th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). ...

. The Midshipmen played their home games at

Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is an open-air stadium located off the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Opened in 1959, it serves as the home stadium of the Navy Midshipmen Navy Midshipmen football, college f ...

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, and competed in the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

(The American). They were led by first-year head coach Brian Newberry. The Navy Midshipmen football team drew an average home attendance of 30,804 in 2023.

Offseason

Coaching changes

With Newberry taking over as head coach, there were several other coaching changes. On December 20, 2022, the Midshipmen promoted linebackers coach P. J. Volker to defensive coordinator while remaining linebackers coach. On January 5, 2023, the school hired Grant Chesnut to be the offensive coordinator. He held the same position at Kennesaw State for eight years. On January 9, Eric Lewis was named the school's safeties coach and defensive pass game coordinator; Brenten Wimberly was also named a defensive assistant.

Schedule

Navy and the

(AAC) announced the 2023 football schedule on February 21, 2023.

Game summaries

vs Notre Dame ( Emerald Isle Classic), (
rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
)

vs Wagner ( FCS)

at Memphis

vs South Florida

vs North Texas

at Charlotte

vs No. 22 Air Force (
Commander-in-Chief's Trophy The Commander-in-Chief's Trophy (CIC Trophy) is awarded to each season's winner of the American college football series among the teams of the U.S. Military Academy ( Army Black Knights), the U.S. Naval Academy ( Navy Midshipmen), and the U ...
)

During halftime, the Navy honored Hall of Fame NFL quarterback and Midshipmen alum

Roger Staubach Roger Thomas Staubach (, -; , -; born February 5, 1942), nicknamed "Roger the Dodger", "Captain America", and "Captain Comeback", is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 se ...

surrounded by his teammates from the 1963 season who made it to the Cotton Bowl in 1964. The Naval academy painted his retired number 12 at the twelve yard line at both ends on the field, joining Navy halfback Joe Bellino's number 27.

at Temple

vs UAB

vs. East Carolina

With this victory, the Navy Midshipmen became the first FBS team to record three shutouts this season. Also, quarterback Xavier Arline set a Naval Academy record for completion percentage in a game. He completed 10 of 11 passes for 102 yards (90.9 percent). The previous record was 88.2 percent (15-17) by Marco Pagnanelli against the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the N ...

on October 2, 1982.

at SMU (
rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
)

vs Army ( 124th Army-Navy Game), (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)

For this year's clash, Navy represented the crewmembers of

Submarine warfare Submarine warfare is one of the four divisions of underwater warfare, the others being anti-submarine warfare, Naval mine, mine warfare and Naval mine, mine countermeasures. Submarine warfare consists primarily of Diesel engine, diesel and nu ...

. Nicknamed the "Silent Service", the uniform pays tribute to the U.S. Submarine Force. The color rush uniform is covered in 'Eclipse Navy',

Under Armour Under Armour, Inc. is an American sportswear company that manufactures footwear and clothing, apparel headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. History 20th century Under Armour was founded on September 25, 1996, by Kevin Plank, a ...

's darkest shade of navy blue, to mimic the covert design of a submarine hull. According to the Naval Academy website, "The overall design was intended to be simple and utilitarian to convey the stealth purposes of a submarine's design." The helmet bears an airbrushed Virginia-Class submarine on the right side and a Navy's anchor logo hand-painted with color-changing pragmatic paint on the left side.https://www.si.com/college/2023/11/21/army-navy-game-uniforms-2023-submarine-dogface-soldiers

References

{{Navy Midshipmen football navbox

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

Navy Midshipmen football seasons

Navy Midshipmen football The Navy Midshipmen football team represents the United States Naval Academy in NCAA Division I Division I (NCAA)#Football Bowl Subdivision, FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) college football. The Naval Academy completed its final season as an NCA ...