The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Jeff Monken

Followed Rich Ellerson. Jeff Monken raised Army from Regional Program V to Regional Program I.

89–63
2014–now · 1 stint
← all coaches

In his own words

I don’t know if it’s an opportunity
On3 · · 3 days before Army's 2026 game against South Florida
He knows our signals, our calls, our terminology
On33 days before the South Florida game
They’ve got a great quarterback, and their kicker might be one of the best kickers, maybe the best kicker in the country
On33 days before the South Florida game
We’re fanatical about fundamentals
On33 days before the South Florida game

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).

Army, 13 seasons (active)
+17.0
Regional Program V → Regional Program I.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

10%20%Army2014–2026▲ 4.5pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)
How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints
Army14.6pt#56 of 258 · more than most

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

13–11 against his rivals. Just 1–4 against Dave Clawson.

Rivalry record
13–11
54.2% · 2 rivals
One-score games
28–30
48.3% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–2
0.0%
Buyout owed
$7,700,000 (est.)
bigger than 49% of FBS buyouts
Rivalry ledger
Air Force7–558%
Navy6–650%
The toughest matchupNemesis
vs. Dave Clawson1–4
5 meetings, 2014–2022
’14 L · blew a 7-pt lead’15 L · blew a 7-pt lead’16 W · erased a 3-pt deficit’21 L’22 L
Performance by opponent class
Blue Blood
0–2 0.0%
Power Program
1–7 12.5%
National Program
12–11 52.2%
Regional Program
47–37 56.0%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact
+0.68
#11 of 319 · more than most
Defense marginal impact
+0.13
#78 of 325 · more than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2014–now
Armybuilder🏆 coach of the year
Regional Program V → Regional Program I
Jeff Monken raised Army from Regional Program V to Regional Program I.

7th-best Army tenure of 17 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Outperforms his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.

Offense vs. talent
+37.4 pts
#9 of 208 · more than most
Defense vs. talent
+20.1 pts
#30 of 208 · more than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Rich Ellerson (2009–2013).

Season2014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026Trend
Record & result
Record4–82–108–510–311–25–89–39–46–66–612–27–60–0
PostseasonW bowlW bowlW bowlL bowlW bowlW bowlW bowl
Recruiting rank#120#120#117#120#116#99#111#108#133#117#133#130#138
Style — pass rate
Pass rate13.614.913.07.610.614.59.612.713.922.313.814.418.2
Coordinators
OCBrent DavisBrent DavisBrent DavisBrent DavisBrent DavisBrent DavisBrent DavisBrent DavisBrent DavisDrew ThatcherCody WorleyCody WorleyCody Worley
DCJay BatemanJay BatemanJay BatemanJay BatemanJay BatemanJohn LooseGreg Gasparato / Nate WoodyNate Woody / Shiel WoodNate WoodyNate WoodyNate WoodyNate WoodyDaryl Dixon
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense54307993967134556317887397
Defense17317120633391346818475074
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%10.512.19.75.06.811.97.413.712.617.110.89.519.1
Red-zone pass%8.016.96.53.15.39.24.22.96.710.08.112.723.1
4th-down go%opp. territory38.946.455.962.557.159.465.855.353.341.766.765.3
Roster construction · portal era

Barely touches the portal — recruits and develops his own.

Portal arrivals
0
 
Portal departures
31
left via the portal
Net portal flow
-31
#185 of 187 FBS stints
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
0.0
position-weighted
Talent lost
47.7
position-weighted
Net
-47.7
arrivals minus departures
Biggest loss: Larry Robinson (QB) to the portal
Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.
Does the system survive a coordinator change?
OC: Brent Davis → Drew Thatcher · 2023
63rd pct17th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
1st-down pass rate: 12.6% → 17.1% (+4.5 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only 50% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
OC: Drew Thatcher → Cody Worley · 2024
17th pct88th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
1st-down pass rate: 17.1% → 10.8% (-6.3 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only 70% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
DC: Jay Bateman → John Loose · 2019
63rd pct33rd pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
DC: John Loose → co-Greg Gasparato / Nate Woody · 2020
33rd pct91st pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
DC: co-Greg Gasparato / Nate Woody → Nate Woody / co-Shiel Wood · 2021
91st pct34th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
DC: Nate Woody / co-Shiel Wood → Nate Woody · 2022
34th pct68th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
DC: Nate Woody → Daryl Dixon · 2026
50th pct74th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
Roster size, by position
Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)
Quarterback
202 lbs
5′10″ avg · #667 of 767 · less than most
Running back
220 lbs
5′11″ avg · #38 of 791 · more than most
Wide receiver
197 lbs
6′1″ avg · #201 of 791 · a typical amount
Tight end
236 lbs
6′3″ avg · #650 of 731 · less than most
Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters
Interior line
289 lbs
6′3″ avg · #769 of 779 · less than most
D-line
267 lbs
6′2″ avg · #705 of 753 · less than most
Linebacker
224 lbs
6′1″ avg · #616 of 772 · less than most
Cornerback
192 lbs
5′11″ avg · #255 of 771 · a typical amount
Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows LS from high school
100%
#12 of 12 stints
Grows K from high school
100%
#52 of 56 stints
Postseason detail2016: Beat North Texas 38–31 Zaxby's Heart Of Dallas Bowl2017: Beat San Diego State 42–35 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl2018: Beat Houston 70–14 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl2020: Lost to West Virginia 21–24 AutoZone Liberty Bowl2021: Beat Missouri 24–22 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl2024: Beat Louisiana Tech 27–6 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl2025: Beat UConn 41–16 Wasabi Fenway Bowl

Coach of the Year: AAC Coach of the Year (2024)

89–63