See the official press release here.
Georgia Southern head coach Jeff Monken has been named the 37th football coach at Army, the United States Military Academy announced Tuesday.
Army fired coach Rich Ellerson on Sunday, Dec. 15, after five years heading the Black Knights. Ellerson went 20-41 at Army, and was 0-5 against the program’s biggest rival, the Naval Academy.
Like the other military academies, Army ran a variation of the spread-option offense under Ellerson.
That version of the option offense was pioneered by current Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson at Georgia Southern. Monken coached under Johnson at GSU, Navy and Georgia Tech before becoming the head coach of the Eagles in 2010.
Monken was 38-16 at GSU, and led the Eagles to the semifinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
In 2013, the program, which was ineligible for the playoffs due to a transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision Sun Belt Conference, went 7-4 and capped off the season with a 26-20 win over the Florida Gators in Gainesville, Fla.
It was Georgia Southern’s first win over an FBS program.
A press conference will take place at 1 p.m., on campus at Georgia Southern. Athletics director Tom Kleinlein will provide more information.
Matt Yogus may be reached at (912) 489-9408.