RAMSEY: Calhoun's QB plan could crash and burn

Troy Calhoun declines to coronate a quarterback.

Air Force's football coach plans to alternate the leadership of his complex offense. This move, he thinks, will maximize the talents of two players while minimizing the faults.

Sure, he knows this defies traditional football wisdom. He's heard the line that if you have two quarterbacks, you have none.

He doesn't care. His eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened into a look of resolve.
"I don't get enamored with one position and that you have to have one guy," Calhoun said. "I'm not going to hold a knife to my throat and say that's the way it has to be because that's the way it's been in 99 percent of pro and college football."

We get the picture, Troy, though it's a strange one. You will not change your plan, even if you hold a knife to your throat.

His strategy has merit. When Calhoun examines his collection of quarterbacks, he sees the mistake-free senior Shea Smith and the talented but inexperienced freshman Tim Jefferson.

Smith is short and slow, but precise as a surgeon. He's studied - and that's the right word - the offense for three seasons as a backup. He's worked, tirelessly, for this moment.

He's pushed his skills to the zenith and waited a long time for his chance. Only someone cursed with a cold, cold heart wouldn't root for Smith.

If the Falcons boasted a wickedly powerful defense, Smith would make sense as an every-snap quarterback. He doesn't throw many interceptions. He doesn't drop the ball.

He's defined by what he doesn't do.

But Air Force will need a lot of points to climb to a winning record, and the Falcons, short on experience and size and speed, at times might require a more dangerous quarterback.

Jefferson could be that player. He's already inspired Eric Herbort to depart the team. Herbort once ranked as the leading candidate to replace Shaun Carney as AFA's starter, but Smith trotted right by him on the depth chart and then Jefferson prepared to pass him, too.

Herbort, a superb student, left the team Wednesday to concentrate on his studies.
Calhoun refers to his current backup as "the freshman Jefferson" and smiled when he said, "He has some qualities."

Jefferson sprints faster than Smith and boasts a more powerful arm, but he can't match the veteran's safety features. Put the two together, according to Calhoun's logic, and there's a more powerful, more diverse offense. Maybe.

Keeping the quarterback job open isn't common, but not once-in-a-lifetime, either.

During the 2005 season, Fisher DeBerry's next-to-last as coach, the Falcons alternated between Carney and Adam Fitch.

On one level, this two-headed approach made sense. The Falcons averaged 30 points and Fitch filled the role of relief pitcher, but the lack of a stable leader helped doom the Falcons to a 4-7 record.

Calhoun embraces the risks. He knows the quarterback position is normally elevated in football culture. But he's crafting his own culture.

"You're at the ultimate team school and the place where you have to exhaust every possible resource," Calhoun said. "You always have to look for every angle that can give you a little bit of a spark and a little bit of a pulse."

His plan is radical. His offense will feature dual leadership.

This idea could lead to multiplication of points.

Or devastating confusion.

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Contact the writer: Columnist David Ramsey can be reached at 476-4985 or david.ramsey@gazette.com. Check out David's blog at http://daveramseysez.freedomblogging.com