Ivin Jasper was so close to becoming a head coach he could touch it and taste it.
Naval Academy athletic director Chet Gladchuk planned to elevate Jasper to the top job had Ken Niumatalolo moved on to Brigham Young University.
Gladchuk's mindset was simple: Navy was going to maintain its identity as a triple-option football program and Jasper was the obvious choice to continue the tradition.
"I was prepared to promote Ivin and it was going to be immediate," Gladchuk said on Monday. "We were not going away from the triple-option and Ivin Jasper knows the system better than any coach in the country.