Jeffrey Michael Monken (born April 15, 1967) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He is currently the head football coach at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

, a position he has held since the 2014 season. Monken previously served as the head football coach of

Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hine ...

from 2010 to 2013. Prior to that, he worked under Paul Johnson as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

s coach and

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

coordinator at Georgia Southern, the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

, and

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Coaching career

Assistant coaching career

After graduating from

Millikin University Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Media Decaturian The ''Decaturian'', also known as ...

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

in 1989, Monken took his first coaching position as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respons ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. It was during his tenure at Hawaii he first worked under Paul Johnson, who was the Rainbows'

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

at the time. From Hawaii, Monken coached for one season at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

and three seasons at Buffalo. He was hired as a head coach for the first time at J. Sterling Morton High School for the 1995 season. From Morton, Monken spent one season at Concordia before being hired by Johnson as a

running backs coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

at Georgia Southern in 1997. He continued to coach under Johnson at Georgia Southern (1997–2001), at Navy (2002–2007), and at Georgia Tech (2008–2009) before taking the head coaching position at Georgia Southern.

Head coaching career

In November 2009, Monken was hired to succeed Chris Hatcher as the head coach at Georgia Southern. In his first season with the Georgia Southern, Monken led the Eagles to an overall record of 10–5 and to the 2010 FCS Playoffs Semifinals, defeating top-ranked and previously undefeated Appalachian State to begin a streak of six consecutive wins. In 2011, Monken led the Eagles to an overall record of 11–3, the Southern Conference championship and a second-straight trip to the 2011 FCS Playoffs Semifinals. He was named both the AFCA 2011 FCS Region 2 Coach of the Year and the Southern Conference Coach of the Year. In 2012, Monken again led the Eagles to a Southern Conference Championship with a 10–4 overall record, a third consecutive FCS Semifinal Game appearance and final No. 3 national ranking. Georgia Southern accepted an invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference in March 2013 and subsequently made the move to FBS. In its first transition year in 2013, the Eagles were not eligible for the NCAA playoffs and ended their FCS history with a 26–20 victory over

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in the season finale.

Army

On December 30, 2013, Monken was introduced as the 37th head coach of the

Army Black Knights football The Army Black Knights football team, previously known as the Army Cadets, represents the United States Military Academy in college football. Army is a NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) member o ...

program. Monken's Army tenure started slow, with a 4-8 2014 season and 2-10 2015 season, including a loss to

Joe Moorhead Joe Moorhead (born November 2, 1973) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at the University of Akron. He was the offensive coordinator at the University of Oregon from 2020 to 2021, and the head coach at ...

's FCS

Fordham Rams The Fordham Rams are the varsity sports teams for Fordham University. Their colors are maroon and white. The Fordham Rams are members of NCAA Division I and compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. In football, the Rams play in t ...

. In 2018, he became the first head coach to lead Army to three consecutive bowl appearances, consecutive 10-win seasons, and its first ever 11-win season. These resulted in a final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

ranking of No. 19 and final

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

ranking of No. 20 for Monken's 2018 Black Knights, the highest the Black Knights had finished in the final polls since legendary Army coach Earl 'Red' Blaik's 1958 squad. It also resulted in the Cadets winning their eighth Lambert Trophy (signifying the Black Knights as the best team in the East in Division I FBS), but their first since that 1958 team. Following his team's 2018 accomplishments, Coach Monken was awarded the George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Award by the

Maxwell Football Club The Maxwell Football Club (originally called the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia) was established in 1935 to promote safety in the game of American football. Named in honor of Robert W. "Tiny" Maxwell, legendary college player, official, and ...

, the Vince Lombardi College Football Coach of the Year Award by the Lombardi Foundation, and the President's Award by the

Touchdown Club of Columbus The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of state auditor James A. Rhodes, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1993. More t ...

. In 2021, Monken was awarded the ECAC Division I FBS Football Coach of the Year Award.

Personal life

Monken graduated from

Joliet Central High School Joliet Central High School is a public secondary school located in Joliet, Illinois. Central is part of Joliet Township High Schools, along with Joliet West and Joliet East (now defunct). Before the opening of Joliet East and West, the school wa ...

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

in 1985. He is a cousin of

Todd Monken Todd Robert Monken (born February 5, 1966) is an American football coach who currently serves as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Georgia. He is also the former offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, ...

, the current offensive coordinator at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. A dozen of Monken's family members, including his father, Mike, and brother, Tom, have coached football at the high school, college, or professional level. Monken was inducted into the Millikin Athletics Hall of Fame in October 2013.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Army profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monken, Jeff 1967 births Living people American football wide receivers Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches Army Black Knights football coaches Buffalo Bulls football coaches Concordia Cougars football coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football coaches Georgia Southern Eagles football coaches Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football coaches High school football coaches in Illinois Millikin Big Blue football players Navy Midshipmen football coaches Sportspeople from Joliet, Illinois