Fox Analyst Joel Klatt Says Army-Navy Should Be Moved To Start Of The Season

Joel Klatt has a suggestion to give the Army-Navy game the spotlight that it deserves after years of being buried at the end of the season.

The current format puts the contest between the two service academies in a week by itself at the end of the season, when most fans are focused on their team's bowl games and the upcoming College Football Playoff. 

And Klatt has a solution. 

"I don’t think that we should have Army-Navy right after the conference championship games," Klatt said on his show. "I believe that the Army-Navy game is one of the most special events that we have in our country. It’s one of the great football games on the planet, and it’s getting pinched where it’s at. I know it’s the traditional time frame and point of season, but think about it — Army and Navy are now in a conference. Yet, their game doesn’t have any bearing on whether they’re going to the conference championship game or not, which we just saw this year with Navy. Then, they’ve got to play that game, which is, you know — it’s going to mean everything to them and should, because again, in a lot of ways, outside of the Rose Bowl, it’s the most historic college football game that we have."

Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt. Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Should The Army-Navy Game Move?

Klatt makes a good point about moving the game before the season starts to give it more room to breathe. And moving it to Week Zero could be a big kickoff to the new season.

"So what do we do with Army-Navy? It’s getting pinched by the Heisman. It’s getting pinched by the Playoff. We now play a bowl game on the same day. It’s not in the right spot. Army-Navy needs to start the football season. Week Zero of football. And mind you, I didn’t say college. I didn’t say the NFL. It’s because it’s both."

He continued, saying that the game could serve as a "national anthem" for the sport.

It makes some sense, but there's an argument to be made that the game also makes for a fitting cap on the season. If it's given more space and not, as Klatt says, "pinched" by a bowl game or other distractions. 

Plus, playing it in colder weather just feels right, feels more fitting the character of the game. It'd be surprising if it did move, but in the fast-changing world of college football in 2025, who knows?