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Bill Wagner: Commander-in-Chief's Trophy series deserves asterisk considering 2020 circumstances | COMMENTARY
By Bill Wagner
Capital Gazette |
The Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, seen being carted onto the field after Navy defeated Army in Philadelphia in December, will be up for grabs again this fall. (Paul W. Gillespie)
Who is ready for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy series to commence?
Two Saturdays from now, Navy travels to Colorado Springs to take on Air Force in the first leg of the round-robin series that determines service academy supremacy.
There was some doubt about whether it would happen this season after the Mountain West Conference, of which Air Force is a member, announced in August it would not be playing football during the fall semester but rather in the spring.
Shortly thereafter, the Air Force athletic website showed a football schedule that only listed games against Navy (Oct. 3) and Army (Nov. 7). However, there was no official announcement the Falcons intended to play those games.
On the surface, it seemed silly for Air Force to play just two games during the fall semester then come back and play 10 more in the spring. By all accounts, 14th-year coach Troy Calhoun had already pivoted to a spring season and was preparing his program with that plan in mind.
"The question mark has always been Air Force and whether or not they would field a team," Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk told The Capital last week. "There was some question within their leadership as to whether or not it was appropriate to conduct out-of-season practice to that degree to play two games."
Clarity came the morning of Sept. 14 when Air Force finally announced a kickoff time for its home game against Navy. Later that day, Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo stated his opposition to conducting the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy series under such circumstances, reiterating comments he made in August questioning the fairness of doing so.
Specifically, Niumatalolo was concerned about the competitive advantage Air Force might gain from having a full month to prepare for Navy and then Army. Meanwhile, the Midshipmen and Black Knights are playing 11- and 12-game schedules, respectively.
To Niumatalolo, the schedule differences could potentially tarnish the history and tradition of the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy series, which began in 1972.
"Where else in the country would you play for something of value and everybody's schedules are not the same?" Niumatalolo asked rhetorically.
Frankly, it's hard to argue with Niumatalolo's assertion. No other sport — collegiate or professional — would proceed with a championship series that did not place all participants on a level playing field. In that regard, this year's Commander-in-Chief's Trophy series has been compromised.
Niumatalolo made a mistake by repeatedly blaming "guys at the Pentagon" for the decision to go forward with the three-way battle to determine the champion of service academy football.
There was considerable backlash, especially among high-ranking military officials, to those assertions. Niumatalolo regretted the comments and voluntarily contacted this newspaper later that night to offer an apology.
"I should not have said some of the stuff I said and I'm sorry I did," Niumatalolo told The Capital. "The Pentagon has nothing to do with this and it was wrong of me to suggest that was the case."
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Actually, the Pentagon may have been involved with regard to advising the Air Force Academy about how to proceed. One would imagine the Secretary of the Air Force, Barbara M. Barrett, would have to approve allowing Air Force to play football even though the Mountain West Conference was not.
My guess is that Niumatalolo's mention of the Pentagon was a euphemism for superintendents of the three service academies.
Gladchuk told The Capital in no uncertain terms it was the superintendents at Air Force, Army and Navy that ultimately chose to proceed with the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy series.
Many followers of service academy football have already declared on social media that this year's champion should be denoted with an asterisk because of the unusual circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
I can certainly see the 2020 winner being listed with the following footnote: (Air Force played its official football schedule during the spring semester of this school year).
By far the biggest question is what type of product Air Force football will put on the field. There are reasons to believe the Falcons will be far from full-strength when they host the Midshipmen.
The Colorado Springs Gazette has reported that a large contingent of Air Force football players have withdrawn from the academy for the fall semester. Multiple sources have confirmed to reporter Brent Briggeman that as many as 40 football players have been granted administrative "turn-backs," which allows Air Force cadets facing personal hardship an opportunity to separate from the academy for a semester. For football players, that could mean returning for the spring semester and thereby gaining an extra season of eligibility.
One would think the term "personal hardship" would refer to something serious such as a severe injury or illness that hampers a Cadet's ability to succeed academically or a family crisis such as a death in the family.
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Therefore, it seems disingenuous to use the pandemic as an excuse to allow Air Force football players to extend their time at the academy for an additional semester solely for the purpose of gaining an extra year of eligibility.
Frankly, that's not fair to American taxpayers, who cover the complete cost of educating service academy students.
Now it appears Calhoun may have jumped the gun. Last week, multiple media outlets reported the Mountain West Conference is exploring the possibility of playing an eight-game schedule during the fall semester. After all, the Big Ten reversed course, and the Pac 12 is meeting Thursday to contemplate doing the same.
As the Navy coaching staff prepares for the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy series in less than two weeks, it has no idea which players are currently on the Air Force football roster.
Niumatalolo said he's familiar with many of their players through the recruiting trail but "we're trying to figure out who's going to play."
Logically, one would assume Calhoun used the 40-some "turn-backs" on his best players, which would likely mean a mixture of seniors, juniors and sophomores. If that's the case, Air Force football would essentially roll out a junior varsity team against Navy.
However, it's possible Calhoun elected to redshirt younger players — sophomores and freshmen — in order to build for the future. No one will know for sure until 4 p.m. (6 p.m. Eastern) on Oct. 3, although Air Force football should be required to release an updated roster and depth chart before then.
Meanwhile, Niumatalolo has no intention of letting his guard down and will prepare Navy as though it will be facing a typical Air Force contingent.
"Whoever it's going to be, it's still Air Force. I know the type of kids they have, it's the same type of young men we have. They're going to fight to the bitter end," Niumatalolo said. "I've played these guys too many times to ever think 'Oh, they'll be down,' because there's somebody else behind who is a good football player. And coach Calhoun's a good coach."
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Navy currently has possession of the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy after defeating Air Force, 34-25, and beating Army, 31-7, last season.