Army’s Bryson Daily led the Black Knights to a historic 2024 season. The soon-graduating quarterback was named the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year, and finished sixth in the Heisman voting.

The question now is, how do you replace a player who led the nation with 32 rushing touchdowns, placed fourth in rushing yards and became an invaluable leader on and off the field?

“Bryson was a great quarterback and even a better person,” said Dewayne Coleman, a quarterback for Army West Point Football. “He's still around as a coach basically. And he makes sure me and the rest of the guys in the quarterback room are doing the best that we could and improving in the areas that we all see fit.”

That’s the question the Black Knights are starting to figure out starting with spring practices. Right now, the top contender is soon to be senior Coleman, who has played sparingly as Daily’s backup the last two years.

“Our brotherhood is all about the next man up mentality,” Coleman said. “So me and each one of those guys in the quarterback room need to be ready to go whenever the time comes.”

Coleman is currently QB1 on the depth chart and taking the snaps with the first team offense. But it’s a position he’s still far from solidifying, according to head coach Jeff Monken.

“The experience goes to Dwayne,” Monken said. “But there's some other talented players there that I think have a chance. And I really like the competition that's going on there right now.”

Junior Cale Hellums and sophomore Ethan Washington are two other contenders.

Monken said a starting quarterback will not be named coming out of spring, and likely won’t name one until the season opener. But that experience from Coleman, plus hard work, could keep him at the top of the depth chart come late into August.

“He’s a guy that's beloved by his teammates, very respected by the guys in this program,” Monken said. “And he's working hard, and you can see the confidence he has as a leader comes out when he's in that first huddle.”

For Coleman, whose mother served in the Air Force, attending and playing football at a service academy has been everything he could’ve ever imagined. And now, potentially even more as he works to be West Point’s next QB1.

“You're the only quarterback on the field, so you can't take that lightly,” Coleman said. “You have to take that with a real true passion, and you have to bring a certain type of energy and focus to the group to make sure our huddle works smoothly.”

Army’s spring game is set for 6:30 p.m. April 11 at Michie Stadium.