Army West Point Athletics
Football
Justin Weaver
- Title:
- Inside Linebackers
Justin "Juice" Weaver enters his fourth season in his second stint on the Army coaching staff in 2026, serving as the inside linebackers coach after rejoining the program in 2023.
During the 2025 campaign, Weaver was tasked with mentoring both of Army's defensive team captains, Andon Thomas and Kalib Fortner, who both achieved elite postseason recognition. Under Weaver’s guidance, Thomas started all 13 games and paced the defense with 113 total tackles, including 66 solo stops and five tackles for loss. His standout performance earned him an American Conference All-Second Team selection, an invitation to a rookie minicamp with the Baltimore Ravens and national recognition as a finalist for the prestigious 2025 William V. Campbell Trophy, college football's premier scholar-athlete award.
Fortner also started all 13 contests under Weaver's tutelage, recording 83 tackles and leading the Black Knights with 7.5 tackles for loss. Fortner capped off his season by earning a spot in the 2026 Hula Bowl and becoming the only player in program history to earn major-game defensive honors in three consecutive seasons, following his selections as the 2023 Army–Navy Game MVP, the 2024 Independence Bowl Defensive Player of the Game, and the 2025 Wasabi Fenway Bowl Defensive MVP.
The groundwork for this veteran leadership was established in 2024, when Weaver orchestrated breakout junior campaigns for both inside linebackers. Thomas and Fortner anchored a defensive unit that held opponents to 14 points or fewer in 10 of 14 games. Thomas paced the squad with 98.0 tackles to earn AAC All-Conference Third Team honors, while Fortner finished just behind him with 81.0 tackles and a team-high 9.5 tackles for loss, receiving All-Conference honorable mention recognition.
In his first season serving as the inside linebackers coach in 2023, Weaver oversaw team captain Leo Lowin’s senior campaign and the emergence of sophomore Kalib Fortner.
Lowin led the team in tackles for a second consecutive season, registering 92.0 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and 3.0 sacks, garnering Phil Steele First Team All-Independent honors. Fortner emerged to play in all 12 games and started in nine alongside Lowin, finishing second on the defense with 68.0 total tackles. He made arguably the biggest play of the season when he strip-sacked Navy QB Tai Lavatai in the fourth quarter of the Army-Navy Game, picking up the fumble and returning it 44 yards for an Army touchdown to take a 17-3 lead. The score was the first defensive touchdown scored by Army vs. Navy since 1958. Fortner was selected as the Army-Navy Game MVP, also recording 10 tackles.
In 2022, Weaver was the Head Coach of the United States Military Academy Preparatory School (USMAPS), leading Army Prep to wins over Navy Prep and Air Force Prep. He also served as the USMAPS defensive coordinator from 2019-21.
Weaver's first stint on the Army coaching staff came as the director of on-campus recruiting in 2017 and was Army's defensive quality control coach in 2018.
Weaver came to West Point after spending three years at the University of Wisconsin as the "Beyond the Game" Coordinator. The program assists student-athletes with the transition to the next level in their lives, including professional sports. He also developed and implemented programs and workshops that enhanced the student-athlete experience.
Prior to Wisconsin, Weaver was the defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Chicago from 2012-14. During his time, the Maroons finished second in the UAA Conference and ranked in the top 30 nationally in five defensive categories. In 2012, senior linebacker Alex Dzierbicki played in the All-American Bowl, and Weaver's three starting linebackers earned first-team all-league honors in 2012 and 2013.
Before this time at the University of Chicago, Weaver spent the previous two seasons as the outside linebackers coach at his alma mater, Lehigh University. During those two campaigns, the Mountain Hawks won 21 of 26 games, captured back-to-back Patriot League titles, and made a pair of NCAA playoff appearances.
As a collegiate athlete, Weaver played for Lehigh from 2004-07, during which time he was a member of two Patriot League champion squads (2004, 2006). He began his coaching career at Lehigh in 2008 as a student assistant concentrating on the defensive line and moved to Morgan State University, where he served a two-year stint as an assistant defensive line coach from 2008-10.
Weaver resides at West Point with his wife, Shevez, and daughters Sariah and Stormi.
During the 2025 campaign, Weaver was tasked with mentoring both of Army's defensive team captains, Andon Thomas and Kalib Fortner, who both achieved elite postseason recognition. Under Weaver’s guidance, Thomas started all 13 games and paced the defense with 113 total tackles, including 66 solo stops and five tackles for loss. His standout performance earned him an American Conference All-Second Team selection, an invitation to a rookie minicamp with the Baltimore Ravens and national recognition as a finalist for the prestigious 2025 William V. Campbell Trophy, college football's premier scholar-athlete award.
Fortner also started all 13 contests under Weaver's tutelage, recording 83 tackles and leading the Black Knights with 7.5 tackles for loss. Fortner capped off his season by earning a spot in the 2026 Hula Bowl and becoming the only player in program history to earn major-game defensive honors in three consecutive seasons, following his selections as the 2023 Army–Navy Game MVP, the 2024 Independence Bowl Defensive Player of the Game, and the 2025 Wasabi Fenway Bowl Defensive MVP.
The groundwork for this veteran leadership was established in 2024, when Weaver orchestrated breakout junior campaigns for both inside linebackers. Thomas and Fortner anchored a defensive unit that held opponents to 14 points or fewer in 10 of 14 games. Thomas paced the squad with 98.0 tackles to earn AAC All-Conference Third Team honors, while Fortner finished just behind him with 81.0 tackles and a team-high 9.5 tackles for loss, receiving All-Conference honorable mention recognition.
In his first season serving as the inside linebackers coach in 2023, Weaver oversaw team captain Leo Lowin’s senior campaign and the emergence of sophomore Kalib Fortner.
Lowin led the team in tackles for a second consecutive season, registering 92.0 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and 3.0 sacks, garnering Phil Steele First Team All-Independent honors. Fortner emerged to play in all 12 games and started in nine alongside Lowin, finishing second on the defense with 68.0 total tackles. He made arguably the biggest play of the season when he strip-sacked Navy QB Tai Lavatai in the fourth quarter of the Army-Navy Game, picking up the fumble and returning it 44 yards for an Army touchdown to take a 17-3 lead. The score was the first defensive touchdown scored by Army vs. Navy since 1958. Fortner was selected as the Army-Navy Game MVP, also recording 10 tackles.
In 2022, Weaver was the Head Coach of the United States Military Academy Preparatory School (USMAPS), leading Army Prep to wins over Navy Prep and Air Force Prep. He also served as the USMAPS defensive coordinator from 2019-21.
Weaver's first stint on the Army coaching staff came as the director of on-campus recruiting in 2017 and was Army's defensive quality control coach in 2018.
Weaver came to West Point after spending three years at the University of Wisconsin as the "Beyond the Game" Coordinator. The program assists student-athletes with the transition to the next level in their lives, including professional sports. He also developed and implemented programs and workshops that enhanced the student-athlete experience.
Prior to Wisconsin, Weaver was the defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Chicago from 2012-14. During his time, the Maroons finished second in the UAA Conference and ranked in the top 30 nationally in five defensive categories. In 2012, senior linebacker Alex Dzierbicki played in the All-American Bowl, and Weaver's three starting linebackers earned first-team all-league honors in 2012 and 2013.
Before this time at the University of Chicago, Weaver spent the previous two seasons as the outside linebackers coach at his alma mater, Lehigh University. During those two campaigns, the Mountain Hawks won 21 of 26 games, captured back-to-back Patriot League titles, and made a pair of NCAA playoff appearances.
As a collegiate athlete, Weaver played for Lehigh from 2004-07, during which time he was a member of two Patriot League champion squads (2004, 2006). He began his coaching career at Lehigh in 2008 as a student assistant concentrating on the defensive line and moved to Morgan State University, where he served a two-year stint as an assistant defensive line coach from 2008-10.
Weaver resides at West Point with his wife, Shevez, and daughters Sariah and Stormi.
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