Taking over after a legend might be one of the more difficult tasks in sports. No matter what you do, it’s either not right, not good enough or it’s so good that people resent you for it.

Nobody ever will forget what former football coach Fisher DeBerry did or meant to Air Force, nor should they. But somehow coach Troy Calhoun was able to put a product on the football field that made fans happy he was the new man in charge.

In one season, the 1989 academy graduate gave Falcons fans throughout the world hope for a future that might return to past glory.

Air Force was coming off three consecutive losing seasons before Calhoun took the job. The Falcons were 4-8 in 2006. The Falcons finished 9-4 and 6-2 in the Mountain West Conference. They were undefeated at home, too. The five-game turnaround was the largest in the nation by a first-year coach.

The 2007 team is the only Falcons squad to beat Notre Dame, Utah and Colorado State on the road. Calhoun led the Falcons to their first bowl game in five seasons.

Calhoun would be the first to deflect the attention to his players. And he’d be right, too. Coaches coach. Players play. However, Calhoun coached largely the same group of players who played in 2006.

Those efforts earned Calhoun the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year. They also earned his program a renewed respect, not just nationally, but amazingly in his own backyard, where folks – according to too many empty Falcon Stadium seats – have found reasons to stay away.

“He’s highly visible,” Colorado Springs Sports Corp. CEO Tom Osborne said. “He’s done a great job. He’s very articulate, and I think he’s very good for this community.”

If the Air Force can hold on to Calhoun, odds are good the Falcons will be one of the biggest draws in town.

US Soccer team member Carli Lloyd, left is fouled by Brazil’s Erika in the second half of the US team’s 1-0 win over Brazil in the Gold Medal Soccer game Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette

MARK REIS