It was almost exactly four years to the day, since Air Force last secured the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy by defeating both Army and Navy in the same season. That awful drought ended last Saturday night, in front of a packed crowd at Michie stadium in West Point, New York. If you tuned in to the Fox Big Noon Kickoff show, you got to see the United States Military Academy in all of it’s glory. Jeff Monken even came out to give a pep talk to the crowd before the panel of hosts waxed poetically about
Army football.
The stage for this game was as dressed up as you could imagine. Newly renovated Michie stadium, incredible traditions, all against the backdrop of the upcoming Veterans day. What played out on the field did not disappoint the hype.
All of that build-up by Army, just to have Troy Calhoun and Air Force shack their host and leave with the hardware. Well, not literally, as Navy is technically the current holder of the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy. But I’d have to imagine that revered trophy awarded to the winner of the Army-Navy-Air Force series will be on it’s way to Colorado Springs any day now after Air Force secured the wares by beating the Black Knights.
A Bounce Back Year
In his 20 seasons as head coach at the United States Air Force Academy, Troy Calhoun has posted a losing record just six times. Interesting enough, all of his losing campaigns have come in pairs. In 2012-2013, 2017-2018 and most recently 2024-2025, the Falcons had back to back losing records. You know what happened after each of those two year skids? They won 10 games in 2014, 11 games in 2019 and they are sitting at seven wins in 2026, with at least four more games on the calendar.
While we will have to see just where they land in 2026, those prior tandem of losing seasons were followed up by dominant spans of football out of Colorado Springs. After losing seasons in 2012 and 2013, Air Force ripped off 28 wins, including two bowl victories over the following three years. Following back to back 5-7 campaigns in 2017 and 2018, Troy Calhoun led the Falcons to another 40 wins over the next four complete seasons. That doesn’t include the shortened 2020 Covid year is mixed in there, which the team went 3-3.
Probably of greater consequence in those spans were the Falcons record against Army and Navy in that time. During the three separate back to back losing seasons, Air Force went 2-10 versus their military rivals. That includes an 0-4 skid in 2024 and 2025. Now, during those seasons in which the team thrived, they went 10-4 against Army and Navy. That does not include the 2020 Covid year which they which they beat Navy and lost to Army, nor the current year which they are 2-0, hoping to start a new win streak.
If you have been listening to The Group of Five Guys – and if your not, you should be; they warned before the year and all season long, Troy Calhoun just does not keep losing. And they are right, history would suggest that Air Force isn’t just going to recover from the spin, they are poised for a run. No doubt, there are departing players after this year who will leave major holes- none bigger than linebacker, Blake Fletcher. However, there is a haul of really good young players, some with potentially two more seasons of eligibility after this. Like those prior stretches of winning football, we’ve got another roster supplemented with some talented underclassmen that aren’t just contributing, but thriving.
This is great news for a team that has yet to win a Mountain West Championship, in a time that would suggest that crown is up for grabs in the new look Mountain West. More importantly, it positions the Falcons to be highly competitive in retaining the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy beyond 2026. This is all conjecture obviously, as things change so much year by year. But there are plenty of indicators as to why Air Force is poised for some very good football under Troy Calhoun and staff.
