Notre Dame 2025 Opponent Overview: Navy Midshipmen

HEAD COACH - Brian Newberry (3rd season)

Record at Navy: 15-10

Navy was in search for a new head coach in November of 2022 after letting go long time head coach Ken Niumatalolo after a loss to Army. They then promoted Brian Newberry, their defensive coordinator, to head coach for the 2023 season. In his first year, Newberry's squad went 5-7 and missed post season play and lost to Army for the second straight year. However, with a maturing roster, Navy was able to turn around their performance in 2024. They began the season 6-0 and found themselves ranked in the AP Top 25 heading into their matchup with the Irish. Coach Newberry finished the regular season 9-3 with wins over Army, Air Force, Memphis, and Oklahoma in the bowl game. He will look to continue to build on that success with a handful of key players returning in 2025. 

NAVY OFFENSE

Offensive Coordinator: Drew Conic (2nd season) 

Starters Lost: LT Connor McMahon, C Brent Self, RT Javan Bouton

Starters Returning: QB Blake Horvath, RB Eli Heidenreich, RB Brandon Chatman, FB Alex Tecza, WR Nathan Kent, TE Cody Howard, LG Ben Purvis, RG Hoke Smith

In this crazy time of college football with NIL and the transfer portal, Navy's roster is built in the most traditional sense, with players staying all four years with military requirements to fill, and the transfer portal rarely playing a factor in roster building. Due to this, Navy returns all of their offensive production in 2025 with the exception of back up full back Dabo Fofana who has graduated. 

They will have some work to do replacing members of their offensive line with their left tackle, center, and right tackle all leaving. Caden Hooper (LT) and Cam Nichols (C) were back ups last year who are ready to step into the starting lineup for Coach Croncic's offense. From a skilled player perspective, they bring back the bulk of what they had in 2024. They return their top passer, their top three rushers, and their top five pass catchers from a season ago. All of this will be headed by soon to be senior quarterback Blake Horvath was played an integral role in the Midshipmen's success last year. 

Horvath passed and rushed for over 1,200 yards last year and accounted for 30 total touchdowns. Their biggest receiving target, Eli Heidenreich, also returns to the roster in 2025. He accounted for 671 receiving yards, 444 rushing yards, and nine total touchdowns. Full back Alex Tecza returns to the Navy backfield as well, as he was the teams second leading rusher behind Horvath and third leading receiver on the team. He had 797 total yards and 10 touchdowns last year. 

NAVY DEFENSE

Defensive Coordinator: PJ Volker (3rd season) 

Starters Lost: DE Justin Reed, LB Kyle Jacob, LB Colin Ramos, CB Deshaun Peele, SS Rayuan Lane III, FS Mbiti Williams

Starters Returning: NT Landon Robinson, DT Willis Griffen, DE Luke Pirris, LB Kenneth McShan, CB Andrew Duhart

The defensive side of the ball saw significantly more attrition than the offensive side from a volume standpoint and a production standpoint. They lose their top three leading tacklers from a season ago in Colin Ramos, Kyle Jacob, and Rayuan Lane III. They do, however, return three of their four starting defensive lineman which should bode well for continuity along the defensive line who were a part of the defense that finished No. 4 in the country in red zone defense in 2024. Justin Reed's production will likely be replaced by Tyler Narayan who appeared in eight games last year and tallied 13 tackles and 1.0 sack. 

The lone returner in their linebacking core is Kenneth McShan who finished the season with 34 total tackles and two interceptions. He will be joined by Marcus Bleazard and MarcAnthony Parker who played some quality minutes a season ago. Parker and Bleazard combined for 29 tackles and one fumble recovery in 2024. The Midshipmen will also have a new look secondary with both safeties and a corner not returning to the lineup in 2025. Replacing Lane will be far from an easy task. He had 70 tackles, four passes defended, two interceptions, and three forced fumbles in 2024. 

Jaxson Campbell will step into the starting lineup in Lane's spot while Matthew Seliga will step into the role vacated by Mbiti Williams. Both played last season, so they won't be totally inexperienced. Campbell finished the year seventh on the team in tackles with 58 and had one interception. They will be helped out significantly by returning cornerback Andrew Duhart, who played in 10 games last year including Notre Dame, Army, Tulane, and Oklahoma. His experience will be crucial on the back end of this defense with younger players stepping into the starting lineup. 

RETURNING PRODUCTION

Rushing: QB Blake Horvath - 176 att., 1,254 yards, 7.1 YPC, 17 TD; FB Alex Tecza - 124 att., 568 yards, 4.6 YPC, 8 TD; RB Eli Heidenreich - 65 att., 444 yards, 6.8 YPC, 3 TD; RB Brandon Chatman - 48 att., 250 yards, 5.2 YPC, 3 TD; QB Braxton Woodson - 49 att., 173 yards, 3.5 YPC, 3 TD

Passing: QB Blake Horvath - 80-139, 57.6%, 1,353 yards, 9.7 YPA, 13 TD, 4 INT, 164.4 Rating; QB Braxton Woodson - 18-36, 50%, 243 yards, 6.8 YPA, 2 TD, 2 INT, 113.9 Rating

Receiving: RB Eli Heidenreich - 39 rec., 671 yards, 17.2 YPC, 6 TD; RB Brandon Chatman - 18 rec., 257 yards, 14.3 YPC, 4 TD; FB Alex Tecza - 12 rec., 229 yards, 19.1 YPC, 2 TD; WR Nathan Kent - 10 rec., 222 yards, 22.2 YPC, 2 TD

Tackles: DE Luke Pirris - 68 tackles; DT Landon Robinson - 61; S Jaxson Campbell - 58; LB Kenneth McShan - 34; CB Andrew Duhart - 29

Tackles For Loss: DE Luke Pirris - 6.0; DT Landon Robinson - 5.5; S Jaxson Campbell - 5.0; DT Griffen Willis - 4.0

Interceptions: LB Kenneth McShan - 2; CB Irabonoise Oniha - 1; DE Luke Pirris - 1