#212: Discipline Is A Decision - Army Black Knight Football - Head Football Coach Jeff Monken

For the United States Military Academy https://goarmywestpoint.com/ at West Point, football is about more than winning games. It’s about preparing young men to lead America’s next generation of soldiers in the defense of freedom at home and abroad. General George C. Marshall famously said, “I want an officer for a secret and dangerous mission. I want a West Point football player.” More than 80 years later, that philosophy remains at the foundation of Army football. Discipline. Toughness. Accountability. Teamwork. And the ability to perform under pressure when failure isn’t an option. From the recently completed East Grandstands at Michie Stadium, Fran Racioppi https://www.linkedin.com/in/francisracioppijr/sat down with the leader of the Black Knights, Head Coach Jeff Monken https://goarmywestpoint.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/jeff-monken/2384. Since taking over in 2014, Monken has transformed Army football into a championship contender, earning conference titles, bowl victories, and multiple Commander-in-Chief Trophies. But the true measure of his success extends far beyond the scoreboard; success on the field must eventually lead to success on the battlefield. From recruiting players who embrace a commitment to service, to building resilient leaders in the locker room, to adapting a game plan when the opponent changes, Monken’s approach instills in cadet athletes the principles required to lead soldiers. His philosophy is simple; focus on the fundamentals, prepare relentlessly and when called to battle, lead with speed and violence of action. And when it comes to service academy rivals; never let a sailor or airman off the hook. Go Army. Beat Navy…and Air Force! Highlights: 00:00 - Introduction 02:49 - Michie Stadium Transformation 06:01 - Army Game Day 06:51 - Recruiting Future Leaders 10:06 - Life as a Cadet-Athlete 13:14 - Building a Winning Culture 16:46 - Fundamentals and Discipline 19:23 - The Army-Navy Rivalry 21:51 - The 2026 Army Football Team 24:30 - Motivation vs. Discipline 29:03 - Duty, Honor, Country 30:11 - Go Army, Beat Navy Quotes: "This is one of the most beautiful places in America.""They're going to be in charge.""They're going to lead others.""Our most important role is to educate, train, and inspire these young men and women to be leaders of character to serve.""Can I trust you? Are you committed to excellence? Do you care about me?""Toughness, humility, effort, and execution is really the philosophy that we have for winning here.""You just executed the foundations and the fundamentals of your task to a higher standard, more consistently, without compromise.""The best way to win a game is not to lose it.""There's a level of professionalism that successful people live by.""It is generations of soldiers that we represent.""We all have a responsibility to each other to do our very best for the team.""Motivation is a feeling, and discipline is a decision.""I'm here to serve this team. This team isn't here for me.""Every team I've had has been different.""They chose to come here. They chose to serve, and I think that sets them apart from all of their peers.""I couldn't have passed the first math class here.""Like a family, they spend time breaking bread at the table.""The memories of winning those games are great. The agony of losing those games is almost unbearable.""They don't have egos. They fight hard for each other. They push each other, and they hold the standard.""I wanted my leadership and the things I value to go beyond our locker room into the United States Army.""Do right. Do your best, and show people you care.""You're doing it for something much bigger than yourself.""Go Army, Beat Navy." Follow the Jedburgh Podcast https://www.instagram.com/jedburghpodcast/ and the Green Beret Foundation https://www.instagram.com/greenberetfoundation/ on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform https://pod.link/1558608802, read on our website https://greenberetfoundation.org/the-jedburgh-podcast/, and watch the full video version on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jedburghpodcast as we show why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:02Fran Racioppi?

  For the United States Military Academy at West Point, football is about more than winning games. It's about preparing young men to lead America's next generation of soldiers in the defense of freedom at home and abroad. General George C. Marshall famously said, "I want an officer for a secret and dangerous mission. I want a West Point football player." More than 80 years later, that philosophy remains the foundation of Army football. Discipline, toughness, accountability, teamwork, and the ability to perform under pressure when failure isn't an option. From the recently completed East Grandstands at Mikey Stadium, I sat down with the leader of the Black Knights, head coach Jeff Monken. Since taking over in 2014, Coach Monken has transformed Army football into a championship

• 0:47Fran Racioppi?

  contender, earning conference titles, bowl victories, and multiple Commander in Chief trophies. But the true measure of his success extends far beyond the scoreboard. Success on the football field must eventually lead to success on the battlefield. From recruiting players who embrace a commitment to service, to building resilient leaders in the locker room, to adapting a game plan when the opponent changes, Coach Monken's approach instills in cadet athletes the principles required to lead soldiers. His philosophy is simple. Focus on the fundamentals, prepare relentlessly, and when called to battle, lead with speed and violence of action. And when it comes to service academy rivals, never let a sailor or airman off the hook. Go Army, beat Navy and Air Force.

• 1:31Fran Racioppi?

  Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform, read on our website, and watch the full video version on YouTube as we show you why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge. Coach, welcome to the Jedburgh Podcast.

• 1:49Speaker 01

  Glad to be here with you.

• 1:50Fran Racioppi?

  A beautiful Monday morning, we're here sitting over Mikey Stadium, preserved by USAA, just underwent the renovation here on the East Stands. We're sitting atop of, we were here a couple of months ago, and I gotta give a shout out to the Assistant Athletic Director, Phil Buttafuoco, who has been a great friend of the podcast for several years. But we were here not too long ago in the other building where we sat down with the Athletic Director, Tom Theo Durakas, talked all about building this facility here, what it meant for the team, what it was going to mean for your team. And now, we're a couple of weeks into the season, he promised us that we could come back, and him and Phil kept that promise, and here we are. You're 4-2 as we sit here today, and we got a big stretch coming up, and we still have

• 2:34Fran Racioppi?

  the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy. And so, we're going to talk all about where the team's at, what we're doing, what the new stands mean, and get your take on what it means to be a leader in, at West Point, the football team, and then how we're going to get these guys ready to go serve their country.

• 2:48Speaker 01

  Great.

• 2:49Fran Racioppi?

  I want to start with what it means to be here. So, a lot of investment went into these, into these East Stands. It's changed the dynamics of Mikey Stadium. What's it mean to you and the team?

• 3:00Speaker 01

  This was a vision before I ever got here, and I've been here 13 seasons. And when I took the job, there was talk about a new East Grandstands. And Boo Corrigan, who's our Athletics Director, really had a great plan for this side of the field and this side of the stadium, and wanted to do something. And there's a process for that, obviously, raising the funds and getting the approvals. And then that, when Boo moved on to NC State and Mike Buddy took over, he kind of carried that vision as well, and really kind of put the plan into place and moved forward with some of the fundraising and this event in our history called the pandemic, as we remember

• 3:45Speaker 01

  it, 2019, 2020 in there. And it kind of put a halt to just about everything. And so, once we came out of that, we kind of rekindled the spirit about the East Stands. And Mike left a couple of years ago, and the project had started, we had broken ground on it, and Theo came in and kind of took the reins and really was the driving force in completing this project over here. Theo had been with us for a couple of years and was very much a part of the fundraising efforts that went into this project, but it's just incredible. The stadium originally built in 1924, it was a historic stadium, it was just the bottom bowl.

• 4:28Speaker 01

  I kind of sometimes sit in my office and overlook it, and I envision what it must have looked like in those days. They carved this stadium out of the mountainside. I mean, dynamite and guys with pickaxes and hauling rock out of here. And amazingly, in eight months, without jackhammers and cranes and bulldozers, they carved this stadium out of the mountain. And it was like that until the 60s. And then the early 60s, they built East Grandstands. I actually brought a bunch of fill in here. Lusk Reservoir, which is over here on the east side, was actually bigger at the time. They put up another retaining wall, brought a bunch of fill in, plopped down the East Stands, and in the late 60s, added the upper deck and really made the stadium what it was for almost 50 years.

• 5:13Speaker 01

  And the vision to create a new Mikey Stadium and upgraded a more modern Mikey Stadium, this is really incredible to be sitting up here. And after being here 13 years and playing in the stadium, competing in the stadium, overlooking what was here, and to look out and see this, really incredible. And it means so much to this academy, not just our football team, but I think for this to be the focal point that it is on Saturdays in the fall, on CBS and the college football world having a chance to see this place. And it kind of opens up the doors to West Point for everybody to see and see what this place is. And you can look around here and the incredible views, the mountainside. This is one of the most beautiful places in America.

• 5:57Speaker 01

  So, really proud of this and how it showcases West Point.

• 6:00Fran Racioppi?

  Well, one of the coolest parts about the new East Grandstands here is that you've done your adversaries a tremendous favor, and you put the cadets in the stands directly behind them on the sideline. And so, now that offers from end zone to end zone, right behind them, you've got a whole bunch of screaming cadets cheering them on the whole time.

• 6:21Speaker 01

  Well, prior to this project being completed, they took up half of the sideline. So, it was just down there on the north end, about halfway through the Grandstands is where our cadets were, and they were awesome. And now that they're end zone to end zone, as I say, they can give them the business no matter where the ball is on the field and where their team is. And they're such a huge part of the game day experience here, and just their spirit and energy is fantastic. So, having them behind the other team, I think, is really an appropriate place for them.

• 6:51Fran Racioppi?

  Coming to West Point is hard. You know, we talked about it with Theo, you know, I've got many, many of my friends who I served with, attended West Point and became phenomenal officers in the US Army. But you got a job to do here, and your job's multifaceted. You know, number one, you gotta get out there and you gotta, you gotta win on Saturdays, you gotta win football games, you gotta develop these guys. But almost equally as important is you're in a position where you have to transition young men coming out of high school to not only play football, but to go forward and serve their nation and become leaders of character, leaders that our country is going to rely upon. Guys who are going to go in, they're going to branch into whatever MOS they're going to go into in the Army, and they're going to lead others. They're going to take those others depending on where we are in our national security

• 7:36Fran Racioppi?

  strategy in the combat. But at the end of the day, regardless of what they do, they're going to stand in front of a formation as a lieutenant, and they're going to be in charge. When you look at the type of person you want on your team to come into this organization, what are you looking for?

• 7:51Speaker 01

  Well, I will say that the most important job everybody has here, whether it's a professor, attack officer, our superintendent, our commandant, our dean, our command sergeant's major, the AD, all of our coaches, our most important role is to educate, train, and inspire these young men and women to be leaders of character, to serve. And so, that's at the forefront of everything that we do. Now, we got a job to do, and we got to win football games. I know I was hired to do that, and frankly, I want to keep doing that so I have the opportunity to stay here and help educate, train, and inspire these young men and women to do their duties as Army officers. So, it's all important.

• 8:33Speaker 01

  But what we look for, we look for young men who have a spirit to serve, not necessarily those that have always dreamed of going to West Point or being in the Army. In fact, many of our players never thought about service before they came here. But they were open-minded enough to explore the opportunity and the option to do that. And I think, once they discover what this place really is and what it's about, the opportunities that are here, not only for a world-class education, but also... To be here in what I consider the world's best leadership laboratory.

• 9:13Speaker 01

  They learn things here. They will create opportunities for themselves, not only in the Army, but beyond their careers, beyond their lives, beyond because of their experience here. And so these young men, I guess I consider them having been open minded and really, I think, attracted to what this place had to offer. They were the guys with the right kind of stuff to take on the challenges here. And I think every college and every college football program has young men and women that could come to West Point. They could have come here. They had the academic acumen. They had the intelligence and the leadership skills. But what's different about ours is they chose to come here. They chose to serve.

• 9:58Speaker 01

  And I think that sets them apart from all of their peers who maybe went to civilian colleges and could have chosen West Point and didn't.

• 10:06Fran Racioppi?

  What's the day in the life of an Army football player? Because they got a lot of requirements. I mean, they got school. They got their military studies. And then they got to come here and they got to train.

• 10:16Speaker 01

  You'd be better asking them what it is. And I didn't experience West Point. I wish I could have. This is an incredible place. I couldn't have passed the first math class here. But so.

• 10:27Fran Racioppi?

  Me either. You're good.

• 10:30Speaker 01

  They have a busy day and everybody here does. They wake up early in the morning. They have a formation in the morning for accountability. I think it's one of the special things about West Point and the experience here is just the challenges that they have and the professional standards that they have to live by and adhere to on a daily basis. It's different from every other college student. But I believe that's what sets them apart when they get out there in their personal and professional lives and careers. They have breakfast in the morning. Everybody's required to eat breakfast and they eat together. Our players do eat at team tables together. So what's really very unique is our football team eats every meal together, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And so like a family, they spend time breaking bread at the table.

• 11:13Speaker 01

  And I think that's a really a great tool for us to build a team and to build camaraderie. So they eat breakfast together and they have class. Our classes start at 7:30 in the morning and run right up to lunch. There's another lunchtime formation. And then they eat lunch together in the mess hall, which is an incredible facility. If you've not been in there, all 4,400 students eating at the same time. It's a machine. It is awesome. And then many of them have afternoon classes. So following lunch, they'll go to class or a lab. And they make their way up here in the afternoon for meetings and lifts and practice and walkthroughs. And then we serve dinner up here with the players. And they get an opportunity to, again, spend some time with each other after practice. And then they have an evening study period, which is required by everybody here at West Point.

• 11:58Speaker 01

  So they have to study. They're in their rooms. They're at a study session. And then lights out. We have a lights out here where everybody goes to bed or should go to bed. And so many of our guys, I will tell you, take an exception to policy on that because their days are so busy that they don't have time in the evening study period to complete all the reading and the studies that they have for the next day. So some of our guys will get two or three hours of sleep a night and play in college football and taking on all the challenges they have here at West Point with very little sleep, which is really incredible to me that they do that, that they have the wherewithal to be able to handle all that. So really busy schedule. They wake up, rinse and repeat, and do it all over again. Obviously, the game day weekends are very intense.

• 12:42Speaker 01

  And we've got all the activities surrounded around game day with meetings and walkthroughs. And it's a lot on their plate. But these guys are built for it. And when we recruited them, they showed the ability to be able to do that. And their coaches and guidance counselors and teachers back at their hometowns and high schools, they were the people that recommended these young men and said, this is the right kind of guy for West Point. So very fortunate to have the guys that we do and as hardworking and as professional as they are as young people.

• 13:14Fran Racioppi?

  You got a tall order in this conference because you're competing against some of the biggest players in college football, both in terms of the teams and then also the people. So you have an interesting task in that you have to take, you know, folks who, number one, can get into West Point. So they've got to be able to come here. They got to be able to academically survive. They've got to be able to be, you know, part of the military environment. And they got to be able to compete at the highest level of college football. And your competition is tough. There are things that you've focused on during your 13 years here that I would say have set a culture on the team that have allowed you to compete

• 13:57Fran Racioppi?

  with the big players out there. Things like teamwork, selfless service, focus on the foundations. You're doing your job, putting the team of everything else, and then really focus on not beating yourself. When you look at your core principles, what are your core principles? And how are you using those to set a culture here that allows you to compete with the biggest teams in college football?

• 14:22Speaker 01

  So we challenge our team and everybody associated with the program to really embrace the values of trust, commitment, and love. And if I were to ask anybody in our program to be evaluated and the other people in the program were asked the questions, can I trust you? Are you committed excellence? Do you care about me? What would be the answer? Are you operating? Are you acting in a way? Are you working in a way that people would say, yes, I can trust that person? Yes, he's committed excellence. And yes, he cares more about me than he does his own ego or his own accolades. That's really a daily challenge to our team, our players and coaches and everybody. And we build our program on those principles.

• 15:06Speaker 01

  And we have a lot of goals here like everybody does. I guess, related to results, we all want to win. We want to be champions. We want to beat our rivals, of course. And I think every competitor has some goals that they think about. But those aren't the things we talk about. We talk about doing our job and following the plan that we have in place for our team. And toughness, humility, effort, and execution is really the philosophy that we have for winning here, to be the toughest team that we can. That's mental toughness, not just physical toughness, but being able to handle success and failure and adversity and with the mental toughness, to have humility, to put the team first,

• 15:50Speaker 01

  not to concern myself with what's in it for me, but what can I do to serve our team? And to have a very servant minded attitude, to give great effort, to try as hard as we can in everything that we do, to not just play hard and run around hard, but to go into the classroom and really study and pay attention to detail, to give great effort in the weight room and everything that is a part of who we are in this program. And then to really focus on execution, execution of our assignments, execution of the fundamentals, not a results based team, but the process of preparing and readying ourselves for the one on one battles that we'll face when we get on the field.

• 16:32Speaker 01

  So that really is what we focused on for the last 13 years. And we certainly haven't been perfect, but we've won a lot more than we've lost. And I think it really goes back to those guiding principles and the philosophy that we have.

• 16:46Fran Racioppi?

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• 17:17Fran Racioppi?

  When you look at the fundamentals, not beating yourself, just as a coach, every coach has these philosophies. You know, in special forces, we would always say, there was nothing special about being in special forces. You just executed the foundations and the fundamentals of your task to a higher standard, more consistently, without compromise. And if you did that day in and day out, then you would be successful to a higher degree. What are the fundamentals on this team that you think are the most important?

• 17:53Speaker 01

  I worked for Paul Johnson for 13 years and he's a remarkable football coach. And he always used to say, the best way to win a game is not to lose it. And there's so much to that. Really, we are fanatical about all the little details. But I will tell you that it begins with things that aren't related to blocking and tackling and on the field fundamentals, the fundamentals of being on time, being engaged in everything that's going on, the fundamentals of just simply keeping the locker that I dress at in standard operating procedure, just that where the helmet goes, where the shoulder pads go,

• 18:35Speaker 01

  things I have in my locker are neatly folded. That may seem very trivial and petty. But I don't believe that to be true. I think that there's a level of professionalism that successful people live by and they have the mental toughness and they have the self-discipline to do the little things that need to be done. It may not be what they want to do. It's what needs to be done in order for them to be successful. And so that's carried over to the things we do on the field. That if we're to take a step and it's to be a six inch step and not an 18 inch step, that we're taking a six inch step. If, if our strike timing on tackling is to be at a certain distance from the ball carrier,

• 19:20Speaker 01

  then it's going to be a certain distance from the ball carrier and not so far away that I'm going to miss the tackle. If a ball is coming to me, then I'm going to look the ball in, I'm going to look at all the way until it's tucked away, not just be nonchalant about throwing my hands up there. The little details that we live by and that we demand of our team carry over into the things that we do on the field. So I really hope that we teach our guys to be fundamentally sound, not just in what they're doing on the field, but what they do in their daily lives and, and the self-discipline that they have in, in everything that they do.

• 19:54Fran Racioppi?

  Rivalries are a big part of sports. They're a huge part of the service academies.

• 20:02Speaker 01

  They are.

• 20:02Fran Racioppi?

  And whether or not you know it, when you enter the service academy, you know, you come to West Point, you're just going to have a slight problem with anybody from the Navy and the Naval Academy and to an extent the Air Force Academy too, and, and vice versa. When you look at the importance of those rivalries, to develop the team, to build the culture, to build unity, why are they so important within the military academy institutions?

• 20:28Speaker 01

  I believe there's a lot of reasons that, that that's such a big rivalry, but it really is the history of these two academies, United States Military Academy in West Point, the United States Naval Academy and, and the history of these two schools, the competition that's been going on for over a hundred years. I think too, it's the pride that our men and women have in wearing the army uniform. The over one million men and women that serve on active duty today that wear our uniform and share the uniform that we wear in those games. I think there's a sense of responsibility we feel when we play those games against our sister services that, and certain, they feel the same sense of pride representing their

• 21:11Speaker 01

  men and women. And so it goes beyond just a college rivalry. It goes beyond just two student bodies or groups of alumni. It is generations of soldiers that we represent. And I can assure you that our team certainly understands that and, and feels that weight on their shoulders of, of who we represent. So they're, they're big games. They're, they're the biggest rivalries I've ever been a part of.

• 21:37Fran Racioppi?

  It doesn't go away either. I mean, you know, you serve as Green Beret in the special forces and you like your SEAL brothers, but they're still in the Navy.

• 21:46Speaker 01

  That's right.

• 21:46Fran Racioppi?

  So that battle continues regardless of where you are, even downrange, you'll be, you'll be down in a, I remember being in Iraq and, you know, giving it to the SEALs that we were co-located with and, you know, it's all a good time.

• 21:59Speaker 01

  I can tell you that these games never go away for us either. And we've been, I've been a part of these now, 12 of those here at West Point, and the memories of winning those games are great. The agony of losing those games is almost unbearable. And I still wake up at night thinking about the ones we've lost. So they, they're, they're certainly important to everybody here.

• 22:22Fran Racioppi?

  Yeah. So this season, a number of highlights of this season. So, you know, as we, we sit here today, you know, we're sitting at four and two, but you've got a number of folks here who are in contention for some of college football's biggest accolades. And, you know, not to mention that your team, this year's team, leads the whole country in rushing yards per game, over 330 rushing yards per game, which is really, really impressive. How are you looking at this team this year? What's set it apart from previous years? And what are you excited about as you kind of sit now in the, the middle of the core of the season now?

• 22:57Speaker 01

  I think our team is really well-led by, by our captains and our, our senior class. We've got a great bunch of guys in that locker room. They're very competitive. They're tough, but they also have a great sense of loyalty and trust in each other. And when you have a team like that, that, that cares deeply for each other, they're not afraid to hold each other accountable. And we all need to be held accountable at times. And, and that's part of being in a unit or an organization or a team, that we all have a responsibility to each other to do our very best for the team. And, and sometimes we make mistakes, sometimes live up to the standard and, and we need people to help

• 23:40Speaker 01

  us meet that standard. And it's what I really admire about our team. They don't have egos. They fight hard for each other. They push each other and they hold the standard. And so it starts with our players. And you mentioned guys that are being mentioned for, for awards and, and national accolades. That comes with winning. Those are all a byproduct of successful organizations and, and successful teams. Our offensive line recipient, the Joe Moore Award, which is the best offensive line in the country two years ago. We wouldn't have won that award had we not had a winning season and really, we had a great year. And the same thing for the guys, Brady Small, who's being recognized for the Remington Award,

• 24:20Speaker 01

  the Lombardi Trophy, as well as Paolo Generali, who's in the conversation for the Lombardi Trophy. Those two guys are really terrific players, but if we don't win a bunch of football games, then they're not going to be in the hunt for those at the end of the year. Those would be a byproduct of us winning. So, and they know that too. And the thing I really appreciate about both of those guys is they're humble and they are two of the hardest working guys we've got on our team. And they're not interested in those awards more than they are winning. That's all they're interested in. And, and that's why we'll, it's why we've won some games and, and why I like this team so much is because we've got guys like that who are unselfish and care more about the team than they do themselves.

• 25:01Fran Racioppi?

  So you've been here 13 years. In some ways, it could seem like 20 and others, it seems like two, and it just started. From your perspective, as a coach who comes in every year, it's, college football is different than professional sports. I mean, professional sports, I mean, Aaron Rodgers is still playing. And these guys play for decades, a lot of them play for decades on the same team. But college sports, you have, 25% is rotating every year. And you have to continuously get the team to understand your standard. But you can't have a successful team over the long term if it doesn't start with yourself.

• 25:41Fran Racioppi?

  So how do you approach, you know, your discipline personally, your own sense of, I hesitate to call it motivation because you can't motivate yourself for 13 years, 20 years, you know, that comes down to a routine, that comes down to a certain, you know, principles that you live by. But how do you go into every season knowing that, hey, I gotta, last year doesn't matter. We gotta start over and I gotta get this team ready. So how do you do that?

• 26:08Speaker 01

  Well, motivation is a feeling and discipline is a decision. And we can all decide to be self-disciplined. And, and I try to do that. I try to, to do the job that I need to do for this team. I'm here to serve this team. This team isn't here for me. I'm here for this team. And, and so every day it's my responsibility to have myself prepared and ready every new season, to recognize what needs to be done for this particular team. And they're all different. Every team I've had has been different. This one's different. And to recognize how to coach this team most effectively. And I really, I use our staff. Our staff does a great job. They're really close to our players. And I use our players,

• 26:47Speaker 01

  the, just the leaders on our team and leaning on them and, and trying to recognize what it is that we need to do to motivate and inspire this team every day to be their very best. And we've had some, just some tremendous leaders come through this program as players who are now out serving in the army and, and some of them now have served in the army and they're doing other things and in leadership positions beyond. But I love being here. I love being a part of this program, this academy. As I said, I, I think this is the world's best leadership laboratory. And we are part of that process of preparing these young men to be leaders in our army. I never served. It'll probably be one of the great regrets

• 27:32Speaker 01

  that I have in my life, that I, that I never wore the uniform, but in my own way, this is my opportunity to serve our nation and prepare young men to be leaders in, in our army. And it's the reason I wanted to come here. As a coach, we have an opportunity to influence people and, and on a daily basis. And we have motivated people who want to be a part of our programs. They're, they're competitors. It's why they play sports. And that's always driven me. I love being a part of teams and I love competing. But our leadership oftentimes as coaches ends when our guys walk out of the locker room for the last time. And not that we don't influence and inspire our young men and women who play sports to lead in other ways and to carry the principles and the values that we teach

• 28:17Speaker 01

  them into their families and other organizations. But this is unique in that the leadership principles that our, our young men and women learn here as West Point cadets, the lessons that our players learn in our program, the leadership lessons, the competition.

• 28:37Speaker 01

  The toughness, the resiliency, they're going to carry that out into the Army. And they're going to, they're going to teach those values to soldiers and their units are going to take on the personalities of the young men that come out of our program. And that's a huge responsibility. That's why I wanted to come here. I wanted my leadership and the things I value to go beyond our locker room into the United States Army. And I knew that, that being the head coach here and influencing an organization like this and so many people, that those principles are being taught. And I really feel like I have an opportunity to make an impact, a positive impact for our Army, our men and women that serve out there every day because of the leadership

• 29:22Speaker 01

  that I provide here. So it's a great, great source of pride for me to be here and just have, have really enjoyed the 12 and a half, almost 13 years, and I hope there'll be 13 more.

• 29:34Fran Racioppi?

  What's your message to the team for the, you know, for, for the core of the season right now, the game against the Air Force coming up November 7th, you got Navy on December 12th, and they're focused, had success early on, and now you're going to go into the locker room this afternoon, you're going to talk to them, what are you going to talk about?

• 29:51Speaker 01

  Do right, do your best and show people you care. Follow the rules. Do that every day. Do what's right. Do the very best that you can and do it in a way that's showing people that they matter. And I think those are right in line with the principles of, of West Point, duty, honor, and country. When you do your, when you do your duty, you're doing what's right. When you do it with honor, you're doing your very best. And when you do it for country, you're showing people you care, you're doing it for something much bigger than yourself. So I think the values of this academy and the, the values and principles and rules that we have in our program align with, with those of West Point. And that's all I ask every day of these guys. It's not about a result. It's not about a rivalry or a game.

• 30:36Speaker 01

  It's not about this weekend. It's about today. What are we going to do today to be the very best that we can be?

• 30:43Fran Racioppi?

  Well, Coach, the team's come a long way under your command here, you know, and I'll tell you that, you haven't been able to serve with a number of the folks who played for you. I didn't go to West Point. I did play college sports at the Division One level and, you know, they'll tell you, what I'll tell you, which is that you are not successful in the Army without thinking back to your days as a Division One athlete, if you were fortunate to play. And there's a lot of things that your cadets have gone off and done and that I was able to do that I look back and say, you know what? This, this sucks, but it wasn't as hard as practice. And it wasn't as hard as my worst day on that field for me was, I was a, on the rowing team at Boston University. Nothing was as bad as being on that team every day at 4:30 in the morning, freezing

• 31:28Fran Racioppi?

  my ass off and getting soaked. But those foundations you talk about are critical to being an effective Army leader. And the people who come out of this institution are our nation's finest. And many of them are going to look back and they're going to remember the time that they spent with you, with your staff and the success that they had on this field. And so I wish you success the rest of the season. Thanks for spending some time out here on this chilly morning, uh, this absolutely beautiful place. We had the fog over the Hudson earlier this morning. It's lifted now. The New East grandstands are absolutely amazing and, uh, we really appreciate the partnership we have with West Point and Phil and Dio and yourself and, and Coach A and look forward to getting back here to talk to the rest of your peers across the different organizations.

• 32:09Speaker 01

  So I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you so much and beat Navy.

• 32:12Fran Racioppi?

  Absolutely. Beat Navy and Air Force.

• 32:15Fran Racioppi?

  American Jedbergs went on to form the foundation of the United States Special Forces and the Special Activities Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Thanks for listening to the Jedburgh Podcast, an official program of the Green Beret Foundation. I'm your creator and host, Fran Richo. Join us next week for a new episode on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check us out on YouTube for full episodes, highlights, and other long and short form content. If you like what you heard, give us a like and leave a review. Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X or Threads. Send your comments and inquiries to [email protected]. As former members of Special Operations Forces, the Jedburgh Media Channel and the Green Beret Foundation remain committed to supporting all generations of U.S. Army Special Forces and their families. Thanks for joining us on this episode.

• 33:00Fran Racioppi?

  How you prepare today determines success tomorrow.