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September 26, 2023
After Deion Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes imploded against
Oregon last weekend and fell from both the ranks of the unbeaten and the Top 25 in the pools, it heated up the question: What's
the best college football team Colorado? Well, at least it did for me and I even took a Twitter poll. That's not anything
even remotely scientific, but it's a fun debate. And the winner was ... The Air Force Academy Falcons. That's my vote,
too. In their 17th season under the relatively low-key and unheralded Troy Calhoun,
56, the Falcons are 4-0 after beating Robert Morris, Sam Houston, Utah State and San Jose State, and they next face San
Diego State Saturday at the construction zone known as Falcon Stadium. Conceded, that's not a Murderer's Row schedule so far,
but even more intriguing is that there isn't an opponent remaining on the schedule that the Falcons can't beat. Will they go undefeated?
Almost certainly not, in part because the "distractions" of the stringent academic and military routine at the Academy
can lead to letdown weeks for the Falcons, even more so than the college football norm, and unexpected losses. But you never
know.
Two
years ago, at the Front Range Huddle preview press function for the area's college football programs at the late, great Blake
Street Tavern, I had a lengthy one-on-one conversation with Calhoun, whom I've known since his tenure as an NFL assistant
with the Broncos and Texans. I pressed him on the issue of realistic and redrawn ambitions for the Falcons as such "innovations"
as NIL were about to take root on the college football scene. The Falcons, of course, couldn't offer that enticement, just
as they faced inherent disadvantages in the past with not being able to redshirt players or bring in transfers. They could lose players; they couldn't add them from other
programs. (An asterisk there is that a year at
the Academy's prep school could provide a redshirt-type experience.)
Affably, Calhoun responded: "We'll see..." So far, the Falcons have
managed just fine, continuing to do it under the radar in terms of attention and coverage from the Denver media and Front
Range fandom. Much of the credit for the Falcons' virtually perennial competitiveness goes to Calhoun, who for years -- pre-Deion
Sanders, in other words -- has been part of the top fit of coach and campus in the state. When Calhoun speaks to his players about the Academy experience, he's credible. He lived it as
a cadet and as mostly a backup option quarterback for the Falcons. Calhoun is from the hardworking lumber town of Roseburg, Oregon. His dad, Terry, was
a teacher; his mother, Joyce, was an emergency room nurse. As he finished up at Roseburg High, Troy surveyed his options,
even thinking of whether he would join many of his contemporaries in going to work at one of the mills.
"My mom pretty much said, 'There
isn't a choice to be made here. You're going to the Air Force Academy,"' Calhoun once told me at the side of the Falcons'
practice field, earlier in his tenure. "There were many days I was here when I was mad as I could be at my mother. It
ended up being a super place for me. But about the first 18 months, you're thinking, 'Mean old Mom.' Yet, what are you going to say when your mom walks into the house, sometimes she had blood all over. It's not like
you're going to complain about being sore or saying this is a little bit too stressful. I guess she did know best."
Joyce kept letters from
Troy, and later teased Troy that he frequently was telling her how mean she was.
Calhoun's sister, Callie, was two years behind
him at the academy and won six individual NCAA titles in cross country and track and field. So the choices to accept the congressional
appointments worked out well for both of Joyce's children. Calhoun, then with the Texans, was the natural
selection as Fisher DeBerry's successor for the 2007 season. He tweaked and diversified the Falcons' option offense on the fly in his first few seasons, primarily
adding variety in formations and a north-south, up-the-field emphasis; plus being more open to throwing the ball. At one point,
as RPO became increasingly fashionable in other programs, it was arguable that he went too far, mitigating the Falcons' one
major advantage -- the unique challenge of opponents facing the option attack.
Calhoun found a middle ground, and it has worked. The Falcons are 125-78 under Calhoun. As the state's other coaches
have come and gone, he has been the constant. It also involves evolution, since the program's early days of success
came when Ben Martin's teams were among the most imaginative and successful passing programs in the country, including when
Ernie Jennings was the best wide receiver in the country in the Woodstock era. Also, though, the Falcons program had lean,
undersized linemen because of size restrictions for cadets, but now many of their linemen at least look as if they've eaten
several donuts in the past year.
"Back in that day," Calhoun said, "you probably had to be a little unique in your approach,
too. Then, throwing the ball was a little bit unique. The thing you can't be is cut out of the same mold on offense and defense
as everyone else. You have to be a little bit different. Maybe as you get a little more size and quickness, you can have a
different approach, but you have to be resourceful and creative, and still teach clearly so your guys can execute." Through four games this season, the Falcons
have thrown the ball 12 times. Senior quarterback Zac Larrier is 8-for-12, for 221 yards. His 1 TD pass was an 84-yard play,
and the 26-yard average per completion underscores the big-play approch when going to the air.
Calhoun flirted with Tennessee at one point and was
at least mentioned as a viable possibility for the Broncos, CU and CSU jobs. (I'm not saying it ever came close to happening;
it just made sense to consider him.) But he's stayed and now seems a lifer, destined to retire with the Falcons.
Here's the remainder of the Falcons' 2023 schedule. Note that they
will play in three Colorado venues -- at Falcon Stadium, at CSU's Canvas Stadium, and at Empower Field at Mile High, where
they will face Army on November 4. Saturday, Sept. 30 -- vs. San Diego State Saturday, October 14 -- vs. Wyoming Saturday, October 21 -- at Navy Saturday, October 28 -- at Colorado State Saturday, November 4 -- vs. Army at Empower Field at Mile High Saturday, November 11 -- at Hawaii Saturday, Noovember 18 -- vs. UNLV Friday, November 24 -- at Boise State No,
they don't face CU this season after beating Mel Tucker's Buffs in overtime
in Boulder in 2019, and then routing the moribund Buffs 41-10 at the Academy in 2022. So any conjecture about who would win
a 2023 CU-AFA matchup will remain just that -- conjecture. Right now, yes, I'd take the Falcons.
I hope they become a national story, too. Then-CU coach Mel Tucker congratulates
the Air Force Falcons after their 30-23 overtime win in Boulder in 2019.
terry@terryfrei.com Terry Frei's web site 
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