Football: New Air Force coach meets the press

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  Air Force head football coach Troy Calhoun met local and regional media Jan. 4 for the first time since becoming the sixth coach in school history Dec. 22. Calhoun, a 1989 graduate of the academy, is the first graduate to hold the position.

Calhoun also announced five members of his staff. Brian Knorr, Capt. Blane Morgan, Jemal Singleton and Capt. Charlton Warren, all Falcon football coaches from Fisher DeBerry's staff and academy graduates, will remain.

Calhoun also announced Brian Schneider, a former assistant coach for tight ends and special teams at Iowa State, to the staff. Calhoun expects to announce additional coaching additions in the coming weeks.

Knorr enters his third consecutive season at Air Force and sixth overall as a coach. A 1986 graduate of the academy and a three-year letter winner as a quarterback, Knorr was the head coach at Ohio University from 2000-2004. Morgan enters his sixth season as an assistant coach. A 1999 graduate of the academy, Morgan was 20-3 as a starting quarterback for Air Force, guiding the team to a 12-1 record in 1998.

Singleton enters his fifth season on the Falcon coaching staff. Also a 1999 graduate, Singleton helped lead the Falcons to 10 or more wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history as a halfback. Warren enters his third season as a Falcon assistant coach. A third member of the class of 1999, Warren was a three-year letter winner for Air Force as a defensive back.

Schneider is a 1994 graduate of Colorado State and has coaching stints at CSU, UCLA and Iowa State.

"What we have to do, first and foremost, is to let our current players know that the priority is here (with them)," Calhoun said. "We're going to have to go out and recruit very hard the rest of January and there on out.

"We want to be very competitive and winning the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy is a high priority," Calhoun commented. "Is it THE priority? I think it's more than one (priority). But that's definitely one of them. We want to repeatedly play in bowl games...We want to be very competitive from a championship standpoint in the Mountain West Conference."

Prior to his return to the academy, Calhoun was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Houston Texans in 2006. Before that, he was an assistant with the Denver Broncos.

Calhoun has become a well-rounded NFL coach, working as a defensive assistant, special teams assistant and offensive assistant with the Denver Broncos prior to his stint with Houston. He began his NFL coaching career by serving as the defensive assistant under defensive coordinator Larry Coyer in 2003. He was a part of the NFL's fourth-ranked defense. The Broncos defense ranked seventh against the run and sixth against the pass. Denver's defense yielded a mere 17.6 points per game as they made the playoffs for the first time since 2000.

Prior to the NFL, Calhoun was an offensive coordinator for six seasons on the collegiate level. He began his coaching career at Air Force where he worked as a graduate assistant from 1989-90. He started at quarterback for the Air Force Academy in 1986 and was a four-year letter winner. He was one of only two freshmen to letter for the 1985 team that finished fifth in the final polls with a 12-1 record.

Calhoun served his country from 1989-95 as an active duty officer in the Air Force. He was the Falcons' recruiting coordinator and the junior varsity offensive coordinator in 1993-94.

He moved to Ohio University in 1995 where he served as quarterbacks coach for two seasons. Calhoun guided the play of quarterback Kareem Wilson. In 1996 Wilson was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. Wilson set a pair of Ohio records with 282 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns against Bowling Green. Wilson set an Ohio record with 14 rushing touchdowns in 1996.

Calhoun was promoted to offensive coordinator in 1997. During his first season at the helm, the offense totaled 612 yards against Eastern Michigan, second most in school history. The Bobcats defeated Maryland in 1997 marking the school's first win against a team from the ACC in nine games. The following week, Ohio fell three points short of defeating Kansas State.

During his last season in Ohio, the Bobcats won two games against bowl teams, Minnesota and Marshall. Calhoun's offense set a school record with 418.1 yards per game and rushed for a school best 3,553 rushing yards.

Calhoun moved to Wake Forest in 2001. The Demon Deacons were one of only seven teams to score to score more than 30 points in each of the final four games. During his second season, Wake led the ACC in total offense with 408.1 yards per game. His offense had a league best 990 plays. The offense was efficient with the ball with only 16 turnovers, least in the ACC.

Calhoun and his wife, Amanda, have two children, Amelia and Tyler.

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