I was finishing up dinner with my family Tuesday night when my phone rang. It was Air Force men’s basketball coach Dave Pilipovich.

“You’re leaving us? You can’t do that!” he said.

He laughed, like he always does, and congratulated me on my move to Yahoo! Sports, which begins on Saturday. I’ll be mostly writing about college football for the Dr. Saturday blog. We talked some Pittsburgh Pirates baseball (he’s a big fan) and he invited me to come down for a Falcons game this season and say hello.

That’s how my final week covering Air Force went. When people who work at the academy learned the news, they shook my hand, congratulated me and wished me well. That happened dozens of times. Pilipovich didn’t have to call me, and I certainly wasn’t expecting it, but it was a classy gesture. But, actually, that’s how my 26 or so months covering the academy went.

This is one thing all Air Force fans should know: I wrote stories on many athletes from many different sports, and I did not have one negative encounter with a cadet. Not all of them liked doing interviews, and some were obviously nervous if it was their first one, but nobody said a bad word to me. Nobody ever stood me up on purpose for an interview request. I covered the NFL for 10 years. I know what it’s like to have bad words said to me, and definitely know what it’s like to be blown off. It’s remarkable that it never happened at Air Force, considering how many stories I wrote and how many interactions I had. I’m not saying the cadets are perfect – were you when you were 21 or 22, much less 19 or 20? – but for the most part they represent the academy well. You should be proud to root for them.

Here’s an example: I had planned to do a story on Falcons center Michael Husar Jr. for weeks. His father played at Michigan, and I knew this week was a big deal for his family. Then Husar hurt his knee against Idaho State and was out for the season. I requested to interview him, not knowing if he’d want to talk. He came down to the media room on crutches, and was great for the story I did for Friday’s paper. I told him a few times how I was sorry to be talking to him under those circumstances. I thanked him for coming down to talk, but he thanked me back.

“Thanks for the interest,” Husar said after answering questions about the most devastating injury of his football career.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time covering Air Force, and all nine of my years at The Gazette. I saw great games at Navy and at the Military Bowl. I got to chronicle incredible stories like diver Moranda Hern’s non-profit organization to help teenage girls, the always entertaining Frank Serratore, the incredibly touching backstory on the Holadays and their record donation to Air Force, Alex Means starting a family and the inside story on Troy Calhoun’s first recruiting class. There were so many other fun and interesting stories too, and I couldn’t have done them without the cooperation of the Air Force athletes and coaches and the great work by the sports information staff, or without the support from The Gazette, especially from Jake Schaller, who laid a great foundation before I replaced him on the beat and just handed his playbook to me.

I also enjoyed interacting with all of you, whether it was one of the great and proud parents of an Air Force player, or the fans who read and commented. I’ll be @YahooSchwab on Twitter, and I hope you all stay in touch with me there.

Thank you.

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Air Force tight end Nate Dreslinski is from Michigan, says he knows some people on the Michigan football team, and has a pretty good idea what the Wolverines’ demeanor will be for Saturday’s game against the Falcons.

Michigan was embarrassed 41-14 in its season opener against Alabama.

“I have some friends on that team, and they’re angry,” Dreslinski said. “That wasn’t a pretty loss for them, and they know it. They’re going to come out looking to prove a point.”

The psyche of Michigan has been a hot topic around the academy this week. There’s two pretty obvious schools of thought. Either Michigan, which had every right to believe it could beat Alabama last week, will be mentally crushed and have a hangover against Air Force; or Michigan would be livid and come out ready to pound whoever its next opponent happened to be. And this week it happens to be the Falcons.

The latter is what happened last year to Air Force. TCU lost against Baylor in its season opener, giving up 50 points to Robert Griffin III and friends, then came to Air Force and took out its frustration on the Falcons in Week 2. The Horned Frogs won that game 35-19.

Michigan coach Brady Hoke seems intent on making sure his team isn’t still thinking about last week’s game.

“You can’t let one team beat you twice,” Hoke said in his Monday press conference, which was transcribed on the school’s website. “I mean, you can’t do that.

“I think this week we’ll learn a little bit more about our leadership. I’ve liked it to this point. This week we’ll learn a little bit more on how motivated they are. I think when you only have 11 guaranteed opportunities left and you’re Michigan, I think you’ll be very motivated.”

Nate Dreslinski grew up about 25 miles away from Ann Arbor in Clinton, Mich., but grew up an Ohio State fan. He suddenly got very interested in Michigan when the Wolverines started recruiting him, however.

That fell through when coach Rich Rodriguez was fired, and replacement Brady Hoke wasn’t as interested in Dreslinski. Dreslinski ended up at Air Force, where he plays tight end. He started last week’s season opener in a two-tight end set. Among the people in the stands at Michigan Stadium this Saturday when Air Force plays at the Wolverines will be Dreslinski’s 89-year-old great grandmother, who has been a Michigan season-ticket holder as long as Nate Dreslinski can remember.

“It’s been her dream to see the Dreslinski name run out there on the field,” Dreslinski said.

Taking the field at the Big House doesn’t seem like Dreslinski’s dream, however. As someone who grew up rooting for the rival and then wasn’t recruited by the current coaching staff (“He was looking for a bigger tight end, more of a 6-5, 6-6 guy,” Dreslinski said. “I’m only about 6-3, so I wasn’t going to fit that mold.”), he referred to Michigan Stadium as “just another football stadium,” then quickly cleared up what he meant by that comment.

“As an opponent going in, yeah,” Dreslinski said. “Obviously it’s the biggest stadium in the country, it’s a very stoic program, but going in there Saturday, it’s just us vs. them. I could care less if there’s a million people there or 10 people there.”

Dreslinski said his great grandmother was “pumped up” when he was being recruited by Michigan and went on some unofficial visits with him. Although it would be hard to blame him if he were upset at Michigan for discontinuing his recruitment, he said that doesn’t really bother him.

“I’m happy where I’m at,” Dreslinski said. “I’m not going to say I hold a grudge. But I want to beat them bad because that’s my hometown team, essentially. It would have been cool to play there, but I’m happy where I am.”

Let’s just say that Alabama doesn’t have to worry about Air Force coach Troy Calhoun dropping it from the top of his weekly ballot anytime soon.

“Hands down, I think the most talented team in all of football right now is Alabama,” Calhoun said during his weekly press conference. “That includes the New England Patriots. They’re close to there.”

Just in case you thought Calhoun was joking about Alabama being more talented than the team that finished just short of winning the Super Bowl last year, he expressed the same sentiment on the Mountain West coaches teleconference and followed it up with, “And I’m serious about that too.”

Well then.

The subject came up because Calhoun was asked if Michigan showed any vulnerability in a loss to the 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers Alabama last weekend. Not surprisingly, his opinion of Michigan didn’t change much because of that loss.

“You looked at enough tape and seen enough of the guys who are going to play this Saturday to know they’re still a top 10 football team,” Calhoun said.

The career stat line for Air Force receiver Colton Huntsman is quite tidy: one carry, 12 yards, one touchdown. Can’t get any better than that.

Huntsman, a sophomore, scored on his first career carry in the fourth quarter against Idaho State in the season opener. Nobody realistically thinks that they’re going to take their first career carry to the end zone (though, running back Jon Lee also did that in last year’s season opener).

“I wasn’t expecting it to happen,” Huntsman said. “It happened so quick. Everyone did that job, and it allowed me to get in the end zone.”

Huntsman is a converted quarterback, and had a good camp. He got some additional playing time last week because Ty MacArthur was knocked out of the game in the second quarter. Huntsman could play a big role this Saturday at Michigan if MacArthur isn’t ready. Either way, his perfect record as a college player will probably come to an end sooner or later, but it’s a pretty cool story he can tell years from now.

“It was a lot of fun,” Huntsman said. “It felt great to get in the end zone on my first carry.”

In the midst of the typical coachspeak about blown assignments and needing to improve by Week 2, Air Force defensive coordinator Charlton Warren was asked what it was like to run a defense for the first time in his career.

And, well, it was pretty cool.

“It was a little surreal, a little humbling, and very exciting,” Warren said. “It’s a different role for me and I enjoyed doing it, and I enjoyed working with these other coaches, because it wasn’t just me.”

Warren’s defense looks a little different, more like Tim DeRuyter’s scheme, which had plenty of moving parts. The Falcons are obviously going to try to attack opposing offenses by lining up in different looks and sending extra rushers from just about everywhere. The Falcons picked up two sacks and six tackles for loss against Idaho State.

The first half was good, with the Falcons pitching a shutout, but Air Force gave up three long touchdown drives in the second half. Warren said he thought the players relaxed a little bit, and the second-half performance affected his opening-day grade as coordinator.

“I probably give myself a C-minus,” Warren said. “Coming out in the second half, they’re going up and down the field, and I take it personally. So I’ll do better.”

NFL cutdown day was Friday, and former Air Force receiver Chad Hall and defensive tackle Ben Garland were released by the Eagles and Broncos, respectively.

The Eagles announced their cuts on Friday. A source, who didn’t want to be identified because the Broncos haven’t yet announced their cuts, said Garland was let go as well. Both players have practice squad eligibility and could be brought back in that capacity by their respective teams.

Hall has been added to the Eagles roster in midseason each of the past two years, appearing in 15 games total. Garland, who recently completed his two-year commitment and joined the Broncos full time this year as part of the Palace Chase program, has yet to appear in a NFL regular season game.

While Air Force was hoping to get all 12 of its football games on television this year, getting only 11 on did provide an opportunity.

Air Force will stream Saturday’s game against Idaho State live on www.goairforcefalcons.com, which will give the academy a chance to try out a new medium for its football games. The broadcast will be free and the academy is hoping for no major glitches.

With a big help from KVOR play-by-play man Jim Arthur, who has been a big part of bringing the radio feed to the internet broadcast, the Falcons think they are ready for the new adventure into online broadcasting. There was a test run at the stadium during last Saturday’s practice, which went well.

“At this point we have not encountered any major issues,” associate athletic director of communications Troy Garnhart said.

Air Force has streamed other sports on its website, but nothing as large as a home football game. Air Force has no idea how many people will tune in online, but Garnhart said the academy expects the number to be in the thousands.

Air Force has had one freshman start the season opener on defense since 1981, and that was current senior Alex Means. This Saturday against Idaho State, freshman Alexander Hansen might start at defensive end. Even if he doesn’t start, he’ll likely get some playing time. So will freshmen like linebacker Connor Healy and cornerback Gavin McHenry. If the Falcons blow out Idaho State, which went 2-9 last year in the Football Championship Subdivision, many freshmen will make their college football debuts.

Means knows better than anyone on the roster how difficult that first game can be for a freshman.

“It was difficult,” Means said. “I remember that whole week leading up to it, with the rigors of the academy and trying to deal with all of that and then school and trying to focus on a football game – I had a week where I was nervous. When Thursday and Friday came and I said, ‘This is nothing, this is just another football game,’ and tried to tell myself I wasn’t nervous.

“I remember on the field,  running out I was like, ‘I belong here, I can do this.’ And then the nerves caught up on that first play. I don’t think I took a step. The play ran right by me. I didn’t move once. Then I remember Kenny (Lamendola) came up and smacked me on the head and said, ‘Hey, it’s just football, let’s go.’ And that’s what we’ve been trying to tell the younger guys: ‘Listen, you’re young and you may not start but you’re going to be getting reps, and don’t be nervous. I was there, I understand that position. You get a little cottonmouth the night before. You might get nervous thinking this is different, but it’s just football. You play the game you grew up loving since fourth grade. Just play.’ Us as older guys try to help them out with that.”

As always, take it for what it’s worth, but Air Force released a depth chart for the first time this season, and it lists five starting spots as being up for grabs. Here it is, with the starter listed and the backup in parentheses:

OFFENSE

QB: Connor Dietz (Kale Pearson OR Tucker Tipton)

RB: Wes Cobb OR Cody Getz OR Jon Lee

FB: Mike DeWitt (Broam Hart)

WR: Ty MacArthur (Colton Huntsman)

WR: Chris Jordan (Dontae Strickland)

TE: Austin Briehl (Marcus Hendricks)

LT: Jason Kons (Evan Kaufman)

LG: Drew Kerber (David Lore)

C: Michael Husar (Austin Hayes)

RG: Jordan Eason (Moshood Adeniji)

RT: Alex Huskisson (Jerry Henry)

DEFENSE

DE: Joseph Champaign (Riley Cannon)

NG: Cody Miller OR Nick DeJulio

DE: Nick Fitzgerald OR Alexander Hansen

OLB: Alex Means (Miles Fisher)

ILB: Austin Niklas (Connor Healy)

ILB: Josh Kusan (James Chambers)

OLB: Jared Jones OR Steven Sumpter

CB: Chris Miller (Gavin McHenry)

SS: Brian Lindsay

FS: Christian Spears OR Anthony LaCoste

CB: Steffon Batts (Gavin McHenry)

SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Parker Herrington FG/PAT (Briceton Cannada kickoffs)

P: David Baska (Zach Hoffmann

LS: Harrison Elliott (Kevin Carrington)

Holder: Tucker Tipton (David Baska)

PR: Cody Getz (Ty MacArthur)

KOR: Anthony LaCoste OR Ty MacArthur

Some notes:

- Alexander Hansen would be just the second freshman since 1981, joining Alex Means, to start on Air Force’s defense in the season opener if he wins the job.

- This is a young team. Of the 44 players listed on the offense or defense two deep, only 18 are seniors.

- The roster doesn’t reflect every player in the program. There were seven freshmen listed on this year’s opening day roster, compared to just two last year. The freshmen listed on the varsity roster are: defensive back Dexter Walker, linebacker Connor Healy, quarterback Dano Graves, cornerback Gavin McHenry, linebacker Reggie Barnes, tight end Garrett Griffin and Hansen.

- That Graves was listed on the roster and fellow freshman quarterback Jaleel Awini wasn’t shows that Graves is ahead on the program’s depth chart. Awini lined up a little bit at receiver on Monday in practice but Calhoun said Awini is still a quarterback for the long haul.

- Players like receiver Drew Coleman and outside linebacker Stephan Atrice aren’t listed on the depth chart because they missed most of camp with injuries. They could move up the depth chart quickly now that they’re back.