Rahne ‘absolutely ready’ to lead ODU football
Former Penn State OC will be program’s second head coach
NORFOLK — Ricky Rahne had plenty of time to think as he drove his family on their annual tour of major league baseball stadiums this past summer.
From Toronto to Detroit to Cincinnati to Cleveland, there were stretches when Rahne’s wife, Jennifer, was asleep or listening to a book and theirs sons, Ryder, 10, and Jake, 7, were plugged in to their headphones. Across those miles, Rahne began reconsidering his long-held belief that he didn’t want to be a head football coach.
As offensive coordinator at Penn State, Rahne was the rare assistant who didn’t aspire to the big corner office, Nittany Lion head coach James Franklin said. It was like “finding a unicorn,” Franklin told The Athletic in July.
Not long after, though, Rahne said he began reflecting on everything he’d learned under Franklin and under Kansas State coach Bill Snyder before that.
His conclusion: “I would be pretty good at this job,” he said.
Old Dominion thought so as well. Rahne, 39, was introduced Wednesday as the leader of a new era of Monarch football, and just the second coach in the program’s 13-year history. Though details remain to be worked out, Rahne has agreed to a five-year deal at a base salary of $750,000 with additional incentives yet to be determined.
As befitting someone whose vacation consisted of piloting a minivan across the Midwest to watch America’s pastime, Rahne came across as down-to-earth and relatable, while also passionate and resolute when talking about his plan to turn around a program in need of new energy and direction after three straight losing seasons.
“The question you always get is: are you ready?” Rahne said. “Yeah, I’m absolutely ready.”
As ready as anyone who has not been a head coach can be, after 14 years as a Power Five conference assistant at Penn State, Vanderbilt and Kansas State. Rahne knows there will be challenges he can’t anticipate. He compared it to becoming a parent, but said he’s confident he can handle whatever comes his way.
“I feel very confident how I’m going to do things because I have a good moral compass and that’s the first place to start,” he said. “I have great mentors that I can call, lean on.”
Among them is Franklin, with whom Rahne worked or under for 11 years and who was instrumental in helping him land the job. ODU was interviewing candidates as late as Sunday night, athletic director Wood Selig said. Franklin was a strong advocate for Rahne, who had been part of turnarounds under Franklin at Vanderbilt and Penn State.
Selig called with an offer while Rahne was on a recruiting trip for Penn State late Monday morning. Rhane accepted on the spot and immediately turned the car around.
Selig
said ODU had been looking for nothing short of a “miracle worker” to replace coach Bobby Wilder. Someone who had been part of a rebuilding effort at the highest level, who could command the respect of the team, and who is a dynamic recruiter who could re-establish ODU as a player in its talent-rich home region.
ODU wanted an offensive mind to compete in Conference USA’s wide-open East Division. It was not interested in FCS coaches, regardless of how successful they were. The program had already gone that route, when it moved up from FCS to FBS under Wilder, Selig said.
Out of a dozen candidates interviewed over the phone, and three brought to campus over the weekend under cover of darkness, Rahne stood out, Selig said.
“We are absolutely confident we have found who and what we are seeking in our next head coach,” Selig said.
Among Rahne’s first tasks will be hiring a staff and securing recruits already committed to ODU before the start of the early signing period next week.
Rahne said he’ll consider current assistant coaches, while also casting a wide net among his coaching contacts. He hopes to have a staff in place by next month.
“I want to make sure I get the right coaches,” he said. “… I’m not going to rush and make rash decisions.”
Rahne said eventually each staff member will be assigned a part of the state to recruit.
“I don’t want to limit us necessarily to the 757. We need to do a good job in all of Virginia” as well as neighboring states within a six-hour radius, he said.
Rahne has not looked at film of the 2019 season but said statistics reveal several areas that need attention. Among them: red zone offense and defense, explosive plays, sacks and forced turnovers.
Selig said ODU has committed to raise $5 million over the next five years to supplement coaching salaries and ramp up other parts of the program. The additional funds should put ODU in the top three in C-USA in salaries and overall budget, he said.
Rahne said he’s confident ODU has everything in place to win.
“I look forward to beginning the process of bringing a championship to S.B. Ballard Stadium,” he said.
In deciding to take the plunge after all, and become a head coach, Rahne said he realized he had needed a new challenge.
Introducing his family, he teared up when talking about his wife, whom he met when he was a quarterback at Cornell and she was a volleyball player. He called her “my best friend, my most loyal ally and my fiercest advocate.”
He also praised her as a traveling companion on journeys old and new, including a humble but transformative one this past summer.
“Nothing says big-time football coach like driving a Toyota Sienna around the country,” Rahne said.