If coach Kris Garry at Lake Havasu High School in Arizona is correct, coach Troy Calhoun has turned over that extra stone and found a gem for the Air Force football program.
Calhoun has been searching for bigger and faster players, and running back Brent Michaels provided both qualities during his high school playing days.
“I can bring anything they ask for to the table,” Michaels said Wednesday after signing a certificate of intent to attend Air Force. “When I visited Air Force, everything was positive. I liked the coaching staff. They all seemed to know what they’re doing.”
Under academy regulations, Calhoun is unable to identify any of his recruits. Air Force isn’t bound by a letter of intent, but instead a congressional appointment to be admitted. The certificate signed by Michaels isn’t a legal document.
However, Michaels made it clear he was on his way to Air Force to first attend the Air Force Prep School for a year.
“I had only two offers, Air Force and Army,” said Michaels, a 6-foot, 230-pound player who also runs the 100 meters and 200 meters in track. “Our school isn’t well-known and it’s really difficult to become known.”
Garry pointed to what he called “ridiculous numbers” by Michaels and compared his potential to a couple of the area’s more familiar running backs: CSU’s Gartrell Johnson from this season and Kevin McDougal from 1999, when he was Mountain West Conference player of the year.
“He’s been a big-name tailback for us,” said Garry, a friend of CSU quarterbacks coach Daren Wilkinson. “He really can run. You’d like to clone him and make a bunch of him.”
During his career, Michaels had a game of 470 yards rushing. His career yardage of 4,181 yards is a school record, as is his single-season mark of 1,939 yards. He scored 57 career touchdowns.
Calhoun is sticking with his recruiting plan of quality instead of quantity in his third session at the helm at Air Force.
“We looked at every position,” Calhoun said. “We’re going to have another small group of freshman players, but we’re pleased with the quality.
“Across the board we have to develop more depth on our squad. We need to increase the playmaking ability in the open field offensively, defensively and on special teams.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
