Air Force football report

By Jim Benton, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 20, 2007 at 12:45 a.m.

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Raise in works

Air Force Academy spokesman Troy Garnhart confirmed Wednesday the athletic administration is working with coach Troy Calhoun on a pay raise and possible contract extension.

Details of the raise for Calhoun and his assistant coaches still are being finalized.

In his first season, Calhoun guided the Falcons to a 9-3 record and a berth in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, on Dec. 31.

Calhoun made $572,367 this season and is due a bonus of 7.5 percent of his base salary of $500,000 for getting into a bowl.

According to a recent USA Today report, 68 coaches of the 107 listed had a higher base salary than Calhoun last season.

Sold on bowl

The Falcons expect to use close to 12,000 tickets for the New Year's Eve game against California, more than triple the combined 3,000 Air Force used for its last two bowl appearances.

Air Force has sold 10,500 tickets and will use almost 1,000 more for its band, cheerleaders and others.

The Falcons have requested additional tickets, which are being sold at the Air Force Academy ticket office.

Calhoun purchased 200 tickets for the game.

Air Force expects to have around 500 cadets, mostly from the Texas area, attending the game.

Recruiting boost

Recruiting high school players is different for Air Force because of the military restrictions.

But a winning season and an invitation to the Armed Forces Bowl has helped.

"When you go into homes and you are talking to kids, you are not trying to explain 'we're young, we had a bad season,' " Air Force cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator Carlton Warren said.

"You are more trying to promote now. 'We won nine games, we were second in the conference (Mountain West) and we're going to a bowl game. Check us out.'

"You have more tools to sell to young men."

Air Force has 25 players from Texas on its roster and playing in a Texas bowl game is a bonus.

Numbers game

5consecutive bowl appearances for California under coach Jeff Tedford. The Golden Bears are 3-1 under Tedford and 8-8-1 overall in bowl games.

bentonj@RockyMountainNews.com

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