Air Force Coach Keeping the Identity Of His Defensive Coordinator a Secret

Football coaches are notoriously tight-lipped, but this is ridiculous.

With a month to go before fall practice begins, Air Force coach Troy Calhoun refuses to reveal the identity of the defensive coordinator he presumably hired over the winter to replace the last guy. I use the word “presumably” there because Calhoun has not confirmed that he even has hired a defensive coordinator, nor will he say why he’s keeping everyone in the dark about this.

From the Gazette in Colorado Springs:

" Excuse me, but what? Without more information, I can’t imagine what the reason behind this might be. Unless you believe the men coaching Air Force’s opponents would not otherwise be able to figure out who Air Force hired (a ludicrous notion), there is no competitive advantage to be gained from this. It bears the aroma of a guy trying to prove some sort of point, but I can’t figure out what that point would be, other than, “I’ll tell you who’s on staff when I’m good and ready.” And the Gazette’s story doesn’t indicate any existing tension between Calhoun and the fans and media. Is this just a ploy to get people to write something — anything — about Air Force football? The Gazette tried to use Freedom of Information Act requests to get this information, but were denied on the grounds that assistant coaches aren’t paid by the state. Defensive line coach Tim Cross is identified as an assistant head coach on the team’s website, so he seems like the best bet, but Calhoun just isn’t saying, because he just isn’t saying. “As of today,” he said, “that’s what we’ve chosen to do.” Ooooookay, man. "