The 2024 Army Black Knights football team represented the United States Military Academy in the American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) during the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Black Knights, led by Jeff Monken in his eleventh year as head coach, played their home games at Michie Stadium, located in West Point, New York.
The 2024 season was Army's first in The American after having spent almost all of its football history as an FBS independent. This was the fifth season under Monken that the Black Knights have had at least 9 wins, and the first season since 1949 to start 9âÂÂ0. With their win in the Independence Bowl over Louisiana Tech, the team became the second armed services school to record 12 wins in a single season after the 1985 Air Force Falcons.
The American Athletic Conference released its media prediction poll on July 23, 2024. The Black Knights were predicted to finish fifth in the conference.
This year's Army uniform honors the storied legacy of the 101st Airborne Division known as the Screaming Eagles. They lived their motto, "Rendezvous with Destiny", when they marched into the town of Bastogne in response to the Nazi offensive that would become known as the Battle of the Bulge. Encircled by Nazi forces, they endured three weeks of relentless close combat in freezing weather and deep snow. The black with snow-topped shoulders uniform reflects "the canopy of fog and snow giving way to the shadows beneath the snow-covered pine forest in the Ardennes."
The typography on the back of the uniforms is a version of Anthony McAuliffe's, the acting 101st Airborne Division's commander, reply of "Nuts!" or "Go to Hell!" to the Nazi commander asking his squad to surrender.
A star patch on the jersey is "The Invasion Star", which was used on American aircraft and vehicles to help to ID soldiers on the battlefield. The seven gaps on the patch represent the seven roads at Bastogne. The patch on the left sleeve is the patch of the 101st Airborne, while the patch on the right sleeve is the American flag that was worn on the jumpsuit of the 101st paratroopers.
Black Helmets include a parachute logo and "Screaming Eagles" on the front. Players will be randomly assigned one of four card suit helmets: "clubs" (327th Glider Infantry Regiment), "diamonds" (501st Paratroopers Infantry Regiment), "heart" (502nd PIR), and "spades" (506th PIR) with each card suit representing a symbol for the 101st paratroopers and glider troops to use to identify respective units.