Foley

MERIDIAN — Jordan Foley’s football career is over.

His Naval career is just beginning.

The Shady Side Academy graduate and Meridian resident was recently selected brigade commander at the Naval Academy in Annapolis during the spring semester.

“This is huge for me,” Foley, 23, said. “It’s the highest ranking you can get among midshipmen. I’ll be overseeing 4,500 midshipmen. It’s a large command.”

Only the top 10 ranked seniors at Annapolis are eligible for brigade commander. Foley carries a 3.82 grade point average and ranks eighth among 1,200 in his class.

“Academics are only part of that ranking,” Foley said. “Personal conduct, overall achievement, your record ... A lot of elements are taken into account.”

Foley completed a stellar four-year career on the Navy Sprint football team this fall, leaving that program with school records for career punt return yardage (613), single-game punt return yardage (140) and single-season kickoff return yardage (255).

He spent time as a runnng back and wide receiver for the team as well. Sprint football is for collegians weighing 172 pounds or fewer.

“My parents (Jeff and Kathy Sommariva Foley) were at every one of my games,” Foley said. “There were about 5,000 people in the stands when we beat Army for the championship. I’ll never forget that.”

Navy defeated Army, 28-6, in the Sprint championship game this season. Foley led all receivers with five catches for 78 yards in the game.

His Navy football teams won 26 of 28 games over his career. Including one season at Case Western Reverse, Foley’s teams were 36-3 overall.

“My senior class had the best career won-loss record in the history of Navy Sprint football — and the program dates back to 1951,” Foley said. “We’re pretty proud of that.”

He’s pretty excited about his future, too.

Foley is headed to graduate school — MIT is his top choice, followed by Columbia and Harvard — and will stay there for two years. Then he will attend two years of nuclear power school in Charleston, S.C.

From there, Foley will be assigned work on a submarine.

“I have an eight-year commitment to the Navy overall,” he said. “Once my schooling’s done, I’ll have five years to serve on the submarine.

“I’m hoping to be assigned in the Pacific because I’m majoring in Chinese.”

Once his required years are served, Foley figures to stay in the military.

“I’ve been interesed in joining the military since eighth grade,” he said. “I’m in a program that develops career naval officers, so I’m planning to make a career of this.

“It’s just strange not lifting weights for football anymore. Now I’m lifting weights for me. The lifestyle I’ll be leading, I need to stay physically strong and active. Football put me in that frame of mind a long time ago.”