Falcons have specific work ethic

Air Force standards develop disciplined student-athletes

You’ll find no 300-pound linemen on the Air Force football roster. Though there’s no rule against a Falcons player tipping the scales above that mark, there are weight/bodyfat percentage standards all cadets must hit in order to graduate.

And, certainly, that’s not the only thing that makes sustaining a strong program at Air Force a tough task. Academy life is rigorous and not for everyone. Then, there’s the six-year military commitment that follows graduation.

To that and more, Falcons offensive lineman Colin Sandor — all 275 pounds of him — says, no problem.

At least, no more so at the Academy than anywhere else.

“Honestly, success in college football is a hard thing,” Sandor, a senior from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, said last month at the Mountain West Conference media gathering in Las Vegas, Nev. “Having a consistently good team all the time is a hard thing to do.

“But with our coaching staff, with the kind of kids they bring in, the kind of work ethic that every one has . ...

“If we keep doing our work, just getting after it every single day, and if the coaches keep having great game plans as they always do and keep installing and we keep executing, it’s just like any other school. It’s up to the studentathletes to work at it, and I don’t feel like (success) is any harder to sustain at the Academy than it is anywhere else.”

For proof, one need look no further than the Air Force football media guide. Since 1982, the Falcons have a winning percentage of .604 and have had only seven losing seasons.

Yes, there are no 300-pound linemen. True, most high school football standouts have no interest in a military career.

Still, Sandor prefers to dwell on the Academy’s advantages.

“Some of the things you do while you’re going through (the Academy), it sucks, for lack of a better word,” he said. “But every time you look back on something, you realize you got something out of that experience.

“And even though those experiences weren’t the best times, everybody on your team has that same experience, and they all went through it, too. So you can look to them, and you know that you have a common bond and common experiences to help bring us together.”

Since his arrival in 2013, Sandor has seen the Falcons go from three wins to 10 wins to a Mountain West Mountain Division title last year.

Few expect the Falcons to falter this fall. Air Force finished second in the media’s preseason Mountain Division poll and got the only two firstplace votes that didn’t go to Boise State.

Anytime a game is in the balance, Sandor said, he believes the Falcons have an edge.

“I just feel that being a cadet teaches us discipline,” he said. “It helps us at many times, especially in the fourth quarter of a game — knowing that the person to your left and to your right is gonna do their job.

“You can count on them, so it kind of gives you more energy to want to do your job yourself.”