With Navy and UAB tied at 24 in the third quarter of an early September game, wide receiver Iverson Hooks converted a third-and-7 to get the Blazers’ drive going until Midshipmen cornerback Phillip Hamilton jarred the ball loose. The fumble was recovered by Navy safety Giuseppe Sessi, setting up a 29-yard touchdown drive that gave the Midshipmen the lead for good.
Sessi putting himself in the right place at the right time was years in the making. The 5-foot-11, 204-pound safety didn’t see the field as a freshman in 2023 but played in all 13 games as a sophomore in 2024. Veteran safeties Rayuan Lane III and Mbiti Williams Jr. graduated following the 2024 season, opening an opportunity for a starting role.
Sessi has taken advantage of that chance in 2025, starting Navy’s first five games at safety. That’s no surprise given the work he has put in not only at the Naval Academy but during his high school days in Texas.
“To me, growing up, football was everything,” Sessi said. “My parents, [Tom and Cynthia], didn’t let me play until later than most kids. Everyone has some sort of vested interest in football. The school kind of revolves around it a little bit. We played in Tulsa [in September], and I felt like I was getting ready to play a high school football game in pregame warmups. It was kind of like that same feel. I’d say that’s probably the best way I can explain it.”
Sessi graduated from Reagan High School in San Antonio in 2023. Texas high school football lore has been part of pop culture for years, with the “Friday Night Lights” TV series among the most popular. Sessi said with a chuckle that “Friday Night Lights” is a “pretty good representation” of Texas high school football — which is to say that, yes, football is a big deal in the Lone Star State.
And it’s a good way to prepare for playing at the 34,000-seat Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and the rest of the facilities in the American Conference.
“When you’re playing in front of big crowds, opposing student sections are looking you up before the game and screaming a bunch of stuff about your mom or your girlfriend at you,” Sessi said, recalling his days in Texas. “You kind of prepare yourself to block out the noise and just go play football. We go into some places and fans get a little rowdy. Just being able to channel those emotions into just doing your job is definitely I think a skill, and it comes with experience. Being able to play in those environments … and come to Navy and be able to block out the noise or channel it to doing your job is definitely helpful.”
There are 19 Texas natives on Navy’s roster, third-most of any state on the roster after Florida (23) and Maryland (21). Navy defensive coordinator P.J. Volker says there are always arguments in locker rooms about what area of the country reigns supreme in football, but he finds that players from Texas do tend to carry certain traits, including toughness and strength. Most programs in the state feature “excellent strength coaches and strength programs,” according to Volker.
“They get used to obviously playing in big-time atmospheres and games, so that does help with some of the anxiety as you get an opportunity to come play in the American Conference and be able to do those things,” Volker said. “I just think from top to bottom it’s a very well-coached state where football’s important. They work year-round in the offseason. They’re like college programs. They develop their players at a really high level. That’s almost every daggone school in the state.”
Sessi starred in basketball and track and field in addition to football in high school, with a laundry list of accomplishments in each sport. As far as football goes, he earned all-district honors as a safety three times and once as a kick returner and helped the Rattlers win district titles twice.
Sessi’s favorite memory came at the beginning of his senior year in 2022, when he played future Navy teammate Gavin Woods’ Smithson Valley team at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
“Unfortunately, Smithson Valley and Gavin’s team won that game, but I remember I was committed to Navy at the time,” Sessi said. “I was super excited for my last season of high school football. That season I just went out there and played like there was no fear of failure, just having fun with the kids you grew up with. That was the start of a pretty good season for me and my team. They had some good cats over there. I had a blocked punt and a couple of big hits. That felt good.”
Sessi is now part of a Navy program on the upswing. After enduring four consecutive losing seasons, the Midshipmen went 10-3 in 2024, winning the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and the Armed Forces Bowl in the process. Navy started the 2025 season 6-0, with wins against American Conference opponents UAB, Tulsa, Rice and Temple and rival Air Force.
Entering the Mids’ game against FAU on Oct. 25, Sessi had totaled 33 tackles in six games in his first season as a starter, all while recovering from a broken left thumb. Senior nose guard Landon Robinson said Sessi learned from defensive backs Rayuan Lane III, Dashaun Peele and Mbiti Williams Jr. during his first two years at Navy. He applied those lessons during spring ball and fall camp this year, Robinson said, and now it’s paying off.
“I always noticed that he wanted … to learn and get better, which is the first step in being a good player because you have to want it,” Robinson said. “Even though he had all this talent in front of him he was like, ‘How can I learn from those guys? I may not be doing it physically, but mentally I can be getting these reps and continuing to get better as a player.'”
Volker isn’t surprised Sessi has developed into a productive starter during his third year in Annapolis.
“Time around here is a very precious commodity. We have very, very little of it,” Volker said. “When it’s really important to them, they find extra time. If you just work at the two hours we have at practice and the 40 minutes we have to meet, you’re not going to be prepared enough. He finds time on his own to get extra work in, to find the time to watch the film, to do those things. To me, that all stems back to his upbringing, it stems back to how football’s really, really important to him.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Navy Athletics
Issue 295: October / November 2025
Originally published Oct. 15, 2025