AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Most of the time when coach Troy Calhoun discusses football at the Air Force Academy, he contends the game is part of preparing his players for their future assignments.
Before Tuesday’s practice, he agreed that senior guard Tyler Schonsheck is a good example of what he means.
Schonsheck’s college playing career is down to two games, Thursday night against UNLV and whatever bowl picks the Falcons. After the bowl game, Schonsheck takes his experiences from football and moves on.
“Next semester, I’ll start losing weight,” he said of his postfootball days. “Next summer, I’ll go off to pilot training.”
Schonsheck, who came to Air Force from Wixom, Minn., has played his senior season at 270 pounds. He figures he’ll have to lose 40 to 50 pounds to fit in an ejection seat in an airplane.
“That’s the way it is for a lineman here,” Schonsheck said when asked if people will recognize him at 220 pounds.
Calhoun believes the performance of his offensive line is reflected in Air Force’s lofty rushing totals of 3,472 yards in 11 games and what he called good protection for QBs Tim Jefferson and Connor Dietz.
“He (Schonsheck) makes the most out of everything he has,” Calhoun said. “He has developed into a fine player and very capable of playing Division I football. With our rushing totals, we’re doing something right up front.”
Schonsheck is filling his own trophy case before he focuses on becoming a pilot.
“The whole season has flown by,” he said. “It hit me before the game last week. I won’t be playing football again after the next two games. I’ve enjoyed it. The camaraderie has been unparalleled.”
And the accomplishments haven’t been bad either. The senior class of 2011 can say it helped the Falcons win the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy for the first time in eight years.
“For me, winning the games against Army and Navy this year capped off my final season,” Schonsheck said. “Winning that trophy is one thing I’ll remember. It hasn’t hit home yet as a group of seniors that we’re almost done and what we’ve done as a group.”
Schonsheck was in the last recruiting class of former coach Fisher DeBerry. He knows of the success that DeBerry had overall in his career but credits Calhoun’s staff with getting Air Force football back in business.
“This staff has come in and completely revamped everything and made it their own team,” Schonsheck said.
With two more wins, Schonsheck and his fellow seniors could achieve another milestone. They would become the 11th AFA team with at least nine wins.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
