The answer is the same after every Navy game. Ask any opposing coach which Midshipmen player gave his team the most trouble and he will reply: "Their No. 8, their 18, that guy, Connor McNerney."

Patrolling No. 8 all season for the U.S. Naval Academy, McNerney has emerged as one of the best in the game. Born in Switzerland and soon to enter the Navy's Special Warfare program, McNerney is a powerful runner, imposing defender, oh, and he also kicks goals.

“He’s just been terrific,” Navy head coach Gavin Hickie said. “Every game he’s our best or one of our best players.”

Next up for the seventh-ranked Midshipmen is a home test against their biggest rival, No. 10 Army, this Saturday in Annapolis, MD. Navy will once again look to McNerney to play a key role as it looks to avoid its fourth straight loss to the Black Knights.

“Beating Army is the No. 1 thing people think about by far,” McNerney said. “It’s what everyone asks about. For us, being an independent team, we know there’s also some effect on the rankings and the playoffs. We are working hard to get ready for the playoffs.”

McNerney’s parents are American but he grew up in Switzerland. His father was in the U.S. Marine Corps and was a huge role model for him. Being at the Naval Academy has been a longtime goal.

In Switzerland, he played soccer and rugby, and eventually represented the country at the U16, U18, and U20 level.

“I had always wanted to go to the Naval Academy, and as I got older rugby was definitely part of that decision,” McNerney told FloRugby. “I was able to visit and got to see the team play and met [former Navy coach Mike Flanagan].”

But playing at Navy was an adjustment. Most of the players hadn’t grown up with the game, and so those unthinking skills weren’t ingrained into them.

“The college game was definitely more physical than in high school, but a lot of the players didn’t know the game as well as the players I played against in school,” McNerney said. “But that’s changed pretty quickly. Already, even over four years, I am seeing more guys come in who have been playing for a while.”

All of that has combined, with McNerney helping it along, to produce one of the better Navy teams in recent years.

“Everyone had already been working hard, but now our shape is better, we are following the defensive game plan better, and I think we’ve really started clicking over the past year,” he said. “We know who we are and what we want to do.”

McNerney has made his contributions as a No. 8, carrying the ball, leading on defense, working the breakdowns. But he also kicks, and that’s a relative rarity for a forward.

“I’ve always kicked,” he explained. “I grew up playing a lot of soccer, so it’s just something I do. I enjoy it and I work at it, but it’s just something I enjoy doing to help the team.”

So what’s next for this senior? He came to the Naval Academy thinking he wanted to fly jets. But playing rugby and flying jets don’t always mix (get a concussion or two and you might be grounded). So McNerney set his sights on another goal—being a Navy Seal. 

Seeing as the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, CA, can’t accept all of the Navy Seal candidates at one time, the hopefuls show up on a staggered schedule. McNerney said he was thrilled to get this posting, but he won’t be in Coronado until November. That gives him one semester in Annapolis in the fall, where he will assist Hickie in coaching the Midshipmen.

“It’s all worked out really well,” he said.

Navy has blown through most of its opponents this year, beating Air Force 46-7, beating Notre Dame College (something Army couldn’t do), and beating Penn State. This spring, the Midshipmen have also beaten the Norfolk men’s club, as well as D1AA powers Dartmouth and Mary Washington. Their only real blemish was a loss to Life that McNerney calls an excellent learning experience.

Now, there’s the little matter of Army this weekend.