Paul Johnson returned to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium last season to be recognized for his pending induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. The honors, though, keep coming.
The legendary former Navy coach will be back in Annapolis on Saturday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of being named the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year.
Johnson reached the pinnacle of the profession in 2004 when he lead Navy to a 10-2 record. It was the first 10-win season for the Midshipmen since 1905 and caught the attention of the entire college football world.
Navy beat service academy rivals Army and Air Force to capture the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and capped the memorable campaign by defeating New Mexico in the Emerald Bowl. It was the culmination of a remarkable turnaround for the Midshipmen, who went 2-10 in Johnson’s first season at the helm in 2002.
“That was the cherry on top of a very special season. It was great to see Coach Johnson recognized for what he accomplished that year,” said Aaron Polanco, starting quarterback and offensive captain of that 2004 Navy squad. “That was something we as players could be very proud of — having the coach of the year for the entire country.”
Johnson will be recognized during Saturday’s game against Temple for the 20th anniversary of his award.
Johnson totally transformed Navy football during his six-year tenure, turning around a downtrodden program and leading it to a 45-29 overall record. The Midshipmen went 11-1 combined against the other two service academies and claimed the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy five times.
“I think the biggest thing we did at Navy was change the expectation level and do away with some of the preconceived notions on what could happen there,” Johnson told The Capital. “Everyone had all sorts of excuses for why you couldn’t be successful and we changed that whole mindset.”
Navy football hit rock bottom toward the end of coach Charlie Weatherbie’s tenure, going 1-20 in his last two seasons. Johnson, who was Weatherbie’s offensive coordinator in 1996 when Navy went 9-3 and upset California in the Aloha Bowl, was coaching at Georgia Southern, where he went 62-10 and won two 1-AA national championships.
Athletic director Chet Gladchuk lured Johnson back to the Naval Academy and it did not take long for him to resurrect the program. In just his second season at the helm, Johnson led Navy to an 8-5 record and a berth in the Houston Bowl. That set the stage for even greater success in 2004.
“What we were able to do the year before gave the players a lot of confidence and set a new standard for what we could accomplish,” said Mick Yokitis, a starting wide receiver on the 2004 team. “It was a bunch of guys coming together and wanting to change the culture of the program and obviously it started at the top with Coach Johnson.”
Polanco, a senior, replaced graduated starter Craig Candeto at quarterback. He rushed for 980 yards and a team-high 16 touchdowns and passed for another 1,131 yards and eight scores.
Standout fullback Kyle Eckel, one of the greatest offensive players of the triple-option era, ran for 1,147 yards and 11 touchdowns. Slotback Eric Roberts accounted for 700 yards from scrimmage.
Safety Josh Smith recorded 119 tackles to spearhead a defense that only allowed an average 17 points per game in the 10 wins. Inside linebackers Bobby McClarin (107 tackles) and Lane Jackson (102 tackles) were other key figures on that side of the ball.
“I think a big part of that season was that we had a player-oriented team. Once we got the culture right, the players took ownership of the program and they expected to win,” Johnson said. “We had some good players that meshed well together. Once we got rolling, things kind of steamrolled that season. It was a really fun team to coach because it was player-driven.”
Memorable campaign
Navy got off to a great start and showed its potential by dominating Duke, 27-12, in the season opener. Polanco and Eckel led an offense that amassed 430 rushing yards, while the defense held the Blue Devils to 265 total yards.
Surprisingly, one of Navy’s toughest opponents proved to be Division I-AA Northeastern, which pushed the home team to the limit before falling, 28-24.
“That game was a good reminder that Navy cannot take anyone lightly,” Johnson said. “We could never roll our helmets out there and out-athlete any team we played.”
Navy posted a 29-0 shutout of Tulsa in its first road game of the season, then edged Vanderbilt, 29-26. The Midshipmen were brimming with confidence going into the opening leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series.
Eckel and Polanco combined to rush for 168 yards and three touchdowns as Navy beat Air Force, 24-21, at Falcon Stadium. It was a Thursday night game broadcast nationally on ESPN and kicker Geoff Blumenfeld was the hero, booting a 30-yard field goal with four seconds remaining in regulation.
“Geoff always had a great leg and he handled the pressure in that big moment when he needed to make a big kick,” said Polanco, who was the holder for the huge field goal. “That was an unforgettable game that we still talk about to this day.”
Johnson said the seeds for that momentous win were sown during his first season when Navy lost to Air Force, 48-7, in Colorado Springs.
“I’ll never forget picking up the local paper on Sunday morning and [Air Force coach] Fisher DeBerry said they wanted to send us a message,” Johnson said. “I put that newspaper in my desk and kept it there the entire time I coached at Navy. When we beat them for five years in a row, I felt like saying: ‘Message delivered. Right back at you!’”
Navy suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Notre Dame, 27-9, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. However, the Midshipmen rebounded the following week to become bowl eligible.
Riding high with a 6-1 record, Navy laid an egg in New Orleans when it got routed by Tulane, 42-10. The Green Wave, who finished 5-6 that season, had plenty of offensive talent as running back Matt Forte and wide receiver Roydell Williams both played in the NFL. Quarterback Lester Ricard was on fire that day, completing 18 of 19 passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns.
Yokitis, now in his 14th season as Navy wide receivers coach, thinks overconfidence was the reason for that lopsided loss. “That Tulane game still haunts me to this day. They were talented, but we should never have lost to that team. We just didn’t show up that day.”
Navy closed the epic campaign with consecutive blowouts, beating Rutgers, 54-21, and Army, 42-13. Eckel ran for a career-high 179 yards and the triple-option offense was clicking on all cylinders in totaling 405 yards against the Black Knights.
“Our coaching staff called Kyle Eckel the academy killer. Our defense couldn’t tackle him and neither could Army or Air Force,” Johnson said.
Navy went 6-0 against its archrival during Johnson’s tenure, a period that saw Army have three different head coaches (Todd Berry, Bobby Ross, Stan Brock). Johnson’s patented triple-option system so confounded the Black Knights the administration ultimately hired one of his disciples, Jeff Monken, as head coach.
“I remember playing Army one year and at halftime I stepped out of the locker room just as Army was walking through the tunnel on the way back to the field,” Johnson recalled. “One of their defensive linemen looked at me and said: ‘Coach, we don’t have a freaking clue.’ I tried not to laugh, but it was just too funny and I couldn’t help myself.”
Bowl champions
Navy capped the 2004 season by beating New Mexico, 34-19, in the Emerald Bowl at SBC Park in San Francisco. Polanco accounted for 237 yards of total offense and four touchdowns as the Mids earned just the fifth bowl victory in program history and the first since 1996.
That game is still remembered for the epic drive that enabled Navy to salt away almost the entire fourth quarter. The Mids set NCAA records with 26 plays and 14:26 time of possession while marching 94 yards to set up a 22-yard field goal by Blumenfeld.
“We kept converting third and fourth downs. We were barely picking up first downs and just chipping away,” Polanco recalled. “You could see that our superior conditioning showed through. We steadily wore down the defense and they were tired. Halfway through the drive you could see their guys were sucking wind.”
What Johnson remembers most about that remarkable drive was that he twice called for a throwback to the quarterback on fourth down. Polanco pitched the ball to slotback Frank Divis, then snuck out the back door to catch passes of 6 and 17 yards.
“They were playing man-to-man and had no one assigned to cover the quarterback,” Johnson said.
When all was said and done, Johnson was the winner of the Bobby Dodd Trophy, which boosted his candidacy for the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame.
“Considering all of what Coach Johnson did during his career, it’s a very deserving honor. I think all the intangible things he brings to a program are what made him a Hall of Fame coach,” Polanco said. “Coach Johnson brought a winning mentality to Navy an left an incredible legacy. We learned that the triple-option was basically unstoppable at times when you’re running the right plays and making the right reads.”
Yokitis said Johnson was never satisfied and established a high standard at Navy that was maintained for most of the 15-year tenure of successor Ken Niumatalolo.
“Coach Johnson never told us we were any good. He was relentless about always getting better and stayed on us all the time,” Yokitis said. “He was a master of staying on your butt and making sure you reached your potential.”
Johnson left Navy to become head coach at Georgia Tech, which he led to an 82-61 record over 11 seasons. The Yellow Jackets won the Coastal Division and played in the ACC Championship Game four times under his direction. Johnson said leaving Navy was “probably the hardest career decision I ever made.”
“I coached at a lot of places, but nowhere were the guys tougher than they were at the Naval Academy; We challenged them in a lot of ways and they always responded,” Johnson said. “I enjoyed coaching every day I was there and look back on those days fondly.”
