Editor’s note: In the Colorado Classics series, The Denver Post takes a weekly look at individuals who made their mark on the Colorado sports landscape and what they are doing now.
Troy Calhoun has made it to the NFL.
Before thinking “big deal,” consider that only a handful of players from the Air Force Academy have gone from Falcon Stadium to the NFL. But unlike former AFA stars Chad Hennings, Bryce Fisher, Steve Russ and Chris Gizzi, Calhoun reached the next level as a coach. And he’s not just any coach, either. Calhoun is assistant to the head coach for Mike Shanahan and the Broncos.
Calhoun is gaining rank as a coach while Hennings, a defensive lineman, made his mark playing nine seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. Fisher plays defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks. Russ played linebacker for the Broncos and Gizzi played linebacker for the Green Bay Packers.
Shanahan sees a bright future for Calhoun in coaching.
“He’s going to be a very successful head coach one day at any level he decides,” Shanahan said. “He’s a strong person and an excellent football coach. He’s very valuable to me.”
Calhoun turned to coaching at Air Force after briefly playing quarterback for the Falcons. His time at the academy began with great promise in 1985, when he was one of just two freshmen to letter on a 12-1 team that shared the Western Athletic Conference title and beat Texas 24-16 in the Bluebonnet Bowl.
The 1986 season began with Calhoun starting at quarterback. However, his playing time ran into the arrival of Dee Dowis, who took over as a freshman before the season ended and went on to become an AFA star. Dowis helped take the Falcons to two bowl games, rushed for a career total of 3,612 yards, scored 252 points and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy race as a senior in 1989.
“In hindsight, I was extremely fortunate to be part of the 1985 team,” Calhoun said. “Dee Dowis was so much quicker and faster than I was. I had a very limited role the rest of the time.”
Calhoun came to Air Force from Roseburg, Ore., where he was a prominent three-sport athlete. At one time, he bristled at the notion that he wasn’t fast enough to run Air Force’s option offense. But he has come to agree that his football mind has the two steps of extra speed his football legs didn’t have.
“He’s as sharp as it gets,” Shanahan said. “You’re not going to find a sharper or more intelligent coach.”
Calhoun’s coaching career officially began in 1993, when he returned to Air Force as a military coach. He followed former Air Force linebackers coach Jim Grobe when Grobe became head coach at Ohio University in 1995 and at Wake Forest in 2001. He was the offensive coordinator at Wake Forest for Grobe.
Calhoun joined the Broncos’ coaching staff in 2003. General manager Ted Sundquist, a former Air Force fullback, had mentioned Calhoun to Shanahan.
“I liked what he did at the collegiate level as a coordinator,” Shanahan said. “Coaching is teaching, but the game is different at the professional level. There’s a learning curve. I think it takes about three years for a college coach to go to the pro level and feel comfortable.”
In coaching at the NFL level, Calhoun sees some of the same hills to climb that players face in moving up from college.
“It’s just like playing in that once the season starts, there’s immediate feedback on how you’re doing,” Calhoun said. “There are some of the same emotions. Both players and coaches put an awful lot into it. Players are looking for ways to develop. Your job as a coach is to develop players.”
At age 39, Calhoun is moving into his prime years as a coach.
“When you have a young coach, you think you know more than he does,” said Broncos rookie cornerback Darrent Williams. “I thought that way. But as the season progressed, I found out that he knows a lot more than I do.”
Veteran wide receiver Ashley Lelie noted that Calhoun doesn’t go just by the book.
“As a professional player, you respect coaches who know a lot more than just the basic stuff,” Lelie said. “We’re professionals and we have played in college and high school, and coaches can’t come with just the basic stuff. At this level, you can’t fool the players. If he’s not doing the job, you can tell.”
Lelie said coaches go through the same hard work on their way up as players. But it’s more of a mental workout for coaches.
Calhoun calls his climb a “fun run” and the Broncos a “special organization.” He didn’t find the transition from college to professional coaching that difficult.
“The road isn’t always completely smooth,” Calhoun said. “The key is to work hard, make sure you’re clear in what you’re trying to teach and to know what you’re talking about. The game of football, and its fundamentals and strategy, always has been interesting to me.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
