The setting was forgettable, a gray, drizzly day in the mid-40s that is common in March in Annapolis, Md.
The first impression, though, was indelible.
“I think the first time we met the whole coaching staff was fourth-quarter morning practice, 5 in the morning in March. . . . You’re out there for an hour, running circuit drills, all conditioning,” Navy fullback Kyle Eckel recalled. “The coaches were out there going crazy. You knew there was a new attitude around here.”
Notre Dame will see the end result of that new attitude Saturday when it takes on the Naval Academy at Giants Stadium.
The Irish (4-2) are looking for their 41st consecutive victory in the series. Navy is 5-0, the first time since 1978 it has entered the Notre Dame game undefeated.
And according to the Midshipmen, much of the credit for the Navy renaissance goes to third-year coach Paul Johnson.
On Dec. 9, 2001, Johnson took over a Navy program that had completed an 0-10 season eight days earlier with a loss to Army.
“I don’t recall his exact words, but I do remember thinking that things are going to change, are going to be good,” senior linebacker Lane Jackson said. “I could tell he was an old-school coach who would kick us in the butt when needed. I thought we needed a good yelling at.”
Johnson had the credibility. Before taking over at Navy he spent five years as head coach at Division I-AA powerhouse Georgia Southern, where his teams compiled a 62-10 record, won five straight Southern Conference championships and played in three consecutive I-AA national championship games, winning two.
Johnson had been Navy’s offensive coordinator in 1996 when the Middies went 9-3 for their first winning season since 1982.
“I really enjoyed the guys who went to school there when I coached there as offensive coordinator,” Johnson said. “But when they first called me I told them I wasn’t interested. I was giving them some names of coaches I thought would do a good job.”
But the more Johnson thought about it, the more the challenge intrigued him.
“With everybody telling me you couldn’t win there, that made me want to do it,” he said. “They made me a deal I couldn’t pass up. I got a commitment to hire a good coaching staff.”
Still, Johnson would be drawing from an extremely shallow talent pool. According to the 2004 Princeton Review, the Naval Academy has the country’s fifth most rigorous admissions standards.
“You’re never going to change the entrance requirements,” Johnson said.
“You’re never going to change the [five-year military] commitment. But you don’t have to have self-inflicted wounds.”
Johnson might not be blessed with the best talent, facilities or resources. But making do with the hand he has been dealt has been a lifetime tendency.
Upon graduation from college he landed a job as a high school offensive coordinator, where he quickly learned that the key to success was maximizing your resources.
“Never try to teach a pig to sing–it will frustrate you and annoy the pig,” he explained. “Give them something they can do. You’ve got to have a system that you know how to run and the kids can believe in.”
The Midshipmen went 2-10 in Johnson’s first year but almost knocked off Notre Dame, falling 30-23 on a late Irish touchdown. Last season they improved to 8-5 and fell to the Irish 27-24 on a 40-yard field goal by D.J. Fitzpatrick as time expired.
The law of averages would seem to dictate that Navy is due for a victory soon.
“But you know what? When it’s gotten close they’ve upped their level of play another notch, and we haven’t been able to go with them,” Johnson said. “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Until you win, it doesn’t matter.”
