10-15-25
It came out of the blue Tuesday at Troy Calhoun’s press conference. The Air Force football coach admitted after the loss to Navy he told longtime Defensive Coordinator Brian Knorr to not worry about the game plan for UNLV but instead look ahead. Nick Toth, who coaches the safeties called all the defensive plays against UNLV. Calhoun cited his time in the NFL when different coaches each week would sometimes call the offensive plays. In Denver one week it might be Gary Kubiak, the next week it might have been Mike Shanahan. It comes at a time when the Falcons are dead last in D-1 allowing 45.4 points a contest. On the surface it may have given Knorr a chance to step back and take a long look at the defense without the pressure of calling plays every 40 seconds. Brian Knorr is a good coach, and his numbers prove it. His first year as defensive coordinator, in 2022 the Falcons gave up 13 points a game, which was 3rd in the nation. The next year they gave up 18 points, 12th in the country, and last year, 23 a game, which ranked 48th among D-1 schools. So those screaming for a change, check your coat at the door. The biggest reason for the Falcons defensive woes this year is simple-they are very young. Now, that doesn’t give them a pass. But when you have 1 Freshman and 3 sophomores starting in the secondary and 2 other freshman rotating through you will have issues. And they have dealt with injuries as well. Easy to blame the secondary when you see all the long pass plays against them this year. The front 7 has had a hand in that too, and they will tell you that. The Air Force defense only has 9 sacks in 6 games, and most came against Bucknell in the opener. They are also averaging just 3 tackles behind the line of scrimmage per game. Simply not enough. Quarterbacks are throwing in rhythm which is the worst thing to see if you are a defensive coordinator. And, not an excuse, but they have played excellent quarterbacks this year, Bryson Barnes of Utah State, Maddux Madsen of Boise State, Micah Alejado of Hawaii, Blake Horvath of undefeated Navy, and last week UNLV’s Anthony Colandrea, who transferred from Virginia.
At the end of the day fans want wins, and the Falcons only have one. Add to that, an offense that has been off the charts good this year, and some people feel like it’s a wasted year with such a good offense and a struggling defense. The season isn’t over, and Calhoun is right when he has said at numerous times this year, “guys just have to get out and play, and grow.”
And Calhoun understands the optics-Struggling defense, safeties coach calling defensive plays instead of defensive coordinator. And he indicated it could happen again. You do try different things in these circumstances. But these coaches did not forget how to coach overnight. It takes time to grow.
Something you didn’t know-with the government shutdown, the AF Band could not travel to Las Vegas. Dan Mullen, the Rebels Head Coach, offered to have the UNLV band learn the 3rd verse, the song the Falcons sing after every game and play it for Air Force . The Falcons declined but were grateful for the gesture. Mullen is a guy who gets the bigger picture. That’s a class move from a good guy.
Air Force hosts Wyoming 130 Saturday on 740 KVOR.
