with the 2008 season, the Mids have continued their run of success. Highlights in 2008 included an upset in Winston-Salem over No. 16 Wake Forest, 24–17, the Mids' first victory over a ranked team in 23 years, and a 34–0 shutout victory of Army. In 2016, the Midshipmen upset 6th-ranked Houston at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium 46-40 for their first win over a team ranked in the top 10 since defeating South Carolina in 1984. Other highlights of Niumatalolo's years as head coach at Navy include: Navy defeated Army in each of Niumatalolo's first eight seasons as head coach, not losing to Army until 2016. The 2016 loss ended a streak of 14 Midshipmen wins in the Army–Navy Game, the longest winning streak for either side in the rivalry. The Midshipmen captured the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy in 2008, 2009 and 2012. They went on to capture the trophy outright in 2013, with a 34–7 win against Army, and recaptured it outright in 2015 with wins over Army and Air Force. The Midshipmen have nine winning seasons during Niumatalolo's 11 full years as head coach. The Mids have played in nine bowl games during Niumatalolo's tenure, winning the 2009 Texas Bowl, 2013 Armed Forces Bowl, 2014 Poinsettia Bowl, and 2015 Military Bowl. Navy defeated longtime rival Notre Dame in consecutive years, 2009 and 2010, for the first time since the early 1960s. The Midshipmen also defeated Notre Dame in 2016, when the Midshipmen went on to finish with a 9–5 record. Niumatalolo led Navy into the American Athletic Conference after 134 years as an independent in 2015, the first time Navy joined a conference in the school's history. Following the 2022 campaign, Niumatalolo was fired following a loss to Army. Brian Newberry era (2023–present) Brian Newberry, who had served as defensive coordinator since 2019, was hired as the head coach on December 19, 2022. Conference affiliations Independent (1879–2014) American Athletic Conference (2015–present) Championships National championships Three undefeated teams with nearly identical records would cause a stir among fans and pollsters today, but this was the case when Navy earned its lone national championship in 1926, as the Midshipmen shared the honor with Stanford and Alabama. A 7–7 tie between Alabama and Stanford in the 1927 Rose Bowl gave Stanford a 10–0–1 mark, while the Crimson Tide and the Mids each had identical 9–0–1 records. The Midshipmen opened the '26 season with a