HOUSTON, Dec. 10, 2024 – After leading the Army Black Knights to the first conference championship in the 134-year history of the program, head coach Jeff Monken has been selected as the Bear Bryant Awards Fan Favorite Coach of the Week presented by Accenture.
With the 35-14 win over Tulane, Army clinched the second 11-win season in program history – the last also coming under Monken in 2018 – and became the third consecutive first-time champion in the American, following Tulane in 2022 and SMU in 2023.
The win puts Army a perfect 7-0 at home – the fourth time under Monken that Army has been perfect at Michie Stadium.
True to form, it was the ground game that led the Black Knights to victory. Army rolled up 338 yards on the ground, with Kanye Udoh rushing for a team-high 158 yards and Bryson Daily picking up 126 rushing yards and four scores. No Army rushing attempt went for negative yardage.
Daily completed the only two passes Army threw in the win for 17 yards – the two passes and completions being the fewest in American championship game history – and the Black Knights were not penalized once – only the second team in an American championship not to incur a penalty, following Navy in 2016, and for the first time in conference history, neither team punted in the championship game.
Next up for Army will be the annual Army/Navy game this Saturday, and thanks to both programs’ wins over Air Force earlier this year, for the first time since 2017 the game will be a winner take all game for the Commander in Chief’s Trophy.
The selection of Monken follows last week’s selection of Michigan’s Sherrone Moore, Oklahoma’s Brent Venables, Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham, Georgia Tech’s Brent Key, Louisville’s Jeff Brohm, the co-selection of Texas A&M’s Mike Elko and Kennesaw State’s Brian Bohannon, Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea, Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, Tennessee’s Josh Heupel, and Washington State’s Jake Dickert. Continuing through the remainder of the regular season, the Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards will recognize a coach weekly for leading their team to an exceptional victory.
The American Heart Association, a global force for healthier lives for all, presents the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Awards annually to celebrate excellence in coaching, to honor Coach Bryant’s legacy and to raise awareness and critical funds for their mission. The coaching legend died from a heart attack in 1983, just 28 days after his final victory and retirement.
Fans can follow the action at facebook.com/bryantawards, x.com/bryantawards or Instagram.com/bryantawards or the hashtag #BryantAwards. To attend the exclusive, VIP experience visit bryantawards.org.
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