Fisher DeBerry announced his retirement today (Dec. 15) after 23 years of coaching the Air Force Academy football team. DeBerry came to Air Force in 1980 as an assistant to Ken Hatfield who left after the 1983 season to coach at Arkansas. It was from Hatfield where DeBerry picked up the “flex-bone offense” as the Air Force quarterback’s coach. The “flex-bone” served as the offensive staple used by the Falcons for nearly 30 years. DeBerry was the winningest coach in Air Force history with a 169-107-1 record. During his tenure the Falcons won 14 Commander-in-Chief’s trophies.
Bet on College Bowls at BetRoyal and receive 50% in sign-up bonuses!
He is a combined 34-8 against the Black Knights and Midshipmen and is the winningest coach in service academy history. Since the Commander-in-Chief's series began in 1972, Air Force has gone to 16 bowl games, compared to a combined 13 for Army and Navy. DeBerry has led the Academy to 12 of those bowl games and has a 6-6 record.
During DeBerry's tenure as head coach, Air Force won at least eight games 11 different seasons. DeBerry's first team, in 1984, was 8-4 and beat Virginia Tech in the Independence Bowl.. The next year, the Falcons won 12 games, and were ranked as high as No. 4 nationally until a 28-21 loss at BYU. In the final AP poll, the Falcons ranked eighth. DeBerry has coached the Falcons to three conference championships, winning the WAC championship in 1985, 1995, and 1998. The 1998 team's 12-1 record completed the first back-to-back 10-win seasons in school history, and finished the season ranked 10th nationally.
Bet on College Football at BetRoyal and receive 50% in sign-up bonuses!
Coach DeBerry has been named WAC Coach of the Year three times in his career, and in 1985, won the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award as NCAA college football's coach of the year. DeBerry has also been awarded the State Farm Coach of Distinction award in 2001, and has been inducted into the South Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. DeBerry received an honorary doctorate of humanities from Wofford during its graduation ceremony in 2003.
