AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.—Air Force Academy is a national institution. And the football team draws players from the East Coast to the West Coast and everywhere in between, as 23 states are represented on the 95-player roster listed in the team’s bowl media guide.
But without a heavy concentration of players from three football-crazed states, the Falcons would be in big trouble.
Forty-five of the players on the roster hail from Texas, Ohio or Georgia. More noteworthy, 13 of the 22 starters and 11 of the 22 backups call one of those states home.
Georgia gave Air Force its starting quarterback (Tim Jefferson) and starting tailback (Asher Clark). Texas contributed kicker/punter Ryan Harrison and three-fifths of the starting offensive line. Ohio provided both starting inside linebackers and half the starters in the defensive backfield.
“There’s no doubt those are significant areas where we’ve made inroads,” coach Troy Calhoun said. “And I expect it to be even better. When you look three years from now, I want to see where it’s even better in those areas.”
Air Force (8-4), which will play Houston (7-5) in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, on Dec. 31, has three coaches assigned to recruit Texas—Blane Morgan has Dallas-Fort Worth, Ron Burton has Houston and Jemal Singleton has San Antonio and Austin—and one to Georgia (Charlton Warren) and Ohio (Ben Miller).
While on the road recruiting in recent weeks, Calhoun said he spent time in two of the three states.
There are many reasons for the Falcons’ high level of interest, but the primary ones are the sizes of the states and the quality of their high school football.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Web site, Texas, Ohio and Georgia were the second-, seventh- and ninth-most populous states as of July 1, 2007.
“There are so many kids in those areas that play football that even after Georgia and Georgia Tech and Clemson take all theirs and then maybe the Alabamas and the Oklahoma States, there’s still an abundance of Division I talent in Ohio and Texas and Georgia,” said Warren, the academy’s recruiting coordinator.
Three Ohio teams, two Texas teams and one Georgia team are ranked in the MaxPreps.com national high school top 25. Six teams from Texas and three each from Georgia and Ohio are in the ESPN Rise Fab 50, with four teams from those states in the top seven.
Scott Kennedy, the director of scouting for Scout.com, noted that Texas annually produces about 380 Division I football players, the most of any state. Kennedy said Ohio and Georgia typically rank fourth and fifth in some order, producing about 150 Division I football players apiece. And Kennedy pointed out that Georgia has only two Division I college programs, so more players are available to go out of state.
“High school football’s extremely competitive” in those states, Calhoun said. “And I think because of it, once they get here, they make that transition a little better. … The size and the movement and the competitive part of it, it’s not a major leap for them.”
There are other common threads that make those three states Air Force’s primary targets.
One is academics—a critical factor because of the high standards at the academy.
“The public school systems are important in a bunch of areas in those states,” Calhoun said.
“I tell you what else is significant,” he continued. “You look at Ohio , you look at Texas, you look at Georgia, when you walk into high schools, you just get a feel immediately that counselors are very involved in putting plans together for kids to go to college. Taking SATs and ACTs, making them still take strong classes their senior year rather than putting it in neutral and gliding on in. And high school coaches are really, really involved in a young person, not just the football part of it.”
Also important is that all three states are within driving distance or a nonstop flight to Colorado Springs. Atlanta is a Delta and AirTran hub, so “there are pilots everywhere,” Kennedy said. “It makes sense. If you want to be in that profession, how do you do it? You go to the Air Force Academy.”
Texas, Ohio and Georgia also have “a good number of pockets of patriotism,” Calhoun said. And the states can be described as “blue collar,” which is how Calhoun likes to describe his team.
“In those areas, kids know how to work,” he said.
And beyond the caliber of high school football played in those areas is the cultural importance of the game.
“It’s just a huge deal to play football,” said senior inside linebacker Brandon Reeves, who is from Suwanee, Ga. “And it’s just kind of bred that way from when you’re little—to grow up and play football.”
This is a key factor in recruiting at the academy. Football must be enough of a priority to recruits that they will continue to play despite rigorous academic and military obligations.
“There are a lot of distractions, and you can get sidetracked with all that happens at the academy,” former assistant coach Brian Knorr said. “You really have to be driven to play college football.”
In Texas, Ohio and Georgia, Air Force has found plenty of players who are.
———
On the Net:
Air Force Athletics:
