Caleb Rillos recalls one valuable piece of guidance he received from his father before entering the Air Force Academy.

They’ll take a rock, Matt Rillos told his son, and throw it. Then they’ll tell you to go pick up the rock. You’ll bring the rock back and they’ll say, “That’s not the right rock.” So you pick up another rock.

The point: Nothing you do is ever going to be right, but just keep picking up rocks.

Armed with this, albeit odd, but useful knowledge of the head games that awaited him and loaded with a slew of physical and cerebral gifts, Rillos has thrived at the academy and could be poised for a breakout senior season at tight end for the Falcons.

The first rock, so to speak, for the son of Air Force grads Matt (a running back for the Falcons) and Brooke (Effland) Rillos (honored as the Female Athlete of the Year in for her work on the volleyball team) came in the form of picking up a new position.

A basketball player and wide receiver at Ralston Valley in Arvada, Rillos transitioned to tight end immediately at Air Force.

“Honestly, this school is like the best opportunity for me to improve as a blocker,” said Rillos, who now views the benefits of the position change pragmatically through the lens of helping his NFL prospects. “Route-running and catching is all an athleticism thing, where blocking is all technique and you kind of have to learn to do it.

“We block a lot, so you have to be good at it.”

The move to tight end meant a move behind Kyle Patterson, one of the most touted recruits in program history. But even that came with some positives.

Injuries haunted Patterson for his final two years with the Falcons, meaning ample playing time for Rillos. Despite those issues, Patterson received an invitation to the NFL Combine.

Rillos hopes the exposure Patterson has brought will open the door to future Air Force players whose receiving numbers are down because of the nature of the offense, but don’t necessarily reflect the ability of the player.

At 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, with a 40-yard time around 4.7 seconds, and with that athletic background (he averaged 18.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and two steals a game in basketball as a senior), Rillos is not an unrealistic pro prospect.

And because he’s so adeptly handled the academy with a GPA that ranks roughly 60th in his class of 1,000, he could stand poised to land a graduate school spot as he pursues a master of business administration to pair with a mechanical engineering degree. If he goes to grad school, that could potentially extend his football career by one more year as a graduate transfer.

“As sharp as Caleb is,” coach Troy Calhoun said, “when he’s at football, he’s able to be entirely focused upon what he does on the field.”

Rillos knows the path ahead of him will be complicated, but he signed up for complicated when he came to Air Force.

“I’ve just got to keep working,” Rillos said. “Hopefully I have two years left, this year and grad school somewhere else. But if this is the last year, hopefully I can do enough in this season.”

The highlights of Rillos’ career have been few, but spectacular. His first catch came on a 40-yard gain in the 2021 First Responder Bowl in a victory against Louisville (to illustrate just how much Air Force runs the ball, that catch snapped a streak of 94 consecutive rushes for the Falcons).

His first touchdown came on a 15-yard grab in the 2022 Armed Forces Bowl in a win over Baylor. His only other catch went for 15 yards last season at Utah State. He was also targeted on a deep pass against Navy and almost, spectacularly, brought down an overthrown pass with one hand.

“He’s going to be extremely special,” said safety Trey Taylor, who called Rillos the best receiver on the team. “He definitely has the ability to go to the NFL. That’s someone that I want to take those reps against any time I possibly can because we’re just making each other better. He’s able to get low, even being 6-5, 6-6, if he’s able to get under your pads you’re going to lose that every single time. So he teaches me things, I teach him things; we’re just going to make each other better for it.

“He’s going to block for us, he’s going to put people’s face in the dirt, then he’s also going to up and catch the deep balls. It’s hard to guard somebody whenever they’re running as fast as he is with the length that he has.”

From what Rillos has seen in spring practice, there’s a chance Air Force changes its offense a little this year. Some of that might hinge on which of the three top quarterbacks — Jensen Jones, Ben Brittain or Zac Larrier — wins the position. But Rillos is encouraged.

“I think, hopefully, we’ll throw a little bit more this year,” he said. “Last year with Brad Roberts (the nation’s leading rusher), you’re going to run the ball. … We’re going to get a new fullback this year, and new quarterback. I think we’re going to be more dynamic throwing and running.”

Rillos suffered a broken foot during one of Air Force’s final spring practices. So that will be yet another obstacle for him to overcome.

But, again, he’s used to setbacks, those designed by the academy or otherwise.

If he’s asked to pick up more rocks, or if Air Force does or does not throw the rock his direction, Rillos said he’ll be fine with whatever transpires at the school he’s followed his whole life and dubbed his “dream school” to The Gazette when he signed in December 2019, and that he’s helped to back-to-back 10-win seasons.

“I will be happy,” Rillos said. “I’ve had fun with the whole team, there’s some great dudes on this team. It’s really fun to win, and we’ve won a lot of games the last couple of years.”

FAMILY TRADITION

Yet another member of the Rillos family is considering Air Force.

Matt and Brooke (Effland) Rillos were cadet-athletes who graduated in 2000. Caleb is headed into his senior year with the Falcons as a tight end.

Josh Rillos is a 6-foot, 185-pound senior at Ralston Valley with a football offer from Air Force.

“I’m tall, and he’s fast,” the 6-5 Caleb said of his brother. “He got all the speed and I got all the height.”