United States Air Force Academy Football

Click Here To Email Coach Troy Calhoun The purpose of the United States Air Force Academy is to develop young people of strong character who graduate and ser...

Alex Means is in his fifth season as defensive line coach at Air Force after spending the previous two seasons as the outside linebacker’s coach. This season is his ninth overall as an assistant. He was the assistant defensive line coach his first two years. The defense has ranked in the top six nationally four of the last five years. Air Force led the Mountain West in total defense for the fifth straight year in 2024. The defense ranked sixth in total defense (277.7) in 2023, sixth in rushing defense (90.8) and 12th in scoring defense (18.2). Means helped the Air Force defense to a No. 1 national ranking in total defense (254.5), second in passing defense (159.1), third in scoring defense (13.4) and sixth in rushing defense (95.3). The 13.4 points per game average is the sixth best in program history and best since 1997. Means developed second-team all-conference selection Payton Zdroik, who finished his career in the top 11 in program history in sacks and sack yardage. Means also developed first-team all-Mountain West selections Bo Richter and PJ Ramsey in 2023. Richter led the Mountain West and ranked sixth nationally in tackles for loss in 2023 with 19.5 for 116 yards. He also had 10 sacks which are the fifth most in program history and most since 1994. Richter had at least one TFL in 11 games. He concluded his career with an Air Force bowl record 4.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks vs. James Madison in the Armed Forces Bowl. He also had four quarterback hurries and was na

Austin Cutting begins his second season at Air Force as the director of football operations. Cutting, a 2019 Academy graduate, returns to the Academy after service to his country as an acquisitions and aircraft maintenance officer. He was stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., from July 2021 to May 2024. He was the program manager on a seven-member team on the $55 million Rotary Switch contract ensuring sustainment of nuclear missiles while at Tinker. In addition, he was part of the team that managed a $45.1 million Warhead Arming Devise contract. Prior to that, Cutting served as an aircraft maintenance officer at Minneapolis-Saint Paul Joint Air Reserve Station from May 2019 to July 2021. He led 54 maintenance personnel supporting flight operations for eight C-130H aircraft at the 934th airlift squadron in Minnesota. He also managed a $3.1M aircraft parts inventory and oversaw an annual operations budget of $2.7M. Cutting was drafted in the seventh round, the 250th pick, of the 2019 National Football League draft by the Minnesota Vikings. He is one of just 10 Falcons to be selected in the NFL draft. He played 31 games in two seasons as a long snapper for all punts, field goals and point after attempts. Cutting earned his degree in business management from Air Force in 2019. A three-year letterwinner and starter for the Falcons, Cutting played in the NFLPA Senior Bowl and helped the Falcons to the 2016 Commander-in-Chief's Trophy and the 2016 Arizona Bowl.

Brett Nethery began coaching at USAFA as an assistant football strength and conditioning coach in October 2022. Currently, he is a PE instructor at USAFA and continues to serve as an assistant strength coach for the football program. He earned his bachelor of xcience from the University of Wisconsin in 2017. Before joining USAFA, Brett was an assistant athletic performance coach at Liberty University, working with baseball and men's & women's track and field from May 2018. He also gained experience as a strength and conditioning intern with Louisiana State University Football (2017-2018) and the University of Wisconsin men's & women's track & field and softball (2016-2017). Brett is a certified strength and conditioning coach with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Originally from Greendale, Wisconsin, Nethery currently resides in Colorado Springs with his wife, Molly, and daughter, Gwendolyn.

Brett Skene enters his fifth season as the specialist coach and assistant offensive line coach. He served as an offensive assistant in 2021. This season is his eighth overall with Air Force football. He served as an offensive analyst prior from 2018-20. The kicking game flourished with kicker Matthew Dapore, a Lou Groza Award National Placekicker of the Year semifinalist in 2024, and punter Luke Freer, who was a second-team all-Mountain West selection in 2024 as well as a semifinalists for the 2025 Ray Guy Award as the nation’s best punter. Freer broke the school record set in 1985 for punting average with a 47.5 mark. He would have ranked fourth nationally, but lacked enough attempts to qualify. Dapore finished his career as Air Force’s all-time leading scorer with 270 points. His work with the offensive line has been impressive. The Falcons finished second nationally in rushing in 2023 with a 281.5 average. The Falcons averaged 326.7 yards per game in 2022 to win a third straight national rushing title. The unit was a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award, given annually to the top unit in the nation. The offensive line went wire-to-wire leading the nation setting a record of 15 consecutive weeks in the top spot. Air Force also led the nation in time of possession for the second straight year with a 36:33 mark. Skene helped the Air Force offense to averages of 31.0 points per game, which ranked fourth in the conference, and 423.5 total yards, which was also fourth in 2021. T

Lakota Wills is in his second season on the Air Force football staff as a defensive assistant. Wills is a 2021 graduate of the Academy where he was a three-y...

Charlie Jackson enters his fifth year at Air Force as assistant head coach and defensive backs coach. Jackson’s tenure has been an overwhelming success, as the 2022 Air Force defense ranked number one nationally in total defense, number one nationally in least first downs allowed, second nationally in passing defense, third in scoring defense, third in 3rd down conversion defense, and number five in rushing defense. Air Force’s dominant defense continued in 2023 as Jackson helped the unit rank NCAA Top 10 while coaching Trey Taylor to first-team All-American honors and the 2023 Jim Thorpe Award for best defensive back in college football. Air Force has ranked first in the Mountain West in total defense every season since Jackson joined the staff. Jackson is the only football coach in the country to have served as a college head football coach, college football assistant coach, NFL assistant coach, NFL scout, and NCAA National office enforcement staff executive. He came to the Academy from Kentucky State, where he served as head coach the prior three seasons. Jackson garnered national recognition for his total rebuild and overhaul of the Kentucky State program. He is the winningest (percentage) head football coach at Kentucky State since 1945, with a minimum 20 games. Jackson arrived at Kentucky State with the football program in the midst of an abysmal downward spiral that culminated in a 0-10 season in 2018. He took over a program on a 12-game losing streak and a record of 1

Clay Lavigne joined the football strength and condition staff at Air Force in 2025. Lavigne comes to the Academy from Kent State, where he was on the sports ...

Cordray Negley is in her second year as the Manager of Creative for Air Force Football. Negley came to the Academy from Clemson University where she previously worked for the football program as a graphic design and creative media intern. Negley is a graduate of Clemson where she received her bachelor of science degree in graphic communication along with two minors in sports and brand communications.

Jackson Bradfield is in his first year as a strength and conditioning coach at Air Force. Bradfield comes to the Academy from Kent State, where he was a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach. Prior to his time at Kent State, he was a football strength and conditioning intern at Wisconsin in 2024. Bradfield was the head strength and conditioning coach at Ada High School in Ada, Ohio, from 2023-24. He also served as a volunteer strength and conditioning coach at Findley in 2023 and Centennial High School in Columbus, Ohio, in 2021. Bradfield is a 2024 graduate of Ohio Northern, where he earned a bachelor’s in strength and conditioning. He received a master’s in sports administration from Kent State in 2025.

Jake Campbell is in his 15th season at Air Force and eighth as the slot backs coach. Campbell returned to his alma mater after four years at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps where he was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2011. He coached running backs his first three seasons. Campbell has been instrumental in the development of running backs Jacobi Owens, who rushed for 1,000 or more yards in back-to-back seasons and finished his career with over 3,000 yards rushing, and Tim McVey, who finished among the school’s all-time bests in rushing and receiving yards per touch and kickoff return average. McVey became the first player in school history to have over 100 yards rushing and receiving in the same game which he did vs. New Mexico in 2014. In addition, he mentored Kadin Remsberg, who rushed for 1,000-plus yards in 2019 while being named offensive most valuable player in the Cheez-It Bowl. Remsberg finished his career ranked 16th in program history with 1,779 yards. Campbell coached Cade Harris, who led the Falcons in receiving last season with 35 catches for 584 yards and two touchdowns. His 35 catches are the most by a Falcon since 2016 while his yards are the most since 2021. Campbell also helped develop Brandon Lewis and Ben Waters. Lewis led the Falcons in receiving in 2022 with 30 catches for 600 yards and three touchdowns. His 30.0 yards per reception average set a school record. Lewis had five catches for a school-bowl-record 172 yards in the First Responder Bowl v

FootballSkip AdRehfeld, JohnBacote, MarcBradfield, JacksonCalhoun, TroyCampbell, JakeCarlile, Mookie Hart , Larry Horton, TimJackson, CharlieLamendola, Ken Lavigne, ClayLobotzke, SteedMcGettigan, MattMeans, AlexNethery, Brett Rehfeld, JohnRuss, SteveSkene, BrettStubblefield, TaylorThiessen, Mike

Jonathan Camer is in his second year as the director of scouting and assistant recruiting coordinator at Air Force. Camer came to the Academy from Cincinnati where he was a player personnel analyst in 2024. Prior to his time at Cincinnati, Camer was a recruiting analyst and recruiting specialist at James Madison in 2023-24. Camer previously worked as a writer for USA Today, where he specialized in player evaluations, analysis and trends for the NFL draft. In addition, he was the general manager for the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts baseball team. Camer is a 2024 graduate of James Madison, where he earned a bachelor's in sports and recreation management.

Ken Lamendola enters his fifth year as inside linebackers coach at Air Force. Lamendola has had an immediate impact, helping to lead a defense that ranked No...

Larry Hart is in his first season as defensive tackles coach at Air Force. Hart comes to the Academy after spending 2025 at Campbell University. Hart joined Campbell’s staff in Spring of 2024, coaching the defensive line and serving as run game coordinator. During that time, Campbell’s defense jumped almost 70 spots in run-defense from 2024-2025 PFSN also listed them as the highest graded DL in the CAA Conference. Prior to Campbell, Hart spent three seasons at the University of Houston as a senior analyst where they finished top 10 nationally in sacks (2021) and saw back-to-back bowl wins after the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Hart served as South Alabama’s outside linebackers coach prior to that. Despite losing three of six individuals on the preseason depth chart for most of the 2018 season, Hart helped three members of the position group — Sean Grayer, Chason Milner and Taji Stewart — combine to post 15½ stops behind the line of scrimmage including 7½ sacks. Milner would end the year among the top 10 in the Sun Belt Conference in sacks per game while all three would set new career highs in both tackles for loss and sacks in a season. Three different individuals would post career-high tackle totals under Hart’s direction in 2019, led by Senior Bowl invitee, and honorable mention all-Sun Belt Conference selection Riley Cole; not only did he post 59 total stops, he ranked second on the team with nine tackles behind the line and third on the squad with three sacks. This secured Cole

Lieutenant Colonel Boyd Fritzsche is in his third season as Director of Football Operations. Fritzsche returned to his alma mater after serving as the Deputy Hospital Administrator at the 21st Medical Group at Peterson Space Force Base. Prior to serving at Peterson SFB, Fritzsche was stationed at Aviano Air Base in northern Italy. He served as the hospital's Finance Director and eventually the Senior Practice Manager where he oversaw the day-to-day operations for 16 departments. The hospital was recognized as the Surgeon General's Superior Access Performer among 78 other USAF hospitals. Prior to Aviano, Lt Col Fritzsche served as the Referral Management Director at Osan Air Base in Korea. He oversaw an $8 million dollar program supporting 11,000 overseas beneficiaries and consulted with six local-national medical centers to ensure quality care for U.S. servicemembers within the Korean National Health System. Prior to moving overseas, Lt Col Fritzsche spent one year as an Administrative Resident at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic. He served in a project management role for the clinic's senior executive team while learning industry best practices. Prior to his time in Ohio, Fritzsche served in a multitude of healthcare roles at Offutt AFB, NE and Fort Sam Houston, TX. Lt Col Fritzsche is a 2008 graduate of the Academy, where he earned a degree in Business Management. He also has an M.B.A. and M.H.A. from Baylor University and is board certified through the Healthcare Financial

Marc Bacote is in his fifth season as tight ends coach at Air Force. He oversaw the development of Bruin Fleischman, who had one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2025. Fleischmann finished second on the team in receiving with 21 catches for 370 yards. He had a team best six touchdown catches. He caught a pass in 11 games, including 10 straight which is the longest streak by a tight end in program history. His receiving yards are fourth most ever by a tight end at Air Force while his receptions are the fifth most. He also helped 2024 graduate Caleb Rillos lead a position with eight catches for 97 yards. Rillos was a post-graduate scholarship award winner and played the 2024 season at Florida while attending graduate school. Bacote came to the Academy after spending two years at Hampton, where the team was first in the conference in total offense and second in third-down conversions. Bacote coached first-team all-Big South receiver Jadakis Bonds. Bacote was co-offensive coordinator, receivers and quarterback coach at Howard in 2019, prior to his stint at Hampton. He spent two seasons as the wide receivers coach at Richmond from 2017-18. Bacote led the Spider’s receiving corps in 2017 that accounted for over 3,000-yards receiving. He led three wide receivers to all-Colonial Athletic Association honors in 2017, Dejon Brissett, Cortrelle Simpson and Tyler Wilkins. All three were ranked in the top four in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in receiving yard

Matt McGettigan is in his 20th season as the strength and conditioning coach for the Falcon football team. Widely considered one of the best in the country, ...

Mike Thiessen is in his 20th season as an assistant coach at the Academy. This season is his 13th as the solo offensive coordinator after four years of sharing the duties, and his 10th as the quarterback coach. Thiessen is the longest tenured offensive coordinator in the nation. He has been nationally recognized as a Broyles Award finalist as the top assistant coach in college football in 2021 and as the Graphite Award winner in 2023 and 2025 as the Mountain West’s most efficient offensive play caller. As offensive coordinator, Thiessen has led a unit over the last 10 years that has been in the top 10 of the nation in rushing each year, averaged 30-plus points per game, been in the top three nationally in passing yards per completion and among the top 10 in third-down percentage. This has been one of the most productive offensive eras in Academy history. The Falcons won three straight national rushing titles, becoming just the second program to win three titles and first since 2008. The Falcons have been the only team to average 300-plus nationally in three of the last four seasons. The Falcons led the nation in time of possession in 2021 with a 36:35 and again in 2022 with a 36:33 average. Thiessen received national recognition in 2021 as a Broyles Award candidate for assistant coach of the year. Thiessen guided record-setting quarterback Liam Szarka last season. Szarka became the program record-holder for most games with 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing with three, a

Mookie Carlile enters his third season as safeties coach at Air Force. Carlile came to the Academy from Coastal Carolina, where he was an analysist during the spring season. He helped a safeties unit that included Camby Goff in 2024. Goff led the Falcons in total tackles with 67, while also recording 2.5 tackles for loss and three pass breakups. He tied for the team lead in interceptions with one. Carlile helped with the development of Levi Brown, Kyle Chen and Houston Hendrix, all playing significantly for the first time in their careers. All three were first-time starters in 2024. Carlile coached nickels for two seasons at TCU from 2022-23. He also assisted with special teams and safeties for the Horned Frogs. Carlile spent three seasons at Tulsa from 2019-21. He was a graduate assistant and helped coach star linebackers in 2021. Carlile spend time at Tarleton State in the spring of 2019 before heading to Tulsa. Carlile is a 2018 graduate of Tarleton State, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. He earned a master’s degree from Tulsa in museum science and management in 2021. He began his playing career at UTEP where he played as a redshirt freshman in 2015 and moved to TCU in 2016. He finished his career at Tarleton State in 2017-18.

Steed Lobotzke enters his 12th year at Air Force and 10th as the offensive line coach. Lobotzke coached tight ends his first two years at the Academy. His wo...

Steve Russ enters his first season as defensive coordinator in 2026. Russ returns to the Academy after spending last season as the defensive coordinator at Alabama-Birmingham. He was special assistant to the head coach for Air Force in 2024. Russ spent six years in the National Football League prior to that. He was linebackers coach with the Washington Commanders from 2020-23 and Carolina Panthers from 2018-19. Russ spent six years at Air Force as the assistant head coach and four as the defensive coordinator and defensive backfield coach from 2012-17. Russ was the co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach previously. Russ’ first season as the lone defensive coordinator was impressive, as he completely revamped the defense and turned it into one of the finest in the conference. Air Force improved in all four major categories that season, including a remarkable 15.8 points per game improvement to 24.2 overall which led the conference and was 72 spots higher in the national rankings (33rd). The Falcons also improved in rushing, passing and total defense, including an over 100-yard improvement in rushing defense, allowing just 135.6 yards per game. That improvement went from ranking 119th nationally to 28th, which is a 91-spot improvement. In addition, the defense improved in third down defense from 125th to 36th, quarterback sacks from 114th to 24th and tackles for loss from 129th to 42nd. The defense maintained those lofty numbers the last two seasons, ranking firs

Taylor Stubblefield is in his fourth season as wide receivers coach at Air Force. This is his second stint in the program, as he previously served as wide receivers coach in 2017-18. Stubblefield has helped develop some record-setting receivers since returning. Jared Roznos set a single-season program record in 2023 with 31.2 yards per reception. He had 12 catches for 374 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games to lead the Falcons. During his first stint at Air Force, he helped develop a wide receiving corps that featured record-setters Marcus Bennett and Geraud Sanders. Bennett, the team’s leading receiver in 2017, had five catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns vs. Navy. His 161 yards are the 13th most in school history and his 32.2 yards per catch ranks third all-time. Sanders was one of nine receivers to score a touchdown on the first catch of his career in 2017. Stubblefield comes to the Academy from Penn State, where he was receivers coach and offensive recruiting coordinator the last three seasons. During the 2021 season, he helped develop third-team All-America wide receiver Jahan Dotson, who was a Biletnikoff Award and Walter Camp player of the year semifinalist and finished his stellar career third all-time at Penn State in career receiving touchdowns (23) and fourth in receptions (175) and receiving yards (2,620). He was later selected in the first round of the NFL draft. He also helped tutor true freshmen DeAndre Lambert-Smith and Parker Washington, who became th

Tim Horton is in his sixth season as running backs coach and special teams coordinator at Air Force. Horton returned to the Academy in 2021 after coaching wide receivers and running backs under legendary Air Force head coach Fisher DeBerry from 1999-2005. In Horton’s five seasons with the Falcons, the offense led the nation in rushing in 2021 with a 327.7 average and in 2022 with a 326.7 norm. With the emergence of DeAndre Hughes in 2021 and John Lee Eldridge III in 2022, the Falcons had back-to-back 10-win seasons and bowl victories over Louisville and Baylor. The kicking game flourished with kicker Matthew Dapore in 2024, a Lou Groza Award National Placekicker of the Year semifinalist, and punter Luke Freer, who was a second-team all-Mountain West selection in 2024. Freer broke the school record set in 1985 for punting average with a 47.5 mark. He would have ranked fourth nationally, but lacked enough attempts to qualify. Dapore finished his career as Air Force’s all-time leading scorer with 270 points. Horton came to the Academy after spending the previous two years as running backs coach at Vanderbilt. Horton has a wealth of experience in the Southeastern Conference, coaching for over a decade as an offensive assistant at Auburn and Arkansas. During that time, he coached five SEC Players of the Year and nine all-conference running backs. In 2019, Horton’s top Vanderbilt pupil Ke’Shawn Vaughn topped the Commodore offense with 1,298 all-purpose yards. Vaughn went on to be s