Air Force Academy – Troy Calhoun has shrugged off the recent loss of Tim Horton, Air Force’s offensive coordinator, as just a blip that already is in the past. Calhoun won’t let it slow his drive to put his first team on the field as the Falcons’ head coach.
Horton, who was hired by Calhoun in January, resigned July 18 to be the running backs coach at Arkansas, his alma mater. Calhoun said it is rare to be faced with a coaching staff change so close to the beginning of preseason practices, but as a head coach he was prepared for any transition.
“There shouldn’t even be a hiccup,” Calhoun said Monday, two days before the Falcons begin preseason practices. “You know in coaching there’s going to be some transition, but rarely at this time in the calendar. You always have a plan and part of it is always making sure the big picture is in place.”
Calhoun has juggled his coaching staff, naming quarterbacks coach Blane Morgan and offensive line coach Clay Hendrix as co-offensive coordinators. Calhoun is working on a plan that would bring former Falcons quarterback Mike Thiessen to his staff from the academy’s prep school staff.
“We came out of spring practice knowing exactly what we want to do on both sides of the ball,” Calhoun said. “We shouldn’t miss a beat. Our coaches’ primary responsibility is coaching their positions and recruiting their areas.
“There will be some added responsibility for three of our coaches. You always are ready to roll up your sleeves and go to work. Nothing is flawless, but that’s life.”
Morgan doesn’t expect his job to be much different.
“As the quarterback coach you have to know the offense and what everybody within the offense is doing,” Morgan said. “You have to learn everything about the offense anyway. That’s probably why a lot of quarterback coaches are coordinators as well.”
Morgan said the Falcons had their best practices in the last three or four days of spring drills, and his goal is take off from there.
Calhoun will gather with his team tonight and begin practice Wednesday. He inherited the returning players from Fisher DeBerry’s last team, which finished 4-8 last season.
“I know our players are excited and ready to start playing football again,” Calhoun said. “I want to be assured early in practice that our team is in the best condition, both physically and mentally. I want to find out which of our players can go out and play even when they don’t feel perfect physically, and I want to find that out in August and not October.”
Calhoun turned his attention to a couple of areas on the team.
“I want to see if somebody stands out at tailback,” Calhoun said. “We’ll probably have a tailback-by-committee, but I want to see a player show that he wants 22 carries a game. I want to see more depth in our offensive line, and I want to develop more depth at inside linebacker.”
Another priority is finding a backup for senior quarterback Shaun Carney, a three-year starter. Senior Jim Ollis, who previously played quarterback, moved to tailback and is competing with seniors Chad Smith and Kip McCarthy.
Falcons camp
Coach – Troy Calhoun, first year
Last Year – (4-8, 3-5 MWC)
Returning starters – OFFENSE: TE Travis Dekker, Sr.; C Blane Guenther, Sr. (played guard last year); QB Shaun Carney. Sr.; WR Chad Hall, Sr. (played halfback last year). DEFENSE: DE Jake Paulson, Jr.; OLB John Rabold, Sr. (played SS last year); OLB Julian Madrid, Sr. (played SS last year); ILB Drew Fowler, Sr.; CB Garrett Ryback, Sr.; FS Bobby Giannini, Sr.
Key practice dates – Practice opens Wednesday afternoon. Aug. 9 is the only two-a-day practice on the schedule. Scrimmages are scheduled for every Saturday, but times are to be announced. Practices are open to the public, with best access through the academy’s north gate.
Staff writer Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
