What a night at Alumni Hall!
It was sold out as Chet announced over 1,200 people in attendance. Our table was on the upper deck,
overlooking the tables on the court.
Unfortunately, it was too far to use the camera, although I had a chance
to talk to a few players before dinner.
Aaron Polanco was really poised and I took the attached picture before
dinner. Trey Hines was another
really impressive young man I enjoyed talking with. All the award winners are listed on
the web site, so I won’t repeat the winners here. I thought I might summarize a few
comments/bright spots made by some of the speakers.
Chet Gladchuk
- During Bowl Games this year, Navy was
7th in bowl attendance out of 56 teams. We really showed everyone how we support
our team. (Does Navy have a national
following or what?)
- Next year a Ron Winchester Award will be
established for the senior who is the best overachiever. Ron’s parents were in
attendance and receive a huge standing ovation. It was really an emotional
moment.
- The four finalists for the Bobby Dodd coach of the
year came from Auburn, Oklahoma, and USC.
Pretty good company for our coach. Way to go PJ!
Paul Johnson
- Everyone told him he was committing professional
suicide by coaching here because one could not win at Navy. He said the first year of 2-10 brought
everything into focus and laid the foundation for winning. The players fully bought into the
system. He said this year was great
and talked about the Vandy game as a turning point when they were really
struggling, but the Brigade really got into the game and caused a couple of
delay of game penalties against Vandy.
That caught the team on fire.
It continued through the Emerald Bowl, where we had such a huge showing
of fan support.
- He said next year was going to be tough with our
schedule, but mentioned the Touchdown Club three years ago. He was talking to Ralph Friedgen of
Maryland at that time, and Navy had not won a game, and Maryland had just played
in the Orange bowl. Ralph mentioned
how Maryland and Navy should play each other, and Paul said he would be crazy to
want to play Maryland. PJ talked to
Ralph this year at the Touchdown club (a couple of days ago) and Ralph asked him
if he remembered the conversation three years ago? Ralph said Maryland only won five games
this year, and he would be crazy to want to play a team that won 10 games. PJ said it is amazing how fast things
can change in football.
Some of his best quips when he commented upon the seniors
individually:
·
Kyle Eckel was one of his
favorite players in the locker room.
He said if someone was having an argument, Kyle had to come along and
always get his two cents in. He
said Kyle led the team in rushing and demerits.
·
He said Geoff Blumenfeld was
FDB’s favorite Navy player.
·
Lane Jackson was one of the
most intense players he has ever been around. Lane made many big plays for
Navy.
·
Bobby McClarin - another
really tough guy who liked to argue with everyone in the locker room.
·
Aaron Polanco was probably the
toughest guy he had seen… last spring practice he took so many hard shots and
just came back for more. He said he
knew then that AP was really a leader and a tough guy.
·
He talked about Josh and
Aaron’s leadership, and how valuable it was for the team.
·
He talked about Eric Roberts
and what a great player he was. He
was Navy’s go-to guy.
·
He talked about Jeff Vanak
who, at 230-240 pounds, pushed around 300 pound linemen. He was impressive and was an
overachiever.
·
He said Dustin Elliot played
through a lot of injuries each year, but always contributed to the team. A real
team player. He also said this
about several other players.
·
He said Babatunde Akingbemi
really stepped up and had a heck of a year for Navy with many big plays. The big man got a huge round of
applause.
The highlight film was absolutely awesome, and included most of the great
catches and runs. They had
highlights of each game, and went through the schedule. The Bowl Game was particularly well done
and focused on “the drive”. Music
was great. Almost up to Phat’s
standards.
The underclassmen have big shoes to fill, but judging from their physical
size last night, we will have some big boys out there on the line. PJ said they were really working hard in
the weight room, (which is an excellent indicator in my book). Everyone had a great evening as the
whole team was there and alumni were thanking the players for such a great
season.
Let’s get ready for Maryland!