Rob Caldwell enters this season in territory uncharted by Navy football players prior to coach Paul Johnson taking over the program.
The senior linebacker is arguably one of the top returning college players in the country at his position, and he has the preseason honors to back up that claim. He is on the watch list for practically every defensive honor, including the Lombardi Award, the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.
While those three awards honor on-the-field performance, what may speak more of who Caldwell is as a person is that his name listed as a candidate for the Lott Trophy. Named after former NFL great Ronnie Lott, it is the only college football award that recognizes personal character and leadership qualities along with athletic achievement.
Caldwell?s teammates see both sides of him and, because of that, elected him and center James Rossi as team co-captains.
“Being mentioned with those awards is nice, but I?d rather win another bowl game and the Commander-in-Chief Trophy,” Caldwell said. “I think this attention shows we are starting to get better athletes at the Naval Academy, including on the defensive line, [which] takes up blockers, which allows me to be free to run around and make plays.”
The 6-foot, 229-pound Caldwell is coming off an outstanding junior campaign, in which he totaled 140 tackles and finished 10th in the nation by averaging 11.67 tackles a game. He was also tied for fourth in the country for most tackles in a single game in 2005, when he had 21 against Air Force.
Johnson said Caldwell is the type of player every coach would like to have on his team. The St. John, Ind., native worked his way up the depth chart after not seeing any varsity action as a freshman and playing mainly special teams in 2004.
Johnson added that he expects big things from both his captains ? Rossi is on the Rimington Trophy watch list. That award honors the top center in college football.
“Both of those guys have gotten a lot of preseason hype,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, they can live up to it. They both have been good players for us, and we need them both to have a good senior year if we?re going to have a good football team.”
The Caldwell file
» Age: 21
» Height: 6-foot
» Weight: 229
» Hometown: St. John, Ind.
