What sets the Army-Navy Game apart from other sporting events, college or professional, isn’t just the impressive pageantry or the important off-field aspects; it’s the fact that the players on the field matter more than the celebrities on the sideline.
Even if Taylor Swift showed up for a pregame pick or Lionel Messi dropped by for a halftime demonstration, the focus is firmly on the football.
This is why former Raiders OC Chip Kelly and his crew were able to roam the sideline freely and enjoy the full Army-Navy Game experience, which included a veteran college football coach’s first time attending the event.
Sean McDonnell on The College Football Pureness of The Army-Navy Game
“Everyone talks about the helicopters and parachutes, but being back on the field, watching the kids attack warmups, and the coaches fire them up reminded me how pure football still is during Army–Navy,” explained college football coaching legend Sean McDonnell.
“No NIL. No transfer portal. Just practice, health, and doing the work. I sat there thinking, ‘Wow, this still exists,’ because in most of college football, it doesn’t anymore.”
McDonnell, who retired from New Hampshire back in 2021 after 23 years with the Wildcats, had never attended an Army-Navy Game. It had been a bucket list item for him for many years until Kelly, who played at New Hampshire and coached there under Mac, made it happen this year.
“I was talking to a friend about how I’d never gotten the opportunity to go to an Army–Navy Game and how much that bothered me,” shared McDonnell. “The very next day, Chip Kelly texted me, ‘What are you doing this weekend?’ Then: ‘Army–Navy?’ And that was it. I was in.”
That’s how the New Hampshire Mafia works.
McDonnell ran it by the boss, his wife, Jenny, who gave her blessing immediately, knowing how much the opportunity meant to Mac. The team was assembled, comprising a few former coaching colleagues from institutions such as Johns Hopkins and Hamilton College, as well as various other football acquaintances. And the plan was put into motion.
A quick flight from New Hampshire to Baltimore, and the group was witnessing one of the best days of the college football calendar.
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The pregame flew by, and the first quarter was done in the blink of an eye. And McDonnell, who is no stranger to efficient football, was pleasantly surprised by the first 30 minutes.
“The first quarter blew me away,” said McDonnell. “Three possessions, 12- and 13-play drives, 7–7, and suddenly the quarter was over. Hardly any passes, hardly any timeouts. The first half just flew.”
Such is the life of Academy football.
McDonnell had some experience, having visited West Point to watch spring practices while coaching at Columbia. He recalls being amazed by the intensity and the way the kids practiced. It was “pretty good football,” a sentiment reinforced in Baltimore that day by the Black Knight’s fierce battle for the 2025 Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy.
“Chip told me we were going on the Army side for the first half, and then we were going on the Navy side for the second half because he knows both coaches,” said McDonnell. “I asked Chip before the trip who we were cheering for, and he responded by saying ‘the winner!’”
Fun fact: From 2004 to 2009, McDonnell led UNH to notable FBS wins against Rutgers, Northwestern, Marshall, Ball State, and Army.
Navy would become the team Kelly’s crew cheered for, securing a 17-16 victory over Army with a bold 4th-and-goal touchdown in the last six minutes of the game from quarterback Blake Horvath to Eli Heidenreich, securing the Mids’ second straight victory over the Black Knights.
“It was physical, pads popping and kids making plays,” exclaimed McDonnell. “I loved the way it was played. It felt like one of the last pure versions of college football, with offenses built around the players and kids playing for the right reasons.”
The 300-plus yards of combined rushing reminded McDonnell of a simpler time, like back in the mid-90s when his quarterback at New Hampshire, now the Offensive Coordinator at Arkansas, liked to run the damn ball too.
“Tim Cramsey always wanted to run Belly,” chuckled McDonell. “When he was in college, he was a running quarterback, but not an option quarterback like that. We used to run bootlegs with him and nakeds and stuff like that. Sometimes he wouldn’t look to throw; he would just tuck it away and get going. Yeah, Crams would have enjoyed that game we saw Saturday.”
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McDonnell’s 157 wins over more than two decades rank second in New Hampshire history, behind only College Football Hall of Famer Bill Bowes. You may remember the 14-year span from 2004 to 2017, when the program reached the playoffs every season, won 14 postseason games, and advanced to the FCS Championship Game twice in consecutive years.
Postseason play is part of the reason McDonnell never made it to an Army-Navy Game.
But now the New York native is hooked. He already has plans to attend next year’s Army-Navy Game at MetLife Stadium with the crew. When asked about the potential for an Army-Navy Game/Heisman Trophy double header next year, he just laughed.
His son, a financial planner for high school, college, and professional athletes, attended the Heisman ceremony this year with his client, Julian Sayin.
Ever the competitor, McDonnell prefers more football and shared a bucket-list day he was fortunate to experience this year.
“Our cool doubleheader started with the Johns Hopkins–Susquehanna Division III quarterfinal,” shared McDonnell. “Chris Ogeneski, who coached Wes Moore at Johns Hopkins, brought the Governor onto the field for the pregame speech, which was awesome to see. Then we capped it off with the Army–Navy Game.”
An absolutely legendary day. Proof that some of college football’s core traditions still endure, even as the landscape keeps shifting. The Army–Navy Game is a reminder that the sport’s soul isn’t lost just yet.
