Air Force Academy – Air Force athletic director Hans Mueh is assuming Fisher DeBerry will step up for his 24th season as football coach for the Falcons, but as of Saturday he still could not add the final piece to the puzzle.
Mueh wouldn’t say if he and DeBerry have met to discuss the academy’s football future. He said even if they have met, he couldn’t divulge DeBerry’s thoughts on the future.
“At this point, we don’t have anything,” Mueh said. “I hope he’s coming back, but it hasn’t been resolved. As far as I know, he’s my coach. It’s not fair for me to speculate, but I’m assuming he’s coming back.”
Mueh said he didn’t have a timetable as to when he and DeBerry might meet this week.
DeBerry has refused to comment on his future since Air Force’s final game Dec. 2 at TCU. The Falcons lost 38-14 to end the season 4-8. It was the Falcons’ third straight losing season.
DeBerry’s only comment came after a 42-39 loss to UNLV the week before.
At that time, DeBerry said he is a competitor but that it wasn’t the time to ask a question about his future as Air Force’s coach.
The word at Air Force is that DeBerry has conducted postseason business as if he will return.
DeBerry has been an important part of Air Force’s accomplishments in football over the last 26 years. He came to Air Force in 1980 as an assistant to Ken Hatfield. He was handpicked because Hatfield was planning to shift to the triple option, and DeBerry was an expert in coaching the offense at Appalachian (N.C.) State.
When Hatfield departed for Arkansas after the 1983 season, DeBerry began his tenure as Air Force’s head coach in 1984 and has continued to use the basic triple option.
His success is unmatched among football coaches at service academies. His teams are 169-109-1 in 23 seasons and the Falcons are 6-6 in bowl games during DeBerry’s term.
But it has been the service academy rivalries with Army and Navy where DeBerry’s record is superb. He’s 17-6 against Navy and 18-5 against Army. The Falcons have won or retained the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy 15 times under DeBerry.
The only teams to hold an edge over DeBerry’s Air Force teams are Arizona State (1-0), BYU (16-5), Mississippi (2-0), Notre Dame (11-3), Oklahoma (1-0), Oregon (1-0), TCU (4-1) and Texas Tech (1-0).
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
