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In Quick Pitch, Navy Promotes Assistant
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Said senior slotback Zerbin Singleton: "He's a great guy, he's a compassionate guy, he's very dedicated. We just traded one great coach for another."
The announcement ended a dizzying week for Navy. The assistant coaches were recruiting out of town all week. Meantime, the Midshipmen have been in exams -- on Friday, players estimated that a majority of the brigade still had not heard about Johnson's departure.
Niumatalolo also has not met with the team; that meeting is expected today or Monday.
"We're going to have a meeting, have lunch, lift weights, meet again, then practice," Kettani said. "It'll be pretty much the same drill as always."
Navy fans can take solace in the predicament faced by Air Force after then-coach Ken Hatfield left for Arkansas following the 1983 season.
The Falcons promoted his offensive coordinator, Fisher DeBerry, to be head coach. DeBerry went 169-109-1 in 23 seasons and helped keep the Falcons as the dominant service academy program until Johnson's teams won the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy the past five years.
The day DeBerry was hired, then-Air Force athletic director John Clune sounded very much as Gladchuk did yesterday. "I'm looking forward to working with [DeBerry] to maintain the momentum in our program which has been established over the last five years," Clune said on Dec. 27, 1983.
Said Gladchuk yesterday, "This team has enjoyed success; we need to maintain it and keep it going."
In the end, Gladchuk recalled a moment in the locker room following the team's 38-3 victory over Army on Dec. 1. There, during the celebrations, he quietly approached Niumatalolo.
"I tapped him on the shoulder," Gladchuk said. "And I said, 'If anything happens [with Johnson], I want to talk to you.' "
