Calhoun named coach of the year

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Air Force football head coach Troy Calhoun was named coach of the year Tuesday in the Mountain West Conference. In addition, the Roseburg native was named the Region 5 Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association.

Calhoun is the first Air Force coach to win the award in his first season and just the second to ever win it, joining Fisher DeBerry, who won the award in 1985, 1995 and 1998.

Air Force finished the season with a 9-3 record and placed second in the MWC with a 6-2 mark. The Falcons play California in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time on Dec. 31. The game will be televised by ESPN.

Running back Chad Hall was named the MWC offensive player of the year.

The Falcons landed four first-team selections, its most ever in the Mountain West Conference and most since 1998 when the Falcons placed five members on the conference's first team as a member of the Western Athletic Conference.