Navy football senior Dashaun Peele has hit his stride, strengthening the Mids’ position as a top team in the AAC.
The 5-foot-11, 197-pound cornerback started his career in Annapolis in 2022. Peele earned Honorable Mention All-AAC recognition last season when he finished with 34 tackles, four interceptions and a fumble recovery. This season, he has recorded 21 tackles, two sacks and three interceptions.
Two of those interceptions were pick-sixes against Charlotte on Oct. 19. He had 61-yard and 84-yard returns, bowling over 49ers quarterback Max Brown at the goal line on the second one:
“By that time I was pretty tired, so I kind of see him at the end,” Peele said on Glenn Clark Radio on Oct. 23. “I see he wasn’t really trying to come tackle me. He kind of just waited for me. I was just trying to get in the end zone, so that was the quickest way.”
Peele credits the Navy defense’s tenacity and success to second-year defensive coordinator P.J. Volker, who was promoted to his current position after former defensive coordinator Brian Newberry was hired as head coach.
Volker lit a fire within the entire defensive unit, according to Peele.
“Coach Volker is a little bit more intense. I don’t know how to exactly explain it, but I would say he’s a little more intense with it,” Peele said. “Coach Newberry was more of like helping us understand the defense and our fundamentals, and it was pretty much the same with Coach Volker, but knowing he had a big role, coming from a linebacker coach to defensive coordinator, I think he took it and embraced it, and we kind of just feed off of him with his intensity.”
Navy is 6-1 after going 5-7 a year ago. The Mids’ defense has set the standard for the program in recent years, but this season brought a noticeable shift. The offense has stepped up to challenge, matching its counterpart in unexpected ways.
With the addition of the hybrid Wing-T offense introduced by new offensive coordinator Drew Cronic, the offense has improved. Navy is tied for third in scoring offense in the AAC (40.4 points per game). Peele caught on to what was possible early on.
“Usually in past years the defense would dominate the offense, but I noticed this spring they gave us a little challenge and I think most people on the defense can say they kind of shocked us, really, for them to be going as hard as they did versus us,” Peele said.
Navy quarterback Blake Horvath has been a huge part of the team’s success this season, accounting for 21 total touchdowns. Peele has seen Horvath develop for the past three seasons and always knew there was something special about the Navy quarterback.
“The whole team knew Blake could be something special. He had a lot of potential. I just think he didn’t have much experience,” Peele said. “But I feel like last year gave him as much experience as he needed going into this year.”
The Mids have often thrived in the role of the underdog, drawing strength from the challenge of proving themselves on the field. This season, however, the team has earned recognition as one of the top teams in the nation, a shift that brings both pride and new pressure. For Peele and his teammates, this acknowledgment serves as motivation to push harder each week, knowing they can’t afford to let up with every opponent now gunning for them.
“We’ve always played the underdog role since I’ve been here,” Peele said. “I would say it definitely feels good to be noticed as a top team right now, but maybe for other teams I don’t know how they react to stuff like that, I know for us we don’t get complacent off of it. I feel like it fuels us more to be better and do better each week. It also kind of puts a target on us where we can’t get complacent because we know we could put ourselves at risk of losing a game.”
For more from Peele, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Navy Athletics