Air Force Falcons football

The Air Force Falcons football program represents the United States Air Force Academy in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) level. Air Force has been a member of the Mountain West Conference since its founding in 1999. The Falcons play their home games at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Troy Calhoun has been the team's head coach since 2007.

The three major service academies—Air Force, Army, and Navy—compete for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, which is awarded to the academy that defeats the others in football that year (or retained by the previous winner in the event of a three-way tie).

History


The Falcons are not only recognized by the lightning bolt on the side of their helmets, but their traditional option attack. Air Force is one of the premier rushing teams in the nation. Since Fisher DeBerry took over as Falcons head coach in 1984, they have ranked among the nation's top 10 in rushing 19 times in 21 years. The Air Force football team has enjoyed success not only on the field but also in the classroom. In 49 years of Air Force football, there have been 39 Academic All-Americans.

The 1985 season
1985 was the most successful season in Air Force football history. Under second-year coach Fisher DeBerry, the Falcons came within one win of playing for the national championship. They recorded 10 straight wins to start the season, climbed the polls to #2 in the nation, but lost to BYU 28–21 in the penultimate game of the regular season. Air Force rebounded with a bowl game win over Texas in the Bluebonnet Bowl and finished with a 12–1 record as the #5 ranked team in the nation.

Conference affiliations
Air Force has been affiliated with the following conferences.
 * Independent (1955–1979)
 * Western Athletic Conference (1980–1998)
 * Mountain West Conference (1999–present)

Bowl games
Air Force has played in 26 bowl games in their history, and they have a 12–13–1 (.481) record. Their highest finish in the AP polls was #5 in 1985.

Conference championships
† Co-champions

Division championships

 * Commander in Chief's Trophy Winners (AF-Army-Navy): 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989–1992, 1994, 1995, 1997–2002, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016.

Since 1980, the Falcons and Colorado State Rams have competed for the Ram–Falcon Trophy. Air Force currently holds a 21-14 advantage over Colorado State in games that the trophy has been contested in.

Head coaches
In over 60 years of play in college football, the Falcons have had seven head coaches.

Falcon Stadium
Falcon home games are played in Falcon Stadium, which sits below the main campus at an elevation of 6,621 feet (2,018 m) above sea level. Pre-game activities include flyovers by USAF aircraft, including the F-15 and B-2. The highest attendance at a home game was 56,409 spectators in 2002, when the Falcons battled the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Notable individual records

 * Beau Morgan: He became the first player in NCAA history to rush and pass for over 1,000 yards in a season twice. He broke the NCAA single season rushing record for a quarterback, along with being only the second player in NCAA history to run and pass for 3,000 yards in a career.

Alumni in the National Football League

 * Matthew Farmer
 * Bryce Fisher
 * Ben Garland
 * Chris Gizzi
 * Chad Hall
 * Chad Hennings
 * Ernie Jennings
 * Dave Lawson
 * Ben Miller
 * Beau Morgan
 * Dan Palmer
 * Steve Russ
 * Rashad Penton
 * Frank Staine-Pyne
 * Ted Sundquist
 * Joe Wood

Academic All-Americans


Academic All-Americans at Air Force.

Current coaching staff

 * Troy Calhoun – Head Coach
 * Steve Russ – Asst. Head Coach/Def. Coord./DBs
 * Mike Thiessen – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
 * Clay Hendrix – Assoc. Head Coach/Off. Line
 * Matt McGettigan – Strength/Conditioning
 * Ron Vanderlinden – Inside Linebackers
 * Matt Weikert – Outside Linebackers
 * Jake Campbell – Assistant Backfield
 * Tim Cross – Defensive Line
 * Ben Miller – Running Backs/Special Teams Coordinator
 * Steed Lobotzke – Tight Ends
 * Derek Lewis – Wide Receivers
 * John Rudzinski – Secondary
 * Steve Senn – Director of Recruiting and Player Personnel
 * Capt. Ross Weaver – Asst. Off. Line
 * Chris Miller – Director of Football Video Operations
 * Janel Mitchell – Administrative Assistant
 * Scott Richardson – Equipment Supervisor/Head Football Equipment Manager

Future non-conference opponents
Announced schedules as of July 15, 2015.

Rivals
Air Force has a traditional rivalry against the other two FBS service academies, Army and Navy; the three play for the right to hold the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. Air Force has held the trophy 20 times, more than either Army or Navy. Among other schools, Air Force has played more games against Colorado State and Wyoming, having played each school 55 times since 1957, the Falcons' first season.

Top 10 rivals
Below are Air Force's record against its top ten most-played opponents since 1957.