AIR FORCE ACADEMY - When Shaun Carney walked onto the practice field Monday for the opening spring football practice, he knew things would be different.

"It's still a little awkward," said Carney, a senior-to-be and a three-year starting quarterback. "Not having coach (Fisher) DeBerry around, it's a lot different. He was here 23 years, and all of a sudden, you've got a new guy coming in. We still don't know what it's going to be like. (Monday) will answer a lot of questions for all of us."

DeBerry, an institution at the academy, retired in December, having compiled a 169-109-1 record, including 6-6 in bowls.

His replacement, Troy Calhoun, is a 1989 graduate of the academy, where he was a quarterback.

Calhoun most recently worked as offensive coordinator for the Houston Texans after career stops as a graduate assistant to DeBerry at the academy, an assistant at Wake Forest and assistant to the Broncos' Mike Shanahan.

Calhoun has indicated he will modify the offense, relying less on the triple option attack, a DeBerry trademark, that spring practice will be a time to evaluate the talent and roster spots are fluid. He has said, smiling a bit, he occasionally might use the shotgun.

"He played in the offense, he knows how well the triple option worked for us and he knows the shotgun," Carney said. "He's kind of putting it all together now.

"(The coaching change) came around pretty fast. We have a lot to learn in a new offense. I do think it will be a challenge. It's a lot different, but that makes it exciting."

Calhoun had been meeting with players since arriving in early January - even eating with them in the cadet dining hall - and briefing them on the new system. Carney's excitement is shared by others.

"It's a great atmosphere," said returning running back Chad Hall, the team's leading rusher last year. "Everyone's behind the new coaches and we're all excited. They were both great coaching staffs, but we've probably gone from one of the oldest staffs to one of the youngest, so there's a lot of differences.

"They're fired up, they're getting after us and it's a whole different atmosphere. We're all buying into it, and we can't wait to start."

Hall also knows some changes are in store for the offense.

"After three years of running it, you finally get comfortable doing it," he said. "You've almost been in every situation. We're still going to run that (the previous offense), but we all look at it like a challenge, especially for us seniors. We only have one more year to do it, so we're going to do it and do it and do it until we perfect it. We have a great work ethic. We're not going to stop until we have it 100 percent."

Returning inside linebacker Drew Fowler expressed a similar sentiment.

"We're all open to whatever comes at us," Fowler said. "Whatever they want us to do to win, we'll do pretty much anything. Whether that's changing our entire offense or defense, we're going to do whatever it takes."

Added Hall: "He expects so much from us because he actually knows what we're going through. So he knows that we can push that much harder, whereas another coach that didn't graduate from here, you could always say, 'You don't know what it's like to go through it.' He's really making it seem like we have to excel at everything, not just football."

"You can't use any more excuses like, 'Ah, I had a tough day up there,' " Carney said. "He's not going to buy it. He's been there. He did it, too."