New Army coach Jeff Monken.

Jeff Monken will be the new coach at Army, according to SI.com, which quoted the Black Knights’ athletic director for confirmation. The press conference will be held next week.

This is a good hire for Army and a curious move for Monken.

It’s a good move for Army because he runs the same type of system Army runs – the triple option. He’s a former Navy assistant, so he understands the military school mentality and the expectations. The Black Knights get a coach with a 38-16 career record at Georgia Southern and coming off a huge road win at Florida earlier this season.

Here’s why it’s a curious move for Monken. Georgia Southern is moving to FBS next season and into the Sun Belt Conference. He’ll have more scholarships to work with and more exposure, theoretically, to recruit. At Army, of course, there are restrictions on weight and other factors that divert the student-athlete from athletics. Of course, the mission at Army is much different than most FBS schools, so that makes sense.

Because Georgia Southern is moving up to FBS, that brings our FBS openings to 14, with only Georgia Southern and Texas looking for new coaches.

By the way, SI’s bracket game to determine the next Texas coach is down to its Final Four – Jimbo Fisher vs. Art Briles and Jim Harbaugh vs. David Shaw.  Why do people think Harbaugh is going to leave San Francisco for Texas anyway? Absurd.

2014 FBS COACHING CAROUSEL