Football Featured: Jeremy Timpf

Senior linebacker Jeremy Timpf knew that he wanted to play football at the collegiate level for as long as he can remember.

"I always knew I just wanted to be out there playing," Timpf said. "I don't want to be sitting in my room, I just like to be outside and have a good time."

But his desire to play at Army didn't become a realization until he was recruited by West Point during his senior year of high school.

"I never really thought of playing football here," Timpf remembered. "It was January of my senior year when I was getting recruited by West Point and I just took the consideration of how I wanted to go into the military and West Point was the only place that really catered to those needs."

Timpf ultimately decided to enroll in the Academy and attend the only school on his radar that could provide him the opportunity to compete on a Division I football team, and also set him up for a future career in the military.

A native of Tucson, Ariz., Timpf attended the United States Military Academy Prep School during the 2012-13 academic year, which provided him with a better sense of what West Point was, but didn't prevent him from experiencing the ups and downs associated with Beast Barracks and the first months of plebe year.

"The adjustment was different," Timpf said. "There was a lot of discipline. You get through it because you're able to make close friends with your roommates and other kids in your class. At first it was a lot with school and football, but I just had to work through it."

Timpf did not appear in any game action as a freshman and instead served as a member of the scout team. He described that season a difficult period, as he was unsure about his status in future years and the amount of in-game action he would get to experience.

"That was a tough year because I was on the scout team for the entire season," Timpf said. "I had to decide whether I wanted to stay or not and I think I made a good decision."

His decision to stick with his scout team duties and remain on the team ended up paying off heading into his sophomore season. Determined to get onto the field, Timpf made a good first impression in his initial meetings with head coach Jeff Monken, after Monken was announced as the 37th head coach of Army football in December 2013.

"He's quiet and unassuming," Monken said about his impression of Timpf. "He's not one of those guys who's the life of the party or who's telling jokes in the locker room. He just kind of goes about his business and he still is that way.

"He takes a lot of pride in his job and he's a very competitive guy," Monken continued. "I'll go into the meeting rooms throughout the week and I'll stand in the back of the linebackers meeting and he asks pointed questions and he wants to get better. He has a very intense focus."

Timpf was able to back up his impressions on Army's new coaching staff by showing effort and enthusiasm in team meetings and practices, and eventually earned himself a starting role as an inside linebacker for Army's 2014 season opener against Buffalo. Timpf assisted on a tackle during Buffalo's first possession in the opening quarter before finishing with a game-high 11 tackles, including nine which came as solo stops. Five of his tackles were made in the fourth quarter, as he helped the Black Knights preserve their lead and hold off Buffalo for a 47-39 victory.

"Going into my sophomore year, I just wanted to get on the field," Timpf said about his mindset heading into the Buffalo game. "I didn't really know how many tackles were a lot of tackles because I had never played in college before, but people started telling me I had a lot of tackles in that game."

As the season went on, Timpf continued to make an impact defensively, registering team highs in tackles during each of the next three games. He made a game-high 14 stops in addition to a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown on Sept. 27 at Yale.

Timpf led the Black Knights in tackles during nine of their 12 games in 2014 and finished the year with a team-best 117 tackles. Additionally, his 79 solo tackles were the most by an Army football player in a single season since 2003.

His teammates took notice.

Timpf, along with senior fullback Matt Giachinta, was elected by his teammates as a captain as the team wrapped up spring practice in April, proving himself to be a leader off the field as well. Although the coaching staff wasn't involved in the selection of team captains, Monken was able to glean examples of Timpf's leadership qualities in the practice sessions that followed the 2014 season.

"I really saw (his leadership) for the first time this spring at an early morning workout," Monken said. "We were doing a conditioning workout and it was during a break between the two sessions. We were probably underperforming a little bit and that's the first time I saw him be vocal and get on his teammates about putting in the effort and getting things right.

"He doesn't do that a lot, but I think he does it when it's appropriate," Monken continued. "That's what I appreciate about him as a leader. You don't always have to be vocal, you do sometimes, but you're more of an example by what you do and by doing what's right, your voice will be heard."

Timpf took to his new role as a team captain heading into fall practices and preseason camp, but didn't alter his leadership tactics and continued to let his actions speak for themselves.

"I tried to show the others what hard work is," Timpf said about his initial leadership duties during preseason camp. "You have to give it all you got. There's a lot of time spent up in the film room, a lot of time out on the field and a lot of time in the barracks on the iPad watching film. You have to make sure the younger guys are doing that and not slacking off."

On the field, Timpf picked up right where he left off, leading the Black Knights with nine tackles in the first game of the season against Fordham. He followed up that performance with nine more stops in week two at Connecticut before finishing with five tackles and an interception in the Wake Forest game.

While Timpf's responsibilities as a leader have translated to his on-field performance, Monken has also noticed a growth in his confidence on game days, now with nearly a season and a half under his belt.

"He got more confident the more he played last season and he has that confidence through the early part of this season," Monken said. "I think now he's trying to improve his game and become the best player he can be. You can see the level of disappointment he has when he misses a play or doesn't make a play he's capable of making. He has a great sense of pride in the way he plays and I think that's a positive for this team."

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Football Featured: Jeremy Timpf

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