A 7-1 mark in the American Conference wasn’t enough for Navy to secure a spot in the conference title game, but senior outside linebacker Jaxson Campbell and the Midshipmen turned their full focus toward beating Army in Baltimore on Dec. 13.
For Campbell, the Army-Navy game marked the final chapter of a career that began in 2022. He said the weight of the moment hit him throughout his senior season, from Senior Day against South Florida to the preparations for the game against Army.
“I’m so grateful,” Campbell said on Glenn Clark Radio Dec. 4, prior to Navy’s 17-16 win against Army. “God’s given me just a great opportunity to be able to learn from so many great leaders of this nation … here in Annapolis. Just to be able to go to such a prestigious school, to have the opportunity to serve after playing football, is something that I don’t think I really knew the value of coming in here as a freshman.
“So now, being a senior and having a little bit more maturity, I’m just so grateful to have gone here, played football and have had a team [that has] had such success this season has been awesome.”
Campbell has experienced both highs and lows during his Navy career, including two losses to Army. Those memories, he said, triggered the program’s turnaround.
“I’ve been with guys who have been teary eyed and crying in the locker room after a 5-7 season after a loss to Army, and you feel gutted,” he said. “It’s awful. It’s what drives you through the offseasons, and it’s a credit to not only our senior class, but the senior class before us.”
Navy closed out conference play with wins against South Florida and Memphis. Campbell credited the team’s leadership through a challenging November schedule, which began with losses at North Texas and Notre Dame.
“We had a lot of big-time games, and throughout the entire process, whether it was a loss or a win, we kind of stayed steady,” Campbell said. “Throughout it all, we knew the type of team that we had in the building, and this is a resilient group.”
Campbell admitted he was “a little pissed off” about missing out on a championship opportunity, pointing to the service academies’ unique scheduling challenges. Navy, Tulane and North Texas all finished 7-1 in the American but the Mids lost out on the tiebreaker.
“As a service academy, we have one less game because we play the Army-Navy game so late. So do they expect us to just completely go undefeated?” he said. “If you look at our games, I’m going to vouch for Navy football real quick. We didn’t play our best game against North Texas. They’re in the conference championship. We’re a three-way tie, but we’re third even though Tulane loses pretty handily to UTSA?”
Beyond football, Campbell’s future is already taking shape. After graduation, he will commission into the Marine Corps as a pilot, a path he said he never believed he was “smart enough” to pursue until encouragement from his fiancée, who will fly for the Navy.
“There are a lot of similarities between football and flying. You’d be surprised, whether it’s the details and the walkthroughs and all that type of stuff, but yeah, the adrenaline rush from flying is pretty awesome,” he said.
That background adds extra meaning to the military-inspired helmets and uniforms Navy players wear each year for the Army game. Campbell wore an aviation patch gifted by Capt. Brandon Jones, the team’s director of player development and one of his mentors.
“It is a big deal, and I’m not just wearing a helmet. There’s a lot of heritage,” he said. “You get a lot of people who will reach out to you before the game, just saying they’re rooting for you. Or specifically, we have different patches that we wear, too. So it is a big deal. People are going to be watching all over the world.”
See Also: Best Of 2025: Best Program
For more from Campbell, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Navy Athletics