By Harry Minium
In ordinary times, Old Dominion University football coach Ricky Rahne would be spending a good portion of this summer mingling with ODU fans.
But because these are not ordinary times, Rahne hasn't been out and about since early March, when the coronavirus pandemic began in earnest.
So, Rahne did the next best thing last week. He held an online Zoom call with ODU fans and for more than an hour, took questions from all comers.
Attendance was limited to 100 and I wish more people could have heard Rahne. He's an interesting speaker with a compelling and positive personality and gave some surprising answers. He's also a funny guy.
The former Penn State offensive coordinator says he would love to play at big-time Power 5 opponents as long "as the price is right."
He also urged fans to renew season tickets and make their usual donations, regardless of whether football is played this fall, to help the athletic department through a difficult financial time.
An aside here: Athletic Director Wood Selig announced last month that if the season is canceled, you may ask for your ticket payment to go toward 2021 season tickets, ask that it be turned into a tax-deductible donation or, if you prefer, receive a full refund.
We also learned about his relationship with Taylor Heinicke, when he kissed his wife the first time in public and what logo ODU will wear on its helmets.
Portions of his Zoom call:
ODU football players returned to campus for voluntary workouts over the last month. Rahne was asked about his players' attitudes given the pandemic and uncertainty it has caused:
"The kids are doing everything we're telling them to do. They're excited about what we can be this season and they want to put their best foot forward.
"What I've tried to emphasize is this is a litmus test on how much you love the game of football. If you let it slide for a day or two or three and then you try to tell me, 'coach, I love ball,' well, you didn't actually love it enough to work at it when we were telling you to.
"This has shone a giant mirror in the faces of where these guys are at. A lot of our guys like what they see. For others, I think it's been a wake-up call. Some are thinking, 'Maybe I wasn't paying quite as much attention to my health and well-being as I should have been.'
"But I'll be honest with you, that's really been few and far between on our team. I've been pretty excited about how in shape they came back."
Rahne was asked about his one-on-one communication with players and said he made the time while he was moving to Norfolk to call them.
"I called each one of my guys and was able to talk to every player. I talked to them about how they're feeling, what they are thinking. Some were five-to-10 minute conversations. Some were 45 minutes to an hour conversations. And it was really good. I was able to dive into some things so that they were able to see where I am coming from and I was able to see where they are coming from.
"Our assistant coaches, they all have good relationships with our players because they have Zoom meetings with them all the time. Well, I don't have Zoom meetings with them all the time. So, having that personal, one on one with all of them was awesome.
"I'm trying to build trust with them and the way you build trust is you don't lie to them. When they ask me a question, if I don't know the answer, I'll tell them that. Or I will tell them the truth and sometimes there are hard truths.
"In my mind, if I always tell these guys the truth, they will respect me and all of our coaches."
Asked about the unprecedented times in which we live, Rahne begged to differ.
"I keep trying to tell people it's not unprecedented. I'm a history guy and so I've done a lot of work looking at the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic. Some documentaries on it that are absolutely crazy. Did you know Babe Ruth got it twice? Only Babe Ruth could get it twice in his life.
"I'm trying to show my guys this isn't unprecedented, that you're not the only guys who've gone through something like this."
What kinds of logos will ODU have on its helmets this season?
Rahne responded to that one by pointing to the logo on the shirt he was wearing, ODU's traditional crown logo. In the past, ODU has used various logos.
"This one. And this is the only one I want.
"I want one logo that will tell people who's playing. We need to have a brand and to me, that's our brand."
There won't be any high school football in Virginia this fall. What's your reaction to that and what will that mean for ODU recruiting?
"I feel awful for these kids. I lost one game my senior year in college because of the 9/11 tragedy and it ate at me for years. That's just one game.
"Let's be honest, some of these high school kids aren't going to play college football. You can play soccer after your career is over. You can play basketball and volleyball. But there's no more putting on the pads and helmet and playing football. Some of these kids played their last game of football and they didn't even know it. And that's pretty sad.
"For us, quite frankly, it's going to be a positive. We separated the state into ten separate areas and every single assistant coach has a piece of it. We've done a really good job of combing the area, developing relationships with the coaches and with the kids.
"And quite frankly, we've offered a couple of these kids before other people did. We saw something in them. We thought these guys would blow up once they went to camps or played their senior years."
Rahne was asked about the difficulty of hiring a new coaching staff.
"That was hard because there were some guys who really helped me in this business and really, really wanted to be on this staff and they just weren't a good fit. It was hard for me to tell them it's not going to happen.
"That was a hard deal, that was a really hard deal. And I had to tell guys who were mentors of mine that I wasn't going to hire them.
"The thing I want to tell everyone on this call is that I got the guys I wanted. I know that's the most cliché thing you've ever heard, but I really did get the guys I wanted. I would hire the exact same staff tomorrow if I was given the opportunity. I could not be more excited.
"It's a time of uncertainty and adversity. That's when you see peoples' true character and how they're going to respond, and they've been unbelievable."
Taylor Heinicke is returning to ODU this fall to get his degree. While he would live (love) to serve as a volunteer coach, FBS rules greatly restrict what he could do. A fan wanted to know whether Rahne would welcome Heinicke.
"I want him around our program, but I also wanted him to know what that means, and that means he would not get a whole lot of interaction around our players. I needed him to know that up front.
"What I need is for him to decide what's best for him. Is it being around us, which would be awesome for us? I think it would be awesome for him, because I think coaching is where his future lies. Or would he be better off working with a local high school?
"We want him to be around. He's a legend."
What was your greatest football moment in football?
"We were down 28-0 to Harvard my junior year, and we were playing at Harvard. At halftime, coach pulled aside and says to me if we don't score on this first drive, I'm going to pull you. And on the first drive, we did not score.
"Luckily, my best friend in the world got a strip sack fumble on the first play from scrimmage on the next drive, so they didn't have time to put in the other kid. I threw a touchdown pass and we ended up winning, 29-28.
"It was an unbelievable day for me. I was not a very emotionally available person in college, but I kissed my wife (Jennifer) in public for the first time. My Mom saw it. That was a good day for me. A good sports day and a good day in my life."
What can you do to try to keep your players calm before and during a game?
"I once had a guy who would sleep every chance he had before a game. You would think, man, he's not ready. But he'd go out there and ball.
"Every time I saw our guys and thought they weren't ready, they'd go out and smash it. When we thought we were going to kill them, we didn't.
"I quit trying to read the minds of 18 and 20-year-old kids a long time ago."
When is ODU going to play Penn State?
"As soon as they give us the right money, we'll play them. I would love to take our team to State College. I think it would be an unbelievable experience for all of you to go there.
"There's probably going to be a little different philosophy here. I'm willing to play some of those money games. They may not all be at home and I apologize in advance for that. I'm willing to go play at those places because it helps everyone in our athletic department to go play those games, including our players, when they get to go out there a get a chance to shine.
"I'm not breaking a story here. Our athletic administration is well aware of my feelings."
There's a lot of uncertainty about the season. What can fans do now to support the program?
"We're going to have some fundraising events and I'm going to be blunt; we're going to need to raise some money. We're going to have issues that come up. I'm going to make my contribution, too. That's already in the works.
"I know things are very much in the air with season tickets right now. No one knows that more than me. If you purchase season tickets, it's not like you're going to lose your money.
"Wood Selig is one of the best people on the planet and he's going to do things the right way. And if you get those season tickets knowing they might be pushed to next year, that helps.
"The other thing is reach out to our kids once in a while on Twitter and say how much you appreciate them. The thing I'm most worried about right now is the mental health of our players. This is a difficult time for them.
"And if you live in Larchmont and see a big St. Bernard walking me, stop and say hello. I don't mind that sort of thing. Actually, I love it."
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu
Minium: ODU's Ricky Rahne on Taylor Heinicke, Playing Penn State and First Time He Kissed His Wife in Public
