College Football

Army fires head coach Rich Ellerson, according to report

Ellerson's time at West Point is over after five seasons.

By Patrick Vint Dec 15, 2013, 7:38pm EST

Army fired head coach Rich Ellerson on Sunday, according to a report from Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated. The Black Knights just completed their third straight losing season, capped by a blowout loss to Navy on Saturday.

Ellerson spent five seasons at Army, having taken over at West Point in 2009 following the firing of Stan Brock. He compiled a 20-41 record with the Black Knights, but after a seven-win campaign in his second season, Ellerson's team went south. Army managed just eight wins in Ellerson's final three seasons, and has now gone three seasons without a bowl trip. More importantly, Ellerson's teams went winless in five games against Navy.

Prior to taking the Army job, Ellerson had worked exclusively on the West Coast. He spent eight seasons as head coach at Cal Poly, taking the Mustangs into the Great West Conference and winning three conference titles in their first five seasons. Ellerson had two separate stints as an assistant at Arizona, running the Wildcats' special teams from 1992 to 1995 and coordinating their defense from 1997 through 2001. He also acted as a defensive and special teams assistant at Hawaii, and bounced around the CFL for three seasons in the mid-80s.