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.
When Ken Hatfield thinks back to 1979 and his first season as football coach at Air Force, he can’t help but remember having a sense of urgency.
It wasn’t that he was anticipating a bowl bid. Far from it. He knew his team would struggle and it did, starting 0-8, with a 13-9 loss to Navy as close as the Falcons would come in the first two months.
“I thought I was going to get fired in a hurry,” Hatfield recalled. But he had the full support of Air Force athletic director John Clune.
“I think (he) kept me alive and on the job,” said Hatfield, who had ascended to head coach at a time when the academy’s football program was in a state of turmoil. Ben Martin had retired after the 1977 season after 20 years at the helm, with his last four teams posting losing records.
Bill Parcells replaced Martin in 1978 but stayed only one season, going 3-8. Hatfield was the offensive coordinator under Parcells and was elevated to head coach when he left.
But after eight games, it appeared there was little to be hopeful about. In the ninth game, the Falcons played Army, then coached by Lou Saban. Hatfield put in some running plays specifically designed for quarterback Dave Ziebart and Air Force upset Army, 28-7, to end an 11-game losing streak.
But more important, Ziebart’s performance added fuel to Hatfield’s growing realization that revamping Air Force’s offense was the way of the future. He knew it would be a controversial decision, but he decided to introduce the triple option wishbone attack full time the following season.
“John Clune came to me and asked if I really was going to run a new offense,” Hatfield said. “He said a lot of Air Force alumni weren’t going to be happy.”
Hatfield invited Jim Brakefield, a proponent of the option at Appalachian State, to come to the academy and talk to his staff. Brakefield brought his coaching staff to Colorado Springs, including Fisher DeBerry, whom Hatfield later hired prior to the 1980 season to help install the attack.
As Hatfield pondered changing his offense, another major step was taken that would greatly influence Air Force football. The Falcons joined the Western Athletic Conference for the 1980 season.
One of the factors in Hatfield making the move was the ability of a service academy to attract triple option quarterbacks.
“Our first goal was to beat Army and Navy and I knew they weren’t playing anybody who ran the option,” Hatfield said. “In our recruiting, we knew that good option quarterbacks didn’t have a lot of other places to go.”
When Hatfield departed Air Force after the 1983 season to coach Arkansas, his alma mater, DeBerry was promoted to the head coaching spot and the legacy prospered.
“The decision to join a conference and the decision to use the option offense are the two biggest reasons for what our football program has become,” DeBerry said. “Ken made the right decision to bring in the option offense and Gen. (Kenneth) Tallman and John Clune made the right decision to put us in a conference.”
DeBerry looks at a 21-16 victory over San Diego State in 1981 in the Mirage Bowl in Tokyo as a benchmark victory. The following year, the Falcons beat BYU for the first time, 39-38, with quarterback Marty Louthan running the option in a game that became a part of WAC football lore. That year, the Falcons also defeated Army and Navy for the first time in the same season en route to winning its first Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.
But maybe the most memorable victory that season was a 30-17 triumph over Notre Dame, the first of four consecutive victories against the Irish. DeBerry’s 12-1 team completed the run in 1985.
Hatfield’s best team was his last, the team that went 10-2 in 1983. The Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame is honoring Hatfield and that team at its Oct. 25 banquet at the World Arena.
“Everything that was happening was kind of a first,” Hatfield said. “You didn’t know how to handle it because it was all new.”
Hatfield’s last game as Air Force coach was a 9-3 victory over Mississippi in the 1983 Independence Bowl. His coaching stops later took him to Arkansas, Clemson and Rice, with whom he parted ways after last season, his 12th as Owls coach. Hatfield, 63, lives in Houston and said he doesn’t know if he’ll coach again.
“More than likely I won’t coach again, but you never know,” Hatfield said.
Zooming higher
Ken Hatfield’s coaching record in five seasons at Air Force:
1979 2-9-0
1980 2-9-1
1981 4-7-0
1982 8-5-0
1983 10-2-0
* Totals 26-32-1
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
