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By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Sports Writer
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) -- Fisher DeBerry retired Friday after 23 years as Air Force's head coach, finishing with three straight losing seasons and two big controversies in his final years.
The 68-year-old DeBerry guided the Falcons to three conference championships and spent 27 years at the school, including four as an assistant coach.
"There comes a time in every man's life when you have to look at the big picture and decide what's the best thing for your family," he said in a prepared statement. "After 27 exciting and wonderful years here at the academy and a total of 44 years of coaching, I am announcing my retirement from active coaching."
DeBerry, whose 169-107-1 record made him the winningest coach in Air Force history, was 35-11 against Army and Navy and led Air Force to 14 Commander-in-Chief's trophies awarded to the winner of the annual service academy rivalry.
DeBerry has had problems off the field in recent years.
In 2005, he was criticized after a 48-10 loss to TCU when he said Air Force didn't have enough "Afro-American" players, singling them out for being able to run well. DeBerry was reprimanded by top brass at the academy and offered a public apology.
In 2004, academy officials asked him to remove a banner from the locker room that included the lines "I am a Christian first and last ... I am a member of Team Jesus Christ."
DeBerry had the third-longest tenure at one school of any active college coach, after Joe Paterno (41 years at Penn State) and Bobby Bowden (31 years at Florida State).
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-12-15-06 1235MST
