It’s not often that two limbs from the same coaching tree square off head-to-head on such a grand stage, but when Jeff Monken’s Army team finally beat Ken Niumatalolo’s Midshipmen after a 14 year drought, it was West Point successfully fighting fire with fire.
Niumatalolo and Monken are both students of the option offense, and from the Paul Johnson school to be more specific.
Fans of Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern are very familiar with Paul Johnson’s brand of option football, and now with Johnson protege Brian Bohannon’s success at FCS Kennesaw State, his coaching tree is deeply rooted in Georgia college football.