Evasive Calhoun

The questions kept flying at Troy Calhoun on Tuesday, whose secretive nature about filling a key staff vacancy turned into the most mined-at piece of information Tuesday.

Do you have a defensive coordinator and you’re just not telling us?

Are you trying to keep opponents guessing about what kind of defensive scheme you’re going to run?

You know who it will be, right?

Will it be named before camp starts?

Are you the secret coordinator?

What was the thinking in holding off?

Will the defensive coordinator also coach a position?

Is the hiring procedure different at the academy, is there a longer vetting process?

Some players and recruits have indicated they know who it is, which would indicate you have named one. So why would you say you haven’t named one?

The Air Force coach shrugged off each question at the Mountain West Media Summit.

“We’ll name one when we do,” he said.

Bob Davie hired a new offensive coordinator at New Mexico this offseason. Utah State’s Matt Wells hired coordinators on both sides of the ball. Both quickly offered moves.

Calhoun, months later, has not.

“I think Troy Calhoun knows exactly what he’s doing,” Davie said. “He wouldn’t do it if he didn’t think it was in their best interests.”

Wells was as baffled as everyone.

“I’ve got no idea, and I don’t even know how to speculate why,” he said.

New Mexico’s Davie met with Navy, but not Army

When Navy broke form and came out in the shotgun formation last year in a 48-45 victory over Air Force, it was revealed that members of the Midshipmen coaching staff had met with New Mexico to swap offensive secrets. The Lobos have enjoyed sustained success against the Falcons by running the triple-option from that look, taking the past three meetings.

But New Mexico coach Bob Davie said he did not meet with Army.

“Army was coming, but I didn’t think it was really fair to have Army and Navy from the standpoint … I just didn’t think it was best,” said Davie, the former Notre Dame coach. “We’ve visited with Navy forever. We’re a lot like Navy on offense, even though we run triple a lot differently. I don’t know that there was any discussion about Air Force. It was more, how do we get better? ”

Chemistry experiment for Air Force

Teams were represented by a wide array of players on Tuesday. Wyoming’s Andrew Wingard and Boise State’s Brett Rypien were making their third consecutive appearances. Colorado State sent running back Izzy Matthews and linebacker Josh Watson. There were junior college transfers and an offensive lineman who once served a two-year Mormon mission.

For Air Force, there were a pair of chemistry majors.

Linebacker Brody Bagnall is materials chemistry major, while offensive lineman Griffin Landrum is one of four bio chemistry majors in his senior class.