Know Your Enemy

Any hack can do a terrible job of the "What Team A needs to do to stop Team B" preview. But it takes a dedicated idiot to look into a program's past. I'm that idiot.

United States Air Force Academy
Colorado Springs, CO
First Season: 1955
All-time Record: 303-260-43
Bowls: 18 (8-9-1)
Home: Falcon Stadium (Opened 1962)
Capacity: 52,480 (56,409 vs. Notre Dame 10/19/2002)
Record vs. Minnesota: 0-0-0

For every other team, I’d just start skewering their history and making stuff up. Not Air Force. They get a little more respect due to the fact that they actually field a team of student-athletes. Sprinkle in the fact that the players have a 5-year service commitment after they graduate, and you’ve got a special breed of men coming to open our stadium.
The Falcons first started to taste success after Ben Martin took charge of the program in 1958. Despite a dearth of talent, teams were competitive because of the scheme Martin used. Instead of the widely-used option, as synonymous with the USAFA as the lightning bolts on the helmets, he used a “new” offense that relied on rollouts and short quick passes. Of course, everybody and their aunt knows about the West Coast Offense now, but using a precursor then allowed Air Force to earn some major bowl berths. Martin’s 96-103-9 record is overshadowed by appearances in the Cotton Bowl (1959), the Gator Bowl (1963), and the Sugar Bowl (1971). That’s a pretty impressive resume, especially when you remember that bowls then weren’t the equivalent of participation ribbons that they are now, and that the Falcon program was less than 20 years old while all this was happening.
After Martin retired in 1977, he was replaced by Air Force’s most famous coach. Not Fisher DeBerry, but Bill Parcells. The Big Tuna was in charge for 1 season, compiled an astounding 3-8 record, and hightailed it out of Colorado to become the Giants defensive coordinator.
Kenny Hatfield followed Parcells, and despite a 26-32-1 record, he is generally credited with two things during his tenure. First of all, he laid the groundwork for the successful program that thrived under his successor, finishing 8-5 with a win in the Hall of Fame Classic in 1982 and 10-2 with an Independence Bowl win in 1983. But more importantly, he brought the option to the Falcons. I think it’s safe to say that it’s stuck.
When Hatfield went running home to mama (and his alma mater Arkansas) after the 1983 season, he was replaced by the legendary Fisher DeBerry. When I say legendary, I mean 169-107-1, 12 bowls in 22 seasons, finished 1985 ranked #5 (a 7 point loss to BYU away from contending for a national title), struck fear in the heart of opponents everywhere Legendary. Air Force, under DeBerry, achieved its current status of a trap team that can jump up and bite anyone in the ass at any time. This is due to the attitude instilled in the program. They’re not the biggest, strongest, or fastest. But they expect to be the most precise, and they’re tenacious. There are some teams (ILLINOIS) that will quit if you get up on them early, but Air Force is not one of them. DeBerry retired in 2006, but Air Force is still the same solid program under Troy Calhoun.
Calhoun, despite never having been a head coach before (sound familiar?), is 18-9 at Air Force following the 72-0 stomping of Nichols St. last Saturday. Some things haven’t changed a bit with the Falcons. They still run the option with the reliable efficiency of a Maytag washer, they still are smarter than every team they play, and they’re still going to serve our country after they’re done offering up blood and sweat to the football gods.