With his future as the Naval Academy's football coach reportedly in jeopardy, George Chaump has taken a strong stance in his defense on the eve of the season-ending game with Army in Philadelphia.
This time a year ago, Chaump received a vote of confidence from athletic director Jack Lengyel in the form of a year's contract extension.
"We wanted to give George a chance to teach his senior class of kids he personally recruited," said Lengyel. "But now we'll follow our usual procedure of evaluating the situation as soon as the season ends.
"We will evaluate the whole program: the coach's contribution to leadership, his success on the field and how his players are achieving in the classroom."
Chaump, 58, who has a 14-40 record in five seasons at the academy after winning 67 percent of his games in four years at Marshall, said he has Navy (3-7) heading in the right direction. He cited a 29-17 upset of Rice on Nov. 19 as strong evidence.
"I think our whole program is in good shape in every aspect," he said.
"We've built a good foundation. We're a much improved team over this time last year. It's been a long time [1980] since Navy has gone into the Army game with consecutive wins over Division I-A schools."
Asked why it took so long to produce positive results, Chaump said: "We started this year with five new offensive linemen and a new defensive front. There's no magic wand. Just guys getting game experience. It took forever growing up."
In the two weeks leading up to the Army game, Chaump has spent considerable time explaining the problems of trying to win at a service academy.
"I'm always getting letters from admirals and guys in the Pentagon telling me to stop whining, that the academy always had high academic standards and was still a dominant team in the '40s," Chaump told reporters in Philadelphia last week.
"They don't understand that everyone flocked to the academy in the war years. It's a lot different now and tougher academically. I'd also be willing to bet that not one of my current players got a scholarship offer from another Division I-A school before coming here."
Lengyel is unsure about the wisdom of changing coaches again. Chaump is Navy's third coach since George Welsh left for Virginia in 1982, following Gary Tranquill and Elliot Uzelac.
"I believe strongly that continuity breeds success in a football program," Lengyel said.
"I think that is the biggest reason Air Force has enjoyed more success. [Coach] Fisher DeBerry and almost his entire staff have been together for 11 years.
"Army is almost the same story. Bob Sutton served as an assistant coach there for Jim Young for eight years before taking over in 1990."
During Chaump's tenure, Navy has gone through four defensive coordinators.
"We had some top-notch defensive guys," said Lengyel. "We lost Greg McMackin to the University of Miami and Dennis Murphy to the San Diego Chargers. My responsibility is to get stability in our coaching staff.
This season, "philosophical differences" caused Chaump to fire offensive coordinator Greg Briner after a season-opening, 56-14 loss to San Diego State. Briner had a strong supporter in senior quarterback Jim Kubiak.
Senior tight end Kevin Hickman said it makes no difference who is coaching at the academy unless the six-year service commitment and the perception of the varsity athletes changes.
"For Navy to ever become a top 50 team, you have to revamp the athletic program. Some kid who is 260 pounds and can run a 40-yard dash in 4.5 isn't coming here if he knows he has no shot at the pros until he's near 30. Even the decent athletes who come here are under intense pressure. You've got to make some compromises."
Nevertheless, Chaump sounds like a man saying his goodbyes.
He has suffered numerous bouts of insomnia and loss of appetite this season, trying to find ways for his team to be more competitive while his critics have grown in number.
"You've got to keep above it," he said. "You realize these people will get you eventually, that you'll be a victim of their wrath."
He told columnist Frank Dolson of the Philadelphia Inquirer about how he shared a poignant moment at home recently with one of his daughters.
"She told me, 'Daddy, if they fire you, just look them in the eye and say, 'Thank you for giving me back my life.' "