Air Force Academy – Maybe no other Air Force player built more anticipation for this season than junior strong safety Julian Madrid.
As Air Force’s 2005 season stumbled through a 1-7 stretch – which included losses to Army and Navy and five Mountain West Conference opponents – Madrid became more and more of a bright spot.
Playing time was hard to come by early in the year as Madrid made the transition from free safety to strong safety. However, as he became more comfortable, his performance in some ways overshadowed starters John Taibi and Denny Poland.
Opponents found him to be a very active defender. He recorded a career-high 13 tackles against BYU and six tackles and a pass defense against TCU as a reserve.
“It taught me that I had to be patient,” said Madrid, who had started a couple of games at free safety as a freshman. “I got pretty anxious going from the high expectations from my freshman season and thinking I’d get a lot of playing time as a sophomore. It didn’t happen.”
But it will happen this year, and Madrid could be key in coach Fisher DeBerry’s directive that his unit has to improve greatly in scoring defense. During last year’s 4-7 campaign, the Falcons allowed an average of 31.1 points a game and lost three games by a total of 10 points.
“It’s not one person; it will be a team effort to get the scoring defense down,” Madrid said. “Right now we’re making sure that everyone knows what the other players are doing in our 4-2-5 defense and making all our checks.”
Assistant coach Brian Knorr takes a more focused view.
“He (Madrid) is going to make something happen when he’s on the field,” Knorr said. “Most of the time what he makes happen is good, but in all cases, you’re going to know he’s out there. He can be an impact player.”
Knorr’s strong safeties could provide a major impetus to a better and stingier Air Force defense. Junior John Rabold has moved from linebacker to free safety, sophomore Aaron Kirchoff has moved over from running back, and senior Adam Zanotti had a strong preseason practice. Sophomore Hunter Altman completes the manpower at a position that could be an anchor for the defense.
Knorr credited Madrid’s attitude when playing behind Taibi and Poland.
“To Julian’s credit, he watched them and made himself get better,” Knorr said. “After he played a lot one year and then didn’t play much in the first six game the next year, it could be easy to go into the tank a little bit. He’s as good a leader as we have on our defense.”
Defensive coordinator Richard Bell is excited to see his unit gain redemption.
“I guess there are a lot of players we’re anxious to see out there again,” Bell said. “But we anticipate Julian Madrid being a big factor and we need him to be a big factor.”
Madrid has a full plate of expectations.
“We’re going to beat Army and Navy, go to a bowl game and do really well in the conference,” Madrid said. “We have the skills to do that.”
Footnotes
Air Force’s Shaun Carney is one of 12 juniors on the watch list for the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top quarterback. A total of 34 players are on the list, including 19 seniors and three sophomores. … The Blue-Silver game scrimmage is scheduled for 7 o’clock tonight at Falcon Stadium. DeBerry plans to make final roster decisions after the scrimmage for the Sept. 9 opener at Tennessee.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
