By Harry Minium
Ricky Rahne has made a lot of great moves in his first seven months at Old Dominion University's football coach and his one bad move, frankly, was endearing.
The 39-year-old former Penn State offensive coordinator hired the youngest staff in the Football Bowl Subdivision and signed what may have been ODU's best recruiting class last winter, including two of the top five highest rated recruits ever to sign with the Monarchs.
Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, Rahne mingled with alumni, donors, students and others and got ODU's fan base juiced up. Since the coronavirus, he and his staff worked hard to generate relationships with high school players and garnered several good commitments that also has ODU's fans on social media jazzed.
NCAA rules prohibit me from naming the recruits, but so far, it's a good class. And that's remarkable considering that because of the pandemic, those players have yet to visit ODU.
As for bad moves? The only one I've seen came during a Zoom staff meeting Tuesday afternoon, when, while reaching back to retrieve his I-Pad, Rahne flopped out of his chair and onto the floor.
I didn't see it at first – I had 29 faces on my computer screen when it happened and was listening to athletic director Wood Selig – but Rahne made sure we all knew about it at the end of the meeting by thanking everyone for not laughing. He also urged us to Tweet about it.
When odusports.com posted a video of the flop on Twitter, it went viral not only among Monarchs fans, but also with coaches and fans around the country. As of Thursday morning, it had more than 11,000 views.
Image is grainy, but that's Rahne in the middle.
Rahne was a standout quarterback at Cornell, but looked as uncoordinated as a sports writer when he hit the floor. You couldn't see Rahne's face after he flopped and he says that was intentional – he didn't want people to see how hard he was laughing.
"I thought it was hilarious. I was laughing hysterically," he said.
When he resumed his seat, he did so with a serious look on his face, as if nothing had happened.
Credit Rahne for not having a fragile ego.
"If I ever get to the point that I can't laugh about myself, then I know it's time to re-examine myself," he said.
His boys, Ryder and Jake, thought the video was funny and wife, Jennifer, liked the video on Twitter and kidded her husband about it Wednesday morning.
He texted a ton of his recruits the video, and he said, like his family, most thought it was funny.
He also used the incident as a learning experience, saying "it all happened because of a lack of preparation."
He usually takes notes during meetings on his I-Pad, but it had not been charged when the meeting began. "I was looking back to see if it was charged and wheels came down from underneath me," he said. "Like I said, lack of preparation."
You can see it happen on the link below:
https://twitter.com/ODUSports/status/1278094104375820288?s=20
ODU recently set a new deadline of Friday, July 24th, for fans to renew their season tickets. That signals that ODU is moving forward to play this season in spite of the uncertainty because of the pandemic.
There was good news in the announcement for fans. If for whatever reason you decide not to renew your tickets in 2020, we'll hold your seats for you in 2021. And if you purchase tickets this year and some games aren't played, you can get a full refund on your ticket price. You can also designate that money to go toward tickets in 2021 or turn it into a tax-deductible donation to the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation.
Fundraising by ODAF this season will go entirely toward scholarships for athletes in all of ODU's 16 teams.
The deadline comes one day after Rahne gets his first look at his new team in action. The Monarchs begin ten days of "walk-through" practices on July 23, and the emphasis here is on "walk." No helmets or pads are allowed but the team will walk through offensive and defensive plays.
The pandemic shut down most of the nation's colleges shortly before ODU was to begin spring practice, so Rahne has not had a chance to see his players do anything but run and do agility drills during winter workouts.
About half of ODU's football players returned to campus two weeks ago and most of the rest are set to return next week.
As practice is not yet allowed, the players are working with strength and conditioning coach Dwight Galt IV and his staff. Rahne said he hasn't watched the workouts, but is reconnecting with his players.
"I have gone down there before workouts started and talked with players," he said.
"I've made sure that they've seen me and I've seen them. It's good to have them back. It's been a long time. Being able to see them again makes everything a little more real."
While his assistant coaches have watched film of last season's team, Rahne said he's watched very little.
"I told the kids when I got here that they would all have an opportunity to earn" playing time, he said. "I want to make sure I have fresh eyes" when practice starts.
Summer camp begins the first week of August.
He says he has a depth chart, but that it's more an organizational tool than a true indicator or who will play. After all, when you ask the first-team offense to take the field, there has to be a first-team offense. Rahne says the depth chart is fluid and will likely change dramatically once practice starts.
Although there is talk of shortening the season, or pushing football back to the spring, Rahne says he's preparing to open on Sept. 4 against Wake Forest and work has already begun on plans for the other 11 games, too.
The University of Virginia makes its first visit to S.B. Ballard Stadium on Oct. 24. It will be the first time in school history that ODU has hosted two Power 5 schools – Wake and U.Va. are both from the ACC.
The Cavaliers won the ACC's Coastal Division title last season and lost to Clemson in the league championship game. Both teams return most of the players who played in bowl games last season.
"We're definitely planning on playing this fall," Rahne said. "We're making practice plans and game plans as if we're going to play on schedule.
"But just like anything, our plans are open to be adjusted. We have very detailed plans to make sure we're ready to play Wake Forest. We're also going to be ready adjust.
"If we have to, we're not going to complain about it. We're going to make the best of it and move forward."
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu
Minium: ODU Football Coach Ricky Rahne Takes a Fall and Comes up Smiling
