Brian Newberry – Leading the Midshipmen

09/21/26

Brian Newberry is in his eighth year at the Naval Academy and his fourth as the head coach.

In his third year at the helm, 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.

Newberry started his head coaching career at Navy with a 20-10 record, which is the best 30-game start by a Navy head coach since Wayne Hardin went 20-9-1 from 1959-61. Ken Niumatalolo, the winningest head coach in school history, started his first-30 games at Navy with a 19-11 record. Newberry is currently 26-12 (.684) as a head coach.

Newberry 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.

The Navy Football Strength of Record (ESPN metric) in 2025 was 17th in the country. That was the best in the American Conference.

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’s two losses in 2025 came against teams with a combined record of 22-4 (North Texas was 12-2, Notre Dame was 10-2).

In his second year as the head coach at Navy, Newberry 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.

In his first year as head coach, Newberry led Navy to a 5-7 record and a 4-4 mark in the American Athletic Conference. Navy, picked ninth in the preseason poll by the league’s coaches, finished tied for fifth in the AAC.

Newberry was named head coach on Dec. 19, 2022, by Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk. Newberry had served as the Mids’ defensive coordinator the previous four seasons.

As a defensive coordinator, Newberry directed some of the top defensive units in school history.

Newberry, a semifinalist for the Broyles Award, presented annually to the best assistant coach in college football, and his defensive staff 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, Navy was 8-0 when it managed to “Get 6.”

Prior to his arrival in Annapolis, Newberry served as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Kennesaw State from 2015-18, leading the Owls to the FCS quarterfinals in each of his last two seasons.

Kennesaw State ranked first in the FCS in fewest first downs allowed per game and second in total defense in 2018. The Owls finished seventh in scoring defense, giving up an average of 15.4 points per game. The Owls also ranked 11th nationally in third down conversion defense.

Newberry joined the Kennesaw State coaching staff after spending the 2012 season as defensive coordinator at Northern Michigan.

Prior to his one season at Northern Michigan, Newberry served as defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., in 2011 where the Tigers improved their scoring defense by 16 points per game and total defense by 85 yards a contest.

Newberry’s coaching experience also includes four seasons (2007-10) as defensive backs coach at Elon and five years (2004-06, 2001 and 2002) as defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach at Washington & Lee. He also served as a graduate assistant/defensive line coach at Rice during the spring of 2004, spent one season as an assistant defensive backs coach at Lehigh in 2003 and began his coaching career at Southern Arkansas where he was a graduate assistant coaching the defensive backs and wide receivers in 1999 and 2000.

In 2004, Newberry’s Washington & Lee defense produced a school-record 43 sacks and ranked among the Division III leaders in rushing defense. The Generals’ defense led the Old Dominion Athletic Conference in pass defense, rush defense and scoring defense in 2005 and in 2006, Washington & Lee forced 30 turnovers and ranked among the nation’s leaders in pass defense.

Newberry played collegiately at Baylor and graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in education. He helped lead the Bears to the Southwest Conference Co-Championship and an appearance in the 1994 Alamo Bowl, as well as a No. 5 national ranking in total defense in 1995.

Newberry and his wife, Kate, are the parents of a son, Max, and a daughter, Lyla.

Takeaways:

1. Deserving Success. I love this aspect of the culture Coach Newberry has created. As Coach said, this puts the focus on who you become in the process. This is how we all need to think about all of our pursuits. Put all you got into your pursuit – but never lose sight of who you are becoming in the process of your pursuit. If you do this right..peace of mind will come. That will be a great indicator that you do indeed deserve your success.

2. Being a part of something bigger than yourself. It’s hard to find another place where this phrase applies as much as the Naval Academy and the other armed services teams. Whenever you need to recharge your team-first attitude, check out one of their games and imagine what they are playing for – especially the seniors. What is going through their heads as their football careers wind down? For the vast majority of them, it’s not the NFL. It’s a far more serious and dangerous game. They’re playing for the love of the game and for each other, and eventually, for their country.

3. Emphasis on priorities. I love how Coach talked about how they focus entirely on family on Sundays. He made the great point that yes, it helps the coaches enjoy their families. However, he also made the point that it actually helps the team as well noting that none of the coaches can be at their best if they’re burned out.

4. Giving Your Best Effort as Respect for your Opponent. Coach Newberry’s comments regarding winning with class were special and indicative of where he is coaching. He mentioned that we should all bring our best effort as a sign of respect to our opponent. And, if we’re fortunate enough to come out on top, celebrate all the hard work that it took with your teammates and forget about anything that has to do with demeaning or humiliating the opponent. This is all a great summary of what it means to win with class in its purest form.

Links:

Website: https://navysports.com/staff-directory/brian-newberry/471
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Instagram: @navyathletics
Facebook: Navy Athletics