FootballScoop is proud to announce that Mike Viti and Matt Drinkall (Army) are the 2024 FootballScoop Offensive Line Coaches of the Year, presented by AstroTurf as selected by prior winners.
The Army offense was the definition of a buzzsaw in 2024, and its Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line was the primary reason why.
Army ran for a national-best 4,207 yards -- becoming the first FBS team in two seasons to average 300 rushing yards per game and leading the nation by more than 40 yards per contest. The Black Knights rushed for 48 touchdowns on the season, second most in the nation and the second most in school history.
Army rushed for five touchdowns or more half a dozen times in 2024, and topped the 300-yard mark seven times in 14 tries. The Knights hammered Florida Atlantic for 405 yards on 6.98 a carry, posted 417 yards (7.32 a carry) and five touchdowns on Temple, and pummeled UAB for 413 yards (7.38 per) and five touchdowns.
Army finished the second second nationally at 2.86 tackles for loss per game allowed, while also ranking second with 103 rushes of 10-plus yards. The Black Knights were in the top 10 nationally in rushes of 20, 30, 40, and 60 yards.
That level of down-to-down dominance allowed Army to lead the nation in time of possession. The unit's masterpiece was a 21-play, 94-yard march that consumed nearly 14 minutes in a 14-3 win over North Texas.
The Black Knights finished 11th nationally on third down (48.5 percent) and scored touchdowns on 42 of 54 red zone opportunities, a 78 percent conversion rate that placed third nationally.
Quarterback Bryson Daily set an FBS record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (32), while lead running back Kanye Udoh rushed for 1,117 yards and 10 touchdowns. Daily ended the year one yard shy of trailing only Boise State's Ashton Jeanty in total rushing yards, and Army was the only team nationally to produce two 1,100-yard rushers.
All five starting offensive linemen made the All-American Athletic Conference team. Center Brady Small and guard Bill Kastigiannis were First Team honorees, while tackles Connor Finucane and guard Paolo Gennarelli made the Second Team. As a team, Army won the American in its first year in the conference and tied a school record with 11 victories.
Army's assistant head coach for offense and offensive line coach, Viti recently completed his 10th season with the program and his ninth on the coaching staff. The West Point graduate joined the program as director of high school and alumni relations in 2015 and was promoted to fullbacks coach in 2016. He was promoted to offensive line coach in 2022, and to assistant head coach for offense in 2023. Following the completion of his playing career as a Black Knights fullback, Viti served in Afghanistan as a platoon leader, where he earned a bronze star and a combat action badge. Following his retirement from the military as a Captain, Viti completed Mike’s Hike For Heroes, a 4,400 mile trek beginning in Washington and ending at the 2014 Army-Navy game. Viti is the co-founder of the Legacies Alive Foundation which supports America's Gold Star families and in 2019 won the Armed Forces Merit Award from the Football Writers Association of America, given annually to an individual or group with a military background who makes an impact on college football.
An Iowa graduate, Drinkall started coaching as a Hawkeye student and coached in the Iowa high school ranks as well as at Western Illinois and St. Ambrose University before becoming the head coach at Kansas Wesleyan in 2014. He joined Army's staff in 2020 as tight ends coach and moved to offensive line in 2023.
Drinkall was named Central Michigan's head coach earlier this month.
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by AstroTurf are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Famika Anae [New Mexico], Kyle Flood [Texas, Tim Keane [Boise State], A'lique Terry [Oregon], Geep Wade [Georgia Tech] and Viti and Drinkall) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
Previous winners of the Offensive Line Coach of the Year award are Steve Greatwood (Oregon, 2008), Tony Wise (Pittsburgh, 2009), Bob Bostad (Wisconsin, 2010) Greg Studrawa (LSU, 2011), Ed Warinner (Ohio State, 2012 and 2014), Mike Bloomgren (Stanford, 2013), Tom Manning (Toledo, 2015), Brian Callahan/Bill Kenney (Western Michigan, 2016), Bill Bedenbaugh (Oklahoma, 2017), Glen Elarbee (UCF, 2018), James Cregg (LSU, 2019), DJ Looney and Rob Sale (Louisiana, 2020), Jim Harding (Utah, 2021) and Sherrone Moore (Michigan, 2022).
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