Sept. 17, 2006
ODU expects to name coach in JanuaryAthletic director Jim Jarrett will have two good sources as he looks to hire a coach: George Welsh and Dick Sheridan, who know what it takes to win.
BY DAVE JOHNSON247-4649
September 13 2006
NORFOLK -- Old Dominion arranged a press conference to announce the addition of former coaches George Welsh and Dick Sheridan to its football transition team. But the big news came when Monarchs athletic director Jim Jarrett announced that he hopes to have a head coach onboard by January.
That's more than two full years before Old Dominion is scheduled to play its first game as a Division I-AA program. But Jarrett said the Monarchs are speeding up their timetable in order to get better organized.
"We want to have somebody with football expertise at Old Dominion to begin recruiting the 2008 graduating class early on," Jarrett said. "The '08 class, of course, will come to Old Dominion a year before our first game. They'll be here and redshirt the year. They'll be able to practice, and we'll have a coaching staff in place to work with them."
Jarrett said he wants somebody with head-coaching experience but added that won't necessarily be a deal-breaker.
"We'll look at anybody who applies," Jarrett said. "We'll be interested in coaches who understand we'll have a budget that can strongly support playing Division I-AA football."
As he evaluates candidates, Jarrett won't have to look far for wisdom. Both Welsh and Sheridan say they are not interested in the coaching job, but they know plenty about the profession. In a combined 43 seasons as head coaches, they won 310 games - 21 in the postseason. In one way or another, each had a hand in building a program.
When Welsh arrived at Virginia in December of 1981, the Cavaliers had finished above .500 only twice in the previous 29 seasons. They never had been to a bowl game, and the coaches were working out of trailers. But during his 19 seasons, U.Va. went 134-86-3 and made 12 postseason appearances. Scott Stadium evolved from a glorified hole in the ground to the 61,500-seat facility it is now.
Welsh also helped revive Navy's program, which had won 28 games in nine seasons when he took over. The Middies won 55 games during Welsh's nine seasons.
"I've been privy to the drawings of the practice fields and the stadium and what they're doing, and they're off to a better start than what I had coming to Virginia," said Welsh, who turned 73 last month. "I think it's a success story waiting to happen."
Sheridan went 52-29-3 from 1986-92 at N.C. State, where he led the Wolfpack to six postseason appearances. Before that, he was 69-33-2 at Division I-AA Furman. Sheridan retired from coaching after the 1992 season, but four years ago he was asked by Coastal Carolina to help with its creation of a I-AA football program.
Coastal has progressed rapidly in three seasons. But Sheridan sees Old Dominion as being farther along than Coastal Carolina at this stage.
"The similarities are that both presidents - Roseann Runte at Old Dominion and Ronald Ingle at Coastal Carolina - were the moving forces," he said. "Without that, nothing's going to happen. But the differences are that Old Dominion already has a stadium and a conference to go into. And they're right in the middle of a great recruiting area. I predict great success here, and I'm just happy to help any way I can."
Jarrett said he is currently putting together a multi-year schedule. ODU, which will begin competing in the Colonial Athletic Association in 2011, will play its home games in refurbished Foreman Field.
Sheridan, 65, will focus more on the day-to-day operations of starting up a program while Welsh handles fund-
raising. Each will commute a few times a month - Welsh from Charlottesville, Sheridan from South Carolina. «Copyright © 2006, Daily Press