For schools that get most of their players from in their own state, it’s not surprising to have old friends cross paths in recruiting. It’s a little more unusual for Air Force, which recruits all across the country.

When Hal Lamb of (the coincidentally named) Calhoun High School in Calhoun, Ga. got a call from Air Force about defensive end Reed Allen, it came from an old friend. Lamb and Falcons offensive line coach Clay Hendrix grew up across the street from each other.

“He and I played high school ball together,” Lamb said. “We’re really good friends. We’re glad to get somebody there finally at Air Force.”

Lamb said he and Hendrix – who he remembered as a “really good offensive guard and linebacker” still talk to each other about four or five times a year.

The connection was pretty strong when Air Force started recruiting receiver Andrej Suttles from East Paulding High School in Dallas, Ga. The Falcons contacted East Paulding coach John Reid – who happens to be the father of Colton Reid, Air Force’s long snapper the past three years.

The connection didn’t hurt. John Reid said he thought Colton was helpful in recruiting the talented Suttles to the academy.

“When you look at the character of the coaches at Air Force – Coach (Troy) Calhoun, Coach (Charlton) Warren, Coach Hendrix – and you look at the type of student athlete that he met at the academy,  it was not a difficult sell,” John Reid said. “We simply told him about the academy.”

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