The leading rusher for the Air Force Academy’s 2018 football team is preparing for court-martial Thursday rather than a matchup with Boise State University.
Fullback Kevin Cole Fagan will be tried for a 2017 incident that prosecutors claim took place in Breckenridge, court papers said Tuesday. It’s the first time the academy has said why Fagan was removed from the Falcons squad last spring.
“It must be emphasized that charges are merely accusations, and the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” the academy said in a statement.
Fagan, a Florida native, was a high school football phenom who came to the academy in 2016. He rode the bench his freshman year and only logged 27 yards as a sophomore before bursting on the scene and through opposing defenses in 2018.
Fagan averaged 5.4 yards per carry in 2018, marching for 997 yards and seven touchdowns. The academy’s top weapon from scrimmage, he also caught three balls for 53 yards.
He had one of the most dominating days in Air Force football annals Nov. 22, rumbling for 260 yards against Colorado State University. It remains in the record books as the best performance by an Air Force fullback and the third-most yards recorded by a Falcons rusher in a single game.
Fagan is the son of former run-stopping San Francisco 49ers defensive end Kevin Fagan, a two-time Super Bowl winner.
Cole Fagan was a player who Air Force coaches said they admired for being “mean” on the gridiron.
He even drew rare praise from academy coach Troy Calhoun.
“He is focused. He is very intense, and he has football pedigree,” Calhoun told The Gazette.
“His dad was a great football player, obviously. And just competitively, the family … their drive.”
Fagan was pulled from the Falcons roster in June, with the school citing an investigation.
Charges against Fagan were issued July 1, court papers say.
In the court-martial, Fagan will likely see the case play out before a panel of officers. That military jury could convict Fagan on a two-thirds vote or acquit him.
In the military, drug use can carry long prison sentences. Fagan faces as much as five years behind bars and could be booted from the military after any time behind bars.
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