In era of NIL and transfer portal, Navy and Army are thriving without either. How are they pulling it off? ‘We are a unicorn’

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — On a sun-splashed Tuesday afternoon, along the banks of a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, the Naval Academy’s football team practices in their shimmering gold helmets, blue tops and white pants.

The Midshipmen are one of nine teams in college football’s highest division to have not lost a game at the midway point of the 2024 season. They are 6-0 for the first time since 1979, ranked in the top 25 for the first time in five years and are competing in an ABC nationally televised game this Saturday against No. 12 Notre Dame at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey.

Their quarterback, Blake Horvath, is one of two QBs in the country to have at least 10 passing and 10 rushing touchdowns; their offense is the No. 1-ranked red zone-scoring unit; and their defense has given up more than 21 points just once.

But amid all of these accomplishments, there is something else of interest here in Annapolis.

Not a single Navy football player earns compensation from their name, image and likeness (NIL). None of them have struck an agreement with any booster-led NIL collective (in fact, Navy has no such entity). No player has any deals with a big shoe company or a giant apparel brand. And, perhaps the most startling figure of them all, of the more than 160 players criss-crossing this surface on Tuesday, there is but one, single transfer.

“We are a unicorn,” said Brian Newberry, in his second season leading the program.

There are actually three unicorns in college football: Navy, Army and Air Force — the three service academies within the Football Bowl Subdivision whose players are enlisted men paid by the government to attend school and prohibited from accepting other forms of compensation.

In an age of NIL cash signings and constant player movement, two of those programs are currently undefeated.

No. 23 Army and No. 24…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/in-era-of-nil-and-transfer-portal-navy-and-army-are-thriving-without-either-how-are-they-pulling-it-off-we-are-a-unicorn-130515113.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-10-24 13:05:15

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