Army football claims one vote in final USA TODAY coaches poll
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Army football fans, you can send your ‘thank you’ cards to Florida International head coach Willie Simmons.
Simmons was the lone voting member to recognize the Black Knights, for 25th place on his ballot and worth one point, in the final USA TODAY/US LBM Coaches poll – joining single points for Pittsburgh and East Carolina, the Black Knights finished tied for 40th, with 42 schools in all receiving votes.
Perhaps it’s not surprising Simmons, 45, gave the 7-6 Army football team a single vote, considering his FIU team also went 7-6 this season, 5-3 in Conference USA.
Army was the lone poll finisher with a high of six losses, and minimum of seven wins.
Simmons was a former player at Clemson (2000-02) and The Citadel (2003) and has been a collegiate coach since 2006, previously serving as head coach at Prairie View A&M (2015-17) and Florida A&M (2018-23).
Army’s fellow American Conference members Tulane and Navy finished No. 18 and No. 23, respectively, and the Black Knights tied for 40th with East Carolina. Army beat No. 37 Connecticut in the Fenway Bowl.
Army head coach Jeff Monken is also a voting member for the US LMB Board of Coaches. His final ballot had 1) Indiana; 2) Miami; 3) Mississippi; (4) Oregon and 5) Ohio State (finished sixth in poll) in the first five; and, 6) Georgia (finished fifth); 7) Texas Tech; 8) Alabama (ninth); 9) Texas A&M (eighth); and 10) Brigham Young (twelfth) in the next five.
His final selections were 11) Utah (finished No. 14); 12) Notre Dame (No. 11); 13) Texas; 14) Oklahoma (No. 10); 15) Houston (No. 19); 16) Vanderbilt (No. 15); 17) Virginia (No. 16); 18) Tulane; 19) James Madison (No. 20); 20) USC (No. 21); 21) Michigan (No. 22); 22) Iowa (No. 17); 23) Arizona (No. 30); 24) North Texas (No. 26); and, 25) Georgia Tech (No. 24).
Army posted a record-setting 12-2 season in 2024 and finished No. 21 in the final USA TODAY poll.
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army football claims one vote in final 2025 USA TODAY coaches poll
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