It was obvious while Troy Calhoun was a player at Air Force that he was destined to become a football coach.
He was entrusted to conduct quarterback meetings with the Falcons as early as his freshman season in 1985.
And if the endorsements of Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak and former Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry carry enough weight, Calhoun’s career path is leading back to his alma mater to become the sixth head coach in AFA football history.
DeBerry, 68, retired Friday with a 169-109-1 record in 23 seasons as coach of the Falcons. Academy officials, including athletic director Hans Mueh and senior associate athletic director Mike Sachs, were in Houston on Monday interviewing Calhoun, the Texans’ offensive coordinator.
When contacted in Houston, academy officials were tight- lipped about the meeting with Calhoun, 40, and the search for DeBerry’s successor.
“The next statement we have will be to announce our next football coach,” Sachs said.
Calhoun, a former AFA quarterback and assistant coach who graduated from the academy in 1989, was the first candidate to be interviewed. But there weren’t indications he would be the last. Mueh said Friday he would look at and listen to all possibilities. Other possible candidates are Jappy Oliver, a former Air Force assistant now at Notre Dame, and Ed Warinner, a former Air Force assistant now at Illinois.
After leaving the academy, Calhoun coached at Ohio University and Wake Forest. He joined the Broncos’ staff in 2003 and moved to Houston this year with Kubiak.
“He’s actually here and visiting with them (AFA officials) as we speak,” Kubiak said during his afternoon news conference. “I don’t know that much about it other than the fact that they came down here to visit with him.”
After the Texans’ game Sunday at New England, Kubiak said he knew it was important to DeBerry that Calhoun follow him at Air Force.
“Troy went to school at Air Force and he’s very well thought of there,” Kubiak said Monday. “It’s a very prestigious job, and I understand that they are very, very interested in him. If it’s important to Troy and his family, then it is important to me and I will do everything I can to help him out.”
While Calhoun was on the Broncos’ staff, Shanahan predicted he had a bright future in coaching. Shanahan said he would do what he could to endorse Calhoun.
Tim DeRuyter, a former Air Force defensive end and assistant coach who graduated from the academy in 1985, remembered Calhoun mixed coaching and playing from his beginning at Air Force. DeRuyter also coached with Calhoun at Ohio.
“He (Calhoun) ran some of the quarterback meetings in his first year,” said DeRuyter, now co-defensive coordinator at Nevada. “The coaches were confident he knew the offense. He’d be a dream candidate for (Air Force), being a graduate and the coaching experience he has.”
Tom Miller, special-teams coordinator on the AFA staff, said Calhoun gave every indication he would become a coach.
“He always was a student of the game,” Miller said.
Calhoun was one of two freshmen to letter on the Falcons’ 1985 team that went 12-1, shared the Western Athletic Conference title and beat Texas 24-16 in the Bluebonnet Bowl.
Dee Dowis took over at quarterback in the 1986 season, leaving Calhoun on the sideline. Calhoun was such a competitor that at first he didn’t listen to claims his speed couldn’t make Air Force’s option offense go.
“In hindsight, I was extremely fortunate to be part of the 1985 team,” Calhoun said last year. “Dee Dowis was so much quicker and faster than I was.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
