Joe Crispin introduced as the new Air Force head basketball coach
Rob Namnoum
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Joe Crispin is a man on a mission: “When I’m on a mission that I believe in, I’m a dangerous dude,” says Crispin.
The dangerous dude is a gym rat at heart. “This man lives, eats, sleeps, and breathes basketball. He’s going to be exactly what we need,” says Air Force athletic director Nathan Pine.
He is what the Air Force needed, and it sounds like he needed the Air Force, “Oh yeah, I love it. I mean, you can tell I’m I’m alive. I didn’t even know their record when I was first asked, I kind of knew some stuff but then I looked at the record and it was like, oh, this is perfect. The more impossible it seems, the more I’m into it,” says Crispin.
He’s into it because he views himself as an underdog who is coaching underdogs. “In today’s environment, NIL and money, people are going to view us that way, right? As underdogs. Perfect. They’re going to talk about all that we don’t have. Perfect. That’s right where we want to start. But underdogs, when you truly understand the David and Goliath story have they they don’t just survive. They gained a competitive advantage,” says Crispin.
A competitive advantage is why the Air Force hired Crispin, but he is a realist: “Suffering always comes before glory, but you have to get on the other side of the suffering to get the glory,” says Crispin.
Coach Crispin believes that in order for the fly guys to witness the glory, they need to dream. “We’re going to dream big and go for it. The path is never like this. There’ll be some zig zags, but if you go along for the ride, you’ll get there,” says Crispin.