When Army football captain Cody Winokur was 8 years old, his dad, Chris, learned Cody would be moving to Severna Park.
He’d already picked up football, so Chris placed him in the Green Hornets program and added wrestling and lacrosse to the mix. Chris picked up three jobs — working nights and weekends — to raise him. A single dad, he “hadn’t had the best home life” growing up and wanted more for his son.
Cody Winokur quickly proved some physical prowess in football and was brought to Spalding by coach Kyle Schmitt when he took over the program in 2014. Back then, the Cavaliers were not the nationally ranked power they’ve become. They were a .500 team at best, but still, Cody earned All-Conference, All-County and All-State honors and committed to Army in December 2017.
He spent one year at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School but soon found himself back home on dismissal from the Academy — and back at Spalding.
“He realized he made a mistake,” Chris said. “But he wanted to fix what he did wrong.”
Flash to 2024, and Cody competed in his final Army-Navy Game as a captain. The Midshipmen defeated their rival, 31-13, and Cody, who started on the defensive line Saturday, absorbed the loss solemnly.
“These guys are so tenacious when they play up to their full potential,” he said. “We as a unit didn’t play up to that potential tonight, but I’m so proud of these dudes.”
There are also a lot of dudes proud of Winokur and the long and winding road he traveled to get to Northwest Stadium.
In April 2021, the U.S. Military Academy concluded its last adjudications of honor code violations, which included 73 cases.
“On the way back from spring break [2020], they were told to shelter in place,” Chris said. “So a bunch of kids ended up in different living rooms, most of them in my ex-wife’s living room in Severna Park.”
Seventy athletes shared answers for a remote, online calculus test. Most cadets involved were turned back a grade. Cody, however, earned a second infraction for missing a citation on an economics paper. Fewer than 10 cadets were “separated,” and he was one of them.
“They saw enough in him to give him a way back,” Chris said. “They would throw him out, and he could either enter the transfer portal or do something called the Army mentoring program.”
Cody had eight months to spend at home before shipping off to the Charlie Battery 2-15 Field Artillery Regiment for two years. He gave his former coach a call.
“He was always strong, tough, but he was mature. Even back then,” Schmitt said. “I asked if he wanted to coach, be around football and most importantly, be around kids.”
Cody served as an offensive line coach. He guided future All-American Mansoor Delane (Virginia Tech), future Maryland starting linebacker Kellan Wyatt, and even four-star quarterback Malik Washington.
“It honestly offered me a cool perspective,” Cody said, “to finally be able to use all the leadership things we go through at West Point.”
Then, several years ahead of schedule, he donned camouflage fatigues and disappeared into Fort Drum in northern New York. He served as a cannon crew member and Private First Class, earning an Expert Soldier Badge in May 2022, and was eventually named a sergeant.
“It shaped me mentally as a man,” Cody said. “Everything that happened was self-inflicted, but going through that adversity, I learned how to be accountable.”
Superintendent General Darryl Anthony Williams allowed Winokur a chance to return in 2023. Though football admittedly pushed to the back of his mind, he still clung to his identity as a “West Point football player and Army graduate.”
“So while that door was still open, I wanted to take it,” Cody said.
But it wasn’t that simple. Cody left West Point as a 300-pound sophomore offensive lineman. He returned weighing 235 pounds and spending years without college development.
So, Army transformed him again — this time as a defensive lineman. He knew his role would be less on-field, but more as a mentor.
Before Army’s home opener on Sept. 9, 2023, his teammates asked him to carry the Black Flag onto the field, the skull and crossbones symbol of Army football for decades. He’d play five more games, mostly contributing to the Black Knights’ goal-line defense.
And on April 15, 2024 — nearly three years to the day that the US Military Academy handed down its punishment — Army football players and coach Jeff Monken came together and declared Winokur as one of their four captains.
“I knew when I came back, my role wouldn’t be playing necessarily so much as a coach in a helmet. Just being around these group of guys and steer them in the right direction,” Cody said. “I’ve gotten to play this year, which is awesome, but shaping the culture in our program had a bigger impact.”
Winokur’s playing career will end with the Independence Bowl on Dec. 28, but he won’t be leaving football behind. His first stop will be back at the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School, coaching the defensive line.
“It’s been an incredible ride,” Chris said. “I’m grateful and humbled to all the people involved in getting him where he had to. It does take a village.”
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