Air Force Academy – There shouldn’t be any mystery about where to start the rebuilding process for Air Force, according to junior varsity coach Jemal Singleton.
Singleton, a former AFA player whose team went 5-2 this season, listed at least 20 new parts that could fit right into the overhaul. The Falcons take a disappointing 3-7 record into their final game of the season, 12:30 p.m. Saturday at New Mexico.
“When you graduate a bunch of seniors, it’s like any program in the country in that you fill the holes with your younger players,” Singleton said. “Other schools do it with redshirt players, and we do it with our JV and Prep School players.
“I tell my players that the spring before your sophomore year is one of the most important times they have. That’s their chance to let the coaches know, ‘I’m a player.”‘
Coach Fisher DeBerry already knows a couple of the top players on the JV team.
“I know that Ryan Harrison is going to be a fine kicker,” DeBerry said. “And I think that we have some other players with good potential on our junior varsity.”
Harrison, from Keller, Texas, is on Singleton’s top 20 list.
Freshman running back Daylan Phillips, a 5-foot-11, 200-pounder from Tigard, Ore., would be of special interest because AFA halfbacks Chad Hall and Justin Handley were considered a little undersized.
“The purpose of our JV program is to give players who aren’t prepared to play varsity a year to compete against good competition,” Singleton said. “We don’t have a redshirt program so this is a way for our players to not just sit around for a year on the scout team.”
Air Force loses 22 seniors from its depth chart, including receivers Jason Brown and Greg Kirkwood, center Jon Wilson, tackle Ross Weaver, nose guard Russ Mitscherling, linebacker Overton Spence, quarterback Adam Fitch, strong safeties John Taibi and Denny Poland and defensive end Nelson Mitchell.
DeBerry has been tight- lipped about how extensive an overhaul he has planned. He has said he plans to be back and gave his coaching staff a vote of confidence, claiming he had “the best staff in the country” and the “best staff I’ve ever had here.”
But the Falcons are 15-18 over the past three seasons and have compiled back-to-back losing seasons for the fist time in DeBerry’s term. Air Force has lost seven times, including both service academy matchups: 27-24 to Navy and 27-24 to Army.
DeBerry’s staff is a veteran group, including tight end coach Dick Enga with 28 years’ experience, special-teams coach Tom Miller with 22 years, offensive coordinator Chuck Petersen with 16 years and defensive coordinator Richard Bell with 11 years.
Footnote
Andy Gray, once a quarterback candidate and a reserve strong safety who is finishing his AFA football career, has gained the highest honor for an Air Force cadet. A senior from Phoenix, Gray was selected from among 20 finalists to be wing commander for the spring semester.
“It’s a big deal to be in charge of a group of people like this,” Gray said. “I’m pretty excited about it. This is a group of people who are not matched at many other institutions. It’s a privilege and a fun challenge.”
Gray will be the wing commander for the academy’s 4,000-plus student body.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
