Alex Tecza

Alex Tecza's Biography

In the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season, the United States Naval Academy was represented by its enthusiastic football team, the Navy Midshipmen. Held in high regard for their disciplined performance and palpable spirit, the team brought their champions’ mettle to the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, their home turf and favored battleground. The team fiercely competed in the American Athletic Conference, drawing nationwide attention and admiration for their tenacity on the field.

Leading the team was the promising first-year head coach, Brian Newberry, a dynamic leader with an innovative approach to the game. Newberry, in his inaugural year, heralded an array of significant coaching changes that resulted in a shift in the Midshipmen’s offensive and defensive strategies.

Among these changes, the shift of linebackers coach P. J. Volker to the leadership role of defensive coordinator on December 20, 2022, was a noteworthy development. Volker, however, continued to coach linebackers, demonstrating his persistent commitment to his original task. Exactly two weeks later, on January 5, 2023, the Naval Academy welcomed Grant Chesnut as the offensive coordinator, a role Chesnut had honed at Kennesaw State for eight remarkable years.

On January 9, Eric Lewis was appointed the safeties coach and defensive pass game coordinator, while Brenten Wimberly assumed the role of a defensive assistant. These strategic changes in coaching saw the Midshipmen adapting to new techniques and styles of play.

The 2023 football schedule was officially announced by the Navy and the American Athletic Conference (AAC) on February 21, 2023. In that season, the Midshipmen played on different arenas, including Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, Jerry Richardson Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas, Texas, and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

One of the most significant moments of that season occurred during a halftime event where the Midshipmen, together with the spectators, honored Hall of Fame NFL quarterback and Midshipmen alum, Roger Staubach. Alongside his 1963 season teammates who made it to the Cotton Bowl in 1964, Staubach’s retired number 12 was painted at both twelve-yard lines on the field, joining the previously honored Navy halfback Joe Bellino’s number 27.

In a notable victory of that season, quarterback Xavier Arline set a Naval Academy record for having a 90.9 percent game completion rate – eclipsing the previous record of 88.2 percent, held by Marco Pagnanelli since 1982. This victory propelled the Navy Midshipmen to become the first FBS team to record three shutouts during that season.

For the year-end clash, the Midshipmen sported uniforms to commemorate Submarine warfare crewmembers, who are often dubbed the “Silent Service”. The players wore ‘Eclipse Navy,’ Under Armour’s darkest shade of navy blue, to emulate the stealth design of a submarine hull. The helmet bore a hand-painted Navy’s anchor logo and an airbrushed emblem of a Virginia-Class submarine, while the Naval Academy website noted that the uniform’s “overall design was intended to be simple and utilitarian to convey the stealth purposes of a submarine’s design.”

Thus, the Navy Midshipmen’s journey through the 2023 football season served as an unforgettable chapter in the annals of their game history, presenting a blend of team spirit, honor, and athleticism under the expert guidance of a new coaching team.