DOB: 9/26/66
Contract: Undisclosed, likely around $1M
Years: through 2021 (extended 1/17)
Buyout: Undisclosed
Coaching Career
1989-90: Air Force assistant
1993-94: Air Force JV Offensive Coordinator / varsity recruiting coordinator
1995-96: Ohio QB coach
1997-00: Ohio Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks coach
2001-02: Wake Forest Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks coach
2003-05: Denver Broncos assistant
2006: Houston Texas Offensive Coordinator
2007-: Air Force Head Coach
Job Expectations/History
All-time record: 385-320-3 (.545)
26 Bowl appearances
3 WAC Championships
0 MW Championships
Major rivals – Army, Colorado State, Navy, Wyoming
Air Force realistically should be an average team, nationally speaking. They should contend within the MW, playing in the conference championship game occasionally, but the main focus is on the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy.
Results
| Year | Position | W | L | S&P+ | DVOA | Off. S&P+ | Off. DVOA | Def. S&P+ | Def. DVOA | Recruiting | Effi. | Off | Def | ST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Ohio OC | 23.2 (71st) | ||||||||||||
| 1998 | Ohio OC | 24.2 (62nd) | ||||||||||||
| 1999 | Ohio OC | 22.7 (77th) | ||||||||||||
| 2000 | Ohio OC | 23.4 (79th) | ||||||||||||
| 2001 | Wake Forest OC | 28.6 (42nd) | ||||||||||||
| 2002 | Wake Forest OC | 28.2 (50th) | ||||||||||||
| 2006 | Houston Texans OC | -2.3% (16th) | ||||||||||||
| 2007 | Air Force HC | 9 | 4 | +2.8 | 29.7 (52nd) | 26.9 (61st) | 59.6 | 63.6 | 53.4 | 44.6 | ||||
| 2008 | Air Force HC | 8 | 5 | +1.7 | 25.3 (69th) | 23.5 (50th) | 52.3 | 41.0 | 62.7 | 50.4 | ||||
| 2009 | Air Force HC | 8 | 5 | +1.7 | 22.6 (89th) | 20.9 (25th) | 65.4 | 49.3 | 77.2 | 47.5 | ||||
| 2010 | Air Force HC | 9 | 4 | +2.5 | 29.7 (44th) | 27.3 (59th) | 63.1 | 66.6 | 53.5 | 50.7 | ||||
| 2011 | Air Force HC | 7 | 6 | -6.3 | 30.0 (42nd) | 36.4 (111th) | 48.3 | 60.9 | 38.6 | 41.8 | ||||
| 2012 | Air Force HC | 6 | 7 | -13.0 | 25.5 (86th) | 38.5 (118th) | 31.9 | 44.4 | 30.1 | 37.7 | ||||
| 2013 | Air Force HC | 2 | 10 | -15.0 | 28.5 (68th) | 43.4 (122nd) | 19.7 | 47.5 | 10.4 | 54.2 | ||||
| 2014 | Air Force HC | 10 | 3 | +4.3 | 30.1 (57th) | 27.4 (61st) | 48.4 | 41.9 | 51.4 | 63.3 | ||||
| 2015 | Air Force HC | 8 | 6 | +5.3 | 33.5 (36th) | 29.0 (67th) | 50.9 | 59.0 | 43.8 | 43.8 | ||||
| 2016 | Air Force HC | 10 | 3 | +1.2 | 31.6 (52nd) | 31.6 (85th) | 50.2 | 50.3 | 45.5 | 62.3 | ||||
| 2017 | Air Force HC | 5 | 7 | -5.3 | 29.5 (54th) | 35.2 (118th) | 34.9 | 54.3 | 21.4 | 43.0 |
Record vs. Major Rivals: 28-16
Commander-in-Chief’s Trophies: 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016
FPI: ESPN’s FPI ranking, expressed as points above or below average.
DVOA: Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average – Football Outsiders’ efficiency rating for NFL teams, based on contextual play-by-play data. It is represented as a % better or worse than average always from an offensive perspective, which means you want positive numbers on offense, while negative scores are better on defense (a defense having a DVOA of -13.6% means offenses were 13.6% less efficient than average when that defense was on the field).
*For years 2005 and later, the green plus icon shows 4 statistics based on expected points added, which is arguably the truest measure of efficiency: Effi. (overall team efficiency), Off (offensive efficiency), Def (defensive efficiency), and ST (special teams efficiency), where 50 is average and all numbers are scaled 0-100.
Recruiting
Service academy recruiting doesn’t adhere to normal standards, and looking their rankings and such is typically pointless.
Opponents by Quality & Talent Level
| Opp S&P+ Tier | Wins | Losses | Talent Tier ('15-) | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. >28.0 | 0 | 0 | 1. >175 | 0 | 0 |
| 2. 21-28 | 0 | 1 | 2. 160-175 | 0 | 0 |
| 3. 14-21 | 0 | 6 | 3. 145-160 | 0 | 1 |
| 4. 7-14 | 6 | 16 | 4. 130-145 | 0 | 1 |
| 5. 3-7 | 7 | 7 | 5. 115-130 | 0 | 1 |
| 6. -3-3 | 10 | 13 | 6. 100-115 | 2 | 0 |
| 7. -3 - -7 | 13 | 8 | 7. 85-100 | 1 | 3 |
| 8. -7--14 | 18 | 8 | 8. 70-85 | 10 | 4 |
| 9. -14 - -21 | 14 | 1 | 9. 55-70 | 5 | 5 |
| 10. -21- -28 | 2 | 0 | 10. 40-55 | 0 | 0 |
| 11. <-28 / FCS | 12 | 0 | 11. <40 / FCS | 3 | 0 |
Talent: Using 247’s composite rankings, where 100 is the national average. 150, for example, would have 50% more talent, per recruiting rankings, than a team with a score of 100.
Assistant Years
1989 Air Force graduate assistant: The Falcons went 8-4-1.
1990 Air Force graduate assistant: The Falcons went 7-5.
1993 Air Force recruiting coordinator: Calhoun’s recruiting class would go 32-17 over the next 4 seasons.
1994 Air Force recruiting coordinator: Calhouns’ recruiting class would go 36-14 over the next 4 seasons, including a 12-1 season in 1998 as seniors.
1995 Ohio QB coach: FR Kareem Wilson completed 37% for 5.1 ypa, 3 TD, and 6 INT. Wilson rushed for 893 yards (3.7 ypp) and 10 TD.
1996 Ohio QB coach: SO Kareem Wilson completed 42% for 6.3 ypa, 7 TD, and 2 INT. Wilson rushed for 1072 yards (3.9 ypp) and 14 TD. Wilson was named the 1996 MAC Offensive Player of the Year.
1997 Ohio QB coach: JR Kareem Wilson completed 26% for 6.8 ypa, 3 TD, and 2 INT. Wilson rushed for 834 yards (4.6 ypp) and 12 TD.
1998 Ohio QB coach: SR Kareem Wilson completed 37% for 7.2 ypa, 4 TD, and 6 INT. Wilson rushed for 798 yards (4.3 ypp) and 13 TD. Wilson finished his career with 3597 rushing yards and 49 rushing touchdowns, thanks to what was at the time a college football record 875 career rushing attempts, most ever by a QB.
1999 Ohio QB coach: FR Dontrell Jackson completed 46% for 6.6 ypa, 6 TD, and 3 INT. Jackson rushed for 528 yards (3.4 ypp) and 3 TD.
2000 Ohio QB coach: SO Dontrell Jackson completed 45% for 7.4 ypa, 8 TD, and 8 INT. Jackson rushed for 864 yards (5.6 ypp) and 2 TD.
2001 Wake Forest QB coach: JR James MacPherson completed 54% for 7.4 ypa, 5 TD, and 11 INT. MacPherson rushed for 111 yards (1.8 ypp) and 1 TD. This marked an evolution in the Grobe/Calhoun offense, as the QB was no longer the primary, or even a major, ball-carrier. A QB attempted over 200 passes for the first time, and Grobe/Calhoun moved to more of a zone inside running attack.
2002 Wake Forest QB coach: SR James MacPherson completed 55% for 8.2 ypa, 8 TD, and 4 INT. MacPherson rushed for 177 yards (2.6 ypp) and 1 TD.
2003 Denver Broncos defensive assistant: Denver finished with a -4.2% defensive DVOA, 12th best in the NFL.
2004 Denver Broncos offensive and special teams assistant: Denver finished with an offensive DVOA of 13.8%, 10th best in the NFL. Denver finished with a special teams DVOA of -2.9%, 25th best in the NFL.
2005 Denver Broncos assistant: (responsibilities unknown)
2006 Houston Texans offensive coordinator: The Texans finished with an offensive DVOA of -6.3%, 21st in the NFL. While Calhoun held the title of offensive coordinator, assistant HC Mike Sherman likely was his superior.
Coaching Style & Tactics
Calhoun’s teams live and die by their defense. The offenses are, more or less, somewhat average. Without the talent to be dominant, the system allows for consistency. There’s less consistency on the other side of the ball. When Air Force can field even a merely below-average defense, they will likely have a shot to go bowling. Unfortunately, the defense occasionally slips into “my god, the horror” territory.
Calhoun has always favored the triple option. At Wake Forest, it was modified a bit to account for a more traditional dropback QB. The significant outlier is his season coordinating in the NFL – in Houston he used a more pro-style system designed by Mike Sherman. Calhoun has a history of doing a good job adapting his option to the skills of his players, incorporating more dropback passing when it suits the QB.
Defensively, there is some concern that Tim DeRuyter, his coordinator his first 3 seasons at Air Force, was the key to their success. DeRuyter’s aggressive 3-4 defense was the backbone of the team in his years, and although Air Force was quite good in 2010, the first year after his departure, the defense slid into mediocrity afterward.
Coaching Tree
Coached under:
Fisher DeBerry (1989-90; 1993-94)
Jim Grobe (1995-2002)
Gary Kubiak (2006)
Mike Shanahan (2003-2005)
Coached alongside:
Tim DeRuyter (1989-1990; 1995-1998)
Mike McDaniel (2006)
Brian Pariani (2006)
Kyle Shanahan (2006)
Mike Sherman (2006)
Employed:
Ron Burton (2007-2012)
Tim DeRuyter (2007-2009)
Brian Knorr (2007, 2018)