The 2023 season will mark the first for Brian Newberry as head coach of the Navy football team. Newberry takes over for Ken Niumatalolo, whose 109 wins are the most in program history and whose 10 wins against Army are the most ever for a coach in the history of the rivalry.
Newberry, 49, was Navy’s defensive coordinator from 2019-2022 prior to being promoted to the head coaching position. Before landing in Annapolis, Newberry was the defensive coordinator at Kennesaw State from 2015-2018.
Navy senior bandit Eavan Gibbons, offensive line coach Ashley Ingram and defensive coordinator and linebackers coach P.J. Volker spoke with PressBox’s Luke Jackson about what makes Newberry special, what gives him the opportunity to be a successful head coach and more.
PRESSBOX: What makes Brian Newberry special? Why do you think he’s been successful to this point?
Eavan Gibbons: I think the first thing that comes to mind is just his work ethic, his dedication to the game of football, his intelligence. First and foremost, I think that’s why he’s in the position he’s in now. He’s done a great job with the defense, with the safeties, with the team, the responsibility that he has of coming up with great game plans and different looks for offenses to try to figure out. I think they really haven’t, so I think that’s why it’s kind of made him a little special. Right off the bat, I would say the X’s and O’s, but right behind that I would just say his personality and just the way he treats you day in and day out. He treats you as one of his sons. You’re part of the family. It’s shown right through meetings, through practices. I would say those two things right off the bat.
P.J. Volker: There’s a lot that goes into that answer. I think you come across a lot of great coaches in this profession. You sort of take a piece from every one of them and kind of mold it and bring it into yourself. I would say the No. 1 thing with Brian Newberry that I think makes him special is his relentless pursuit for improvement. I think there are so many people in this profession that do things the same way because that’s the way they’re comfortable doing things or that’s the way they’ve always done them. They talk about the growth mindset but don’t actually live it. New lives it in every facet of not just coaching but every facet of his life. He’s always looking to find a way to improve and get better.
PRESSBOX: What gives Newberry the opportunity to be a successful head coach? Why do you think he’s the right fit at Navy?
Eavan Gibbons: I think he’s the right fit at Navy and I think he’s great for the head coaching position. I think first off, he knows football. He knows the game. He’s been around it. He knows what it takes to win. I think he’s kind of been in that secondary role up until recently. I think as he’s taken the reins here, he’s just really installed a couple key characteristics of the team. We’ve got to love each other. We have to be the closest team in the country. And on top of that, we have to have trust in each other in order for us to be successful. I think he’s a great man for the job because talking about the football thing is important, but at the Naval Academy, it’s a little different. Coach, being the head guy right now, he’s just doing a great job of emphasizing things off the field.
Ashley Ingram: The biggest thing is he’s been here for [four] full seasons now. I think that he has a great appreciation for the institution. I think this is where he wants to be. I think that he appreciates everything that the Academy stands for. I think he loves the young men in our program. I think that’s where it comes from. He’s going to be passionate about what he does. He’s going to put his heart and soul into it. He’s going to surround himself with great people. I think he’s put together a really good staff. I think certainly things are headed in the right direction. This’ll be my 16th season [at Navy]. From what I’ve seen so far from his leadership as the head coach, I think he’s well on his way to having a great career here.
PRESSBOX: What makes Newberry such a great defensive mind?
Eavan Gibbons: I would say because he’s aggressive. I think being at Navy, we don’t have the most talented guys. You’re definitely talking to one of those guys right now. But when we’re playing teams that are a lot faster and a lot more athletic, we kind of have to be able to come up with different approaches, whether that’s something schematically, which I think Coach New does a great job with, but on the same token, he talks about it all the time — having elite effort and elite execution.
… He’ll bring the blitzes more often than other coordinators might. He’ll let us know, too. When you’re game-planning for a team, he’ll know when he wants to take his opportunities and put pressure on a quarterback. He’ll let us know. He’ll tell us, as a safety, “You’re going to be in one-on-one coverage. We need you to cover because we want to put some pressure on the quarterback here in this scenario.” Coach does a great job of keeping the pressure on the quarterback, keeping the quarterback on his toes, giving him different looks, different blitzes, different coverages. I think that’s what makes him pretty special as a defensive coordinator.
Ashley Ingram: He kind of has this creative mind and I think who he is as a person carries over to the football field. He is super aggressive, but he’s very creative. Obviously he’s always looking for a new wrinkle, so he’s been tough for us to move the ball against in practice and I think it’s because you don’t know where they’re coming from. I think that goes back to just kind of the way his mind works and his brain works. He’s certainly on the aggressive side. He’s not going to sit back and let you pick him apart, pick him apart, pick him apart. He’s going to come after you. He’s going to make you work for it. He’s going to make you beat him. He’s not going to sit back and give you things.
P.J. Volker: I think there’s a lot that goes into that, but I think you’ve got to look back to [the fact that] he was a quarterback in high school. When you play that position, and they’re all important positions on the field, but that guy is your decision-maker. That guy has to see the game differently than everyone else when you possess the football, which is obviously the most important piece of the game. … I think playing that position, understanding that role, then in turn moving to the defensive side and being able to understand and think the game and see the game as a quarterback, now you take that information — almost like you’re a spy. Now you’ve been over there, you know what to expect, you know what that guy’s seeing, and finding ways to confuse and rattle the quarterback is paramount to success defensively.
PRESSBOX: What will allow Newberry to fit in seamlessly on the offensive side of the ball as the head coach?
Ashley Ingram: I think the biggest thing is he’s obviously a very intelligent guy, so he’s a smart guy. He knows football. And then being a defensive coordinator, he understands what gives him a hard time. He understands what has been problematic during his time coaching defenses with offenses attacking him. I’m sure at the same time when he’s seen option football, what has given him problems and what has given him problems formationally and things like that. It makes sense, obviously, that he was a high school quarterback. He might have a different view of the game as well on defense. I just think he’s a good football coach. He’s a smart guy. He knows what’s given him problems over the years, so I think it makes sense. Every suggestion he’s had just kind of makes sense. He could come in and speak the language and communicate and understand what we’re doing any time that he’s been in there with us.
P.J. Volker: I think the thing that’s really unique with New, too, is he’s so approachable. He’s just a super, super easy guy to talk to. He’s very humble. He’s very down-to-earth. I think you sort of encompass it all by saying he’s incredibly approachable. You feel like you can talk with him. You can collaborate with him. He just sort of creates that environment where you feel comfortable in that space to be able to voice your ideas and creatively come up with what’s the best thing for us to be successful. I’ve seen that for the last six years defensively.
PRESSBOX: How has Newberry helped you off the field?
Eavan Gibbons: Whenever we’re not playing, or a little time before or after position meetings, Coach would love to just get to know us. Something that comes to mind real quick is just kind of the Kool-Aid that they give that’s not related to football. It’s kind of related to life in general. It’s kind of his life lessons that he’s learned. He [shared] those with us before the position meetings we had a couple years ago [when he was the safeties coach]. I think that’s just kind of something small, but I think Coach is always there for us if we need him.
Ashley Ingram: Honestly, he’s just a good guy. He’s a great guy to hang out with. When you spend time with him away from football, it goes back to what his interests are. It’s not like you’re sitting around talking about football the whole time. It may be travel. It may be a recommendation on a good wine. It may be about music or it may be about photography or different things that he’s done. He’s just a good guy to be around, a lot of fun to be around. I knew him a little bit prior to working with him, and then he was the defensive coordinator and he’s had a lot of success here and now he’s the head coach. I think the refreshing thing that I’ve seen is he’s in charge and he’s doing a great job running the program, but on the human level and on the personal level, he’s still the same guy. I think that is the biggest takeaway I’ve seen or taken away from him.
P.J. Volker: We talk about being dads a lot. We both have young kids. We just talk about how we impact our children. I’ve got two daughters. He’s got a son and a daughter. A lot of the times we’re talking about how we teach our daughters how to go into this world. Obviously, we’ve got a unique perspective being males growing up teaching daughters what we think they need to know moving forward. That’s No. 1 is just talking about being dads, being fathers, trying to teach our kids what’s best for us. We talk a lot about leadership and how to treat people and how to treat the people that you’re serving and the people that you’re working really hard to lead. We exchange ideas. We talk about books. We exchange videos, all those things. He’s committed to helping me become a better person and a better football coach. It means the world to me.
PRESSBOX: Is there a story involving you and Newberry that resonates with you?
Eavan Gibbons: I don’t know necessarily a single story, but there’s a quote that Coach has always said that has really stuck in my memory: “It’s not what you do but how you do it.” I think kind of that idea and that philosophy is extremely important, especially in today’s college football. Everyone’s working out, everyone’s going to school, but not everybody is doing the extra stuff that we’re doing [outside of football]. In terms of playing ball and working out, everyone’s doing the same thing, but we need to come up with a different approach — have that elite effort, that elite execution and match those two things and that’ll make us successful in whatever we do.
P.J. Volker: Him and his wife Kate had my wife and I over for the first time. This story I just absolutely love. He invited us over to his house. We were at Kennesaw at the time. We go over there and he made the appetizers and stuff. He hand-made the guacamole. We’re having that, and then he cooks some steaks and they were phenomenal. He’s grabbing rosemary out of his garden and putting them on the steaks. We’re at his house and we’re looking on the wall like, “Man, that’s a really cool picture.” And he’s like, “I took that when I was out West.” And I’m like, “That’s a really cool picture.” “Oh, I took that when I was in the Caribbean.” He’s a photographer. He’s got his own pictures up on the wall that he’s taken and they’re unbelievable pictures, really cool pictures, and he’s doing all this other stuff.
We get done with dinner, had a great conversation, really hit it off with him and his wife. Just a lot of things aligned, and then we get done with dinner and he’s like, “Would you like a cup of coffee?” And then he makes some unbelievable latte, like the best coffee I’ve ever had in my life like he’s a barista. He’s just a renaissance man. My wife and I, we leave his house and my wife’s like, “He’s unlike any other football coach I’ve ever met. He’s got interests and things that are passionate besides just football.” He’s one of a kind. He’s real. He’s personable. He’s approachable. He’s extremely smart. He’s just a guy you enjoy being around. He’s a really good friend and he’s a hell of a football coach.
PRESSBOX: What qualities does Newberry have that will allow him to succeed Ken Niumatalolo without being overwhelmed by the responsibility?
Ashley Ingram: I think he would probably tell you that his time with Coach Ken was very valuable. I see a lot of Coach Niumat in Coach Newberry — the way he treats people, the way he treats our players — but at the same time, he’s not Coach Niumat. He’s Brian Newberry. I think he’s comfortable in his own skin. The other thing is because of his time here I think he understands what it’s going to take to win at the Naval Academy. I think he’s just very comfortable in who he is and his plan. Like I said, so far, obviously it’s been good times. There are going to be some battles and there’s going to be some adversity. But I’ve been around him these last three seasons and have known him prior to that. I think he’s well-equipped to handle the job.
P.J. Volker: It’s always challenging following The Guy, and you cannot argue with the success that Coach Niumat has had here. He’s been an amazing leader, an amazing football coach. He’s the all-time [leader in] wins here at the Naval Academy. I mean, we’ve played football here for 124 years. It is really hard to follow somebody who’s done that. That is challenging in this profession, and some guys just aren’t up to that challenge. New stepped right up to the plate and was up to the challenge. Obviously gets the job, but I think the qualities that make him the guy for the job is because he’s comfortable in his own skin.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Navy Athletics, Kenya Allen/PressBox
Issue 282: August/September 2023
Originally published Aug. 16, 2023