Brian Newberry is the new head coach at Navy after being the defensive coordinator for the Middies since 2019. Their defense has been pretty good over his tenure but the more intriguing bit is that outside of a 5-year period when Paul Johnson left to coach Georgia Southern this will be the first time since 1994 where Navy doesn’t have Johnson, or apprentice Ken Niumatalolo, controlling the Middies offense.

In steps Grant Chesnut (not Chestnut, mind you) who comes to Annapolis after a 9-year stint as the offensive coordinator at Kennesaw State, a place where he overlapped with Newberry as DC for 5 seasons. So they’re friends!

Many are wondering how the Navy offense will change under Chesnut and that’s what we’re trying to figure out today.

The Chesnut offenses at Kennesaw were really impressive for most of his time with the Owls, although they disappointed heavily in 2022* after switching to the Frankstein-esque WAC-ASUN conference ending with a 5-6 record overall. However, Chesnut was able to coach All-American quarterback Xavier Shepherd (although he was benched for a bit in 2022 as some struggled mounted) which gives us an excellent glimpse of what Navy could look like with a difference maker at this position.

*Blocks below the waist outside the tackle box were outlawed for 2022.

We should still see plenty of triple option from Navy, this probably won’t be too drastic of a change in year one at least. However, news from campus this off-season is that the Middies are welcoming the passing game and even trying to incorporate tight ends more through the air. Chesnut averaged 342.4 rushing yards per game in 2019 and in recent seasons there hasn’t been quite the emphasis and production on the ground but we can expect this triple option core philosophy to continue while at Navy.

I checked back to 2021 when Shepherd was really cooking through the air completing 77 passes for 1,341 yards with 15 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions. Kennesaw State faced Georgia Tech in Atlanta early in the season and provided some glimpses to the Chesnut approach to passing.

For example, here’s a 3 wideout and 1 back snap from under center picking up easy yards in the flat to the tight end:

In the past, Navy’s passing game was predicated mostly on well-timed deep shots, however, one of the big changes for 2023 under Chesnut should be cultivating a more steady short-passing game that aids the rushing attack.

The pre-snap motion familiar to Navy will of course exist and be used on a majority of snaps. Here against the Yellow Jackets, we see Shepherd hit the motion man in a cleverly designed play that takes advantage of hesitating linebackers.

We will see how Navy’s recruiting evolves in the coming years although to me Kennesaw State’s passing game was built with more athletic and long receivers capable of getting open with speed and not just deception. Here, a wingback shows good acceleration to find a seam and complete a big chunk play through the air.

Wide open passing was exceedingly rare during the previous seasons at Navy–and if the past is any indication–Chesnut will call many more modern-type plays for the quarterback. Against Georgia Tech, they even went 4-wide completing another simple out route to the sideline.

I was looking at Kennesaw State’s 2022 season and zeroed in on their bonkers double overtime win over North Alabama for more good stuff on Chesnut’s passing philosophy. Late in the 1st half, the Owls are running a 2-minute drill and run a 4-wideout play while also sending the running back out, as well. Throwing this deep pass across the field isn’t something you usually see from a triple option team.

I would expect quarterback runs to be a big part of the new Navy offense, even on scrambles after pass plays. I noticed quite a bit of scrambles from Xavier Shepherd and I’m guessing this will be encouraged for the Navy quarterback in 2023, too.

I know this 2-minute drill skews things a bit but there are times when the Chesnut offense doesn’t resemble a triple option attack when they are throwing the ball. Overall, I think we’ll see the Middies begin to get a little bigger, longer, and more dangerous on the outside as they modernize their attack through things like a fade into the corner of the end zone:

The ref right at the goal line ruled this no catch and prevented the touchdown, by the way. As we can see, the defensive back is true to the cornerback’s creed by signaling the receiver was out of bounds. However, upon closer look this was a slam dunk easy touchdown to call.

Navy basically has 1 beat reporter covering the team so occasionally details are murky about the upcoming season. However, last year’s starting quarterback Tai Lavatai tore his knee late last year and didn’t practice during the spring and their other starter Xavier Arline missed spring ball while playing attackmen for the Middies lacrosse team, and subsequently also got hurt.

Chesnut turned to sophomore (he didn’t play in 2022, so redshirt freshman in normal non-academy football terms) Teddy Gleaton who took all of the 1st-team reps during spring and apparently looked pretty sharp throwing the ball. However, now Gleaton is missing from fall camp as he attends to coursework and isn’t being allowed to practice.

That is a major setback for the Middies. Either way, surely Notre Dame will be ready in Dublin for some interesting new passing schemes from Navy.