Several Navy football players suffered similar foot injuries last season, and it wasn’t until a loss to Army — their first defeat in the rivalry since 2001 — for the coaches to realize all those injuries could be linked.
Foot-related issues caused quarterback Will Worth, slotback Toneo Gulley, linebacker Daniel Gonzales, and wide receiver Tyler Carmona to miss the annual rivalry game. Slotback Josh Brown also sat out with a sprained ankle. That’s when the coaches realized the problem had nothing to do with football. It was the result of strict footwear rules on campus.
Anytime Navy students are outside their dorm rooms, they must wear hard-soled Oxfords polished to the school’s expectations. They cannot wear sneakers or flip-flops. The only exception is when students participate in athletic events.
That seems rough enough on the feet, right? Well, on top of that, students receive one pair of shoes when they are plebes, and typically wear that same pair for all four years.
That’s what made coach Ken Niumatalolo and his staff realize the foot-injury plague could be the result of off-the-field wear and tear. From the Washington Post:
“We had a huge summit among the training staff, the weight room staff, equipment people,” Niumatalolo said. “What could it be? Somebody brought that up, and I thought it was a pretty valid point. Guys are walking around in hard-soled shoes all day.
“I have a hard enough time wearing tennis shoes.”
Jim Berry, Navy’s assistant athletic director for sports medicine, said that wearing the same pair of shoes every day for muliple years can cause “considerable wear” on the heel and sole, which can lead to supination in the foot:
“We recognized that a lot of these kids, their foot injuries could be caused by their uniform shoes,” Berry said. “We noticed some of the kids, their heels were starting to wear, kind of like dress shoes you might have had for a few years. Your back heel is kind of worn out.”
Fortunately, Niumatalolo has a solution that will hopefully solve Navy’s injury problems this season. He required all his players to get their shoes repaired at the on-campus cobbler prior to Friday’s season opener against Florida Atlantic. Niumatalolo also had a team of medical specialists analyze each player’s feet so that at-risk Midshipmen could receive orthotics for their dress shoes or cleats.
This is a problem unique to Navy not only because of the school’s strict dress code, but also because of the team’s triple option offense, according to sports orthopedist Thomas Sanders:
Navy’s triple-option offense might be a factor as well, Sanders indicated, because of the constant and often sudden change of direction required in such formations. The Midshipmen have employed the triple option since former coach Paul Johnson arrived in 2002 and hired Niumatalolo as his top assistant.
“The guys are so big and strong and fast now,” said Niumatalolo, who took over full-time in 2008 after Johnson departed for Georgia Tech. “All the stops, starting, planting, it’s a lot of torque on your feet.”
We’ll see if Niumatalolo’s preventative measures can keep the Midshipmen healthy this season.
I don’t think this is unique to just Navy. Army and Air Force also have strict dress requirements and run the triple option. How come this is just showing up, the same conditions have been there for years?