By Harry Minium
Last Monday morning, just hours before Old Dominion University announced it was shutting down all fall sports, first-year football coach Ricky Rahne decided he needed to start what would be a difficult day with a good workout.
Although he understood the reasons why ODU decided to cancel the fall 2020 season for all sports, he was understandably frustrated about losing his first season of football and was also thinking about his role as coach in relation to his family and his players.
As he took a deep dive mentally, he stopped working out and wrote down what he was thinking. It only took him ten minutes.
Later that day, he shared it with his staff and Tim Kovacs, director of football operations told him, "we need to put this online. This is a message our kids need to see."
Rahne Tweeted it Wednesday, thinking it might help his players cope with their loss and perhaps speak to a few coaches but that it wouldn't generate a national buzz.
Instead, the Tweet went viral.
As of Saturday morning, it had between re-Tweeted 753 times, received 3,500 likes and 79 comments.
Some of college football's Twitter giants, including Sports Illustrated (1.8 million followers) and ESPN's Marty Smith and Tom Luginbill, who between them have nearly 400,000 followers, re-Tweeted the message. So did the Penn State football Twitter account (400,000 followers), 247Sports (250,000), Football Scoop (141,000) and the Daily Collegian (52,000), the Penn State student newspaper.
Rahne, as most of you know, was hired away from Penn State, where he was offensive coordinator.
Yahoo football and basketball writer Pete Thamel Tweeted "This was powerful by ODU's Head Coach @RickyRahne Good insight into the emotion on campuses all over the country" to his 158,000 followers.
And we don't know how many Twitter giants just re-Tweeted it without comment.
High school coaches from Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and Virginia commented on his post, dozens of ODU fans gushed and one website sent out his message in an email written in Spanish.
"I got goosebumps reading this," Tweeted WAVY-TV reporter Marielena Balouris. "@ODU is lucky to have you, @RickyRahne"
Several high school players put their highlights on their re-Tweets, asking Rahne to give him a look.
I don't have access to Rahne's Twitter analytics, but comparing his Tween with my most re-Tweeted links, clearly many millions of people saw his Tweet and hundreds of thousands, at a minimum, read his message.
The message itself was heartfelt and inspiring. "Who's ready to run through a wall" with Rahne, Tweeted one admirer.
And although Rahne didn't have this in mind when he hit the post button, it generated a ton of goodwill for ODU's football program.
He was interviewed by several national publications and that's an advantage of having a coach who was the offensive coordinator for one of the biggest programs in America. The national media, and many fans and college and high school coaches, all know who he is. It also doesn't hurt ODU's recruiting, and so far Rahne and his staff have recruited well.
The Tweet is below, but I'll try to summarize what he said briefly.
Rahne's Tweet
He said when he was younger, he never wanted to be identified as a football coach, but as he's matured, he realizes he is a coach, 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.
He said his wife, Jen, and sons, Ryder and Jake, have shared in his joy as a coach. The memory of Penn State standout Trace McSorely taking Ryder along for his three-minute final walk about Beaver Stadium after his last game there still "brings tears to my eyes."
His sons have watched the sun rise in the Rose Bowl and they've learned that Santa Claus could find them in a hotel room when his Penn State teams traveled to bowl games. He also emphasized that although he identifies as a coach, his family "is the most important thing in my life."
"This is all a long way of saying I love being a football coach. No pandemic or cancellation of a season is going to dampen my genuine love of the game or for this profession.
"I can promise each of the players on our team that I will continue to work each day to make them better players, better sons, better husbands, better fathers, better MEN."
This is the Ricky Rahne I've come to know in the eight months he was hired. Alas, I haven't gotten to know him as well as I'd like because of the coronavirus, but the Cornell graduate is a smart and caring guy who speaks about his family in every interview I do with him.
When the coronavirus is finally contained and Rahne gets to press the flesh with ODU fans, you will all come to know the guy who the Monarchs were so fortunate to hire.
When I sat down with Rahne this week, he seemed a little embarrassed that his Tweet generated so much notoriety.
"I never put it out there with the intention that it would go viral and that's very low on my list of priorities," he said. "But I'm glad so many people think it was a good message.
"I kind of had those thoughts rolling around my head especially on that day, when I knew we were going to announce that we're shutting things down. So, I just put them down on paper."
Rahne said he supported the decision made by President John R. Broderick and Athletic Director Wood Selig, but that doesn't mean he is happy ODU isn't playing football, nor would he be unhappy if the SEC, ACC and others play this fall.
"I would have gone either way" regardless of what ODU decided, he said.
"I would have loved to have had an opportunity to play this season," he said. "I think our kids were doing a great job of doing everything they were asked to do, so I would have been in favor of it if we had decided to play.
"But obviously you know President Broderick and Dr. Selig have so much more information than we had, and they were looking at it from a very wide scope while we've been looking at it from a very narrow perspective.
"I was happy that they included me in the conversation, but ultimately those guys have so much more experience and when they make a decision like that, you know you've got to accept it and understand where they are coming from."
The fact that the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Mountain West Conference joined ODU, the Mid-American Conference and independents UConn and UMass in shutting down does not make him feel better about ODU's choice.
"Yes, a lot of people have asked me that question and frankly the answer is no because I love college football," he said. "I don't want anybody not to be able to play, so while I think we made the right decision, it's also a very personal decision. They feel like the schools that intend to play feel like they're making the right decision and so do we."
The Football Bowl Subdivision is not controlled by the NCAA and thus every decision was made by individual schools or conferences. And that has created some chaos in college football's major college division.
Rahne agrees that FBS needs a "czar," but added "keep dreaming."
He's right. Getting ten FBS leagues and seven independents to all agree to give one person the power over their destinies is a gargantuan obstacle.
"I just don't see it happening in any way, shape or form where you're going to be able to get everybody to agree and abide by what one person says. There is such diversity in our leagues, never mind the diversity between the leagues themselves."
The coronavirus has not only taken the season away from ODU, it's also took away the chance for the L.R. Hill Center to become a place where coaches and their families gather.
Jen Rahne knew every player on Penn State's roster and she and her boys would often go to see Ricky at the Penn State football complex. Penn State coach James Franklin insisted that families be around his program and Rahne was eager for that to happen at ODU.
That promised to be a hectic but wonderful experience at ODU, which has the youngest FBS staff in America. Most are married and have kids. At times, L.R. Hill might have looked like a daycare center.
That hasn't happened, and it's something his wife and boys, assistant coaches and their families all miss.
Rahne loved having his players involved with his family at Penn State because it set a great example for them. He often tells his wife he loves her, regardless of whether they are in public or not, and says he wants to players to see and hear that because that's the kind of husbands they should be.
So, beginning Thursday night, players began coming over to his house, generally two or three at a time, to have dinner with his family.
"We're going to have them come over throughout the semester," he said. "Frankly, my wife feels poorly about the fact that she doesn't know the guys as well as she would like to. That's something we're going to solve."
Monday morning, when Selig held a Zoom meeting with ODU's 17 head coaches about the decision to shut down fall athletics, I focused on Rahne's face. He did not smile. He was already in mourning for the season lost.
He issued a brief statement that day that summed up where he was.
"My heart aches for our student-athletes," Rahne wrote. "From the moment our staff was hired, this group of players has been full invested. I know how diligent they have worked in order to have a successful fall season.
"However, their health and safety are of the upmost importance and I'm confident with the decision that President Broderick has made because I am confident it was made with empathy, acuity and care."
When the five fall sports coaches departed from that meeting, they met with their athletes on Zoom calls. Given the COVID-19 rules in effect, there was no way to hold the meetings in person.
Rahne began his meeting by quickly getting to the point, and then apologized that he could not give them this news in person.
When they asked questions, such as about playing in the spring and will the NCAA provide another season of eligibility, he said he didn't have any answers.
"I had to be honest with them," he said. "We don't know what's going to happen."
Spring football could happen he said, but he's not making any promises. Play likely would begin in February, if spring football happens, which gives the NCAA and College Football Playoff six months to plan.
"I have a plan," he said with a smile, but then added he won't reveal it for a while. Purdue coach Jeff Brohm has made public his plan, and it's a good one.
But again, there are so many unknown factors, Rahne said. Will it be safe to play? How will the NCAA deal with eligibility? Does a freshman who enrolls in January get dinged for two seasons if he plays in the spring and fall?
"We have a lot of work to do to figure things out," he said, adding that for now, everyone needs to take some time to process what's happened.
Rahne, men's soccer coach Alan Dawson, women's soccer coach Angie Hind, field hockey coach Andrew Griffiths and volleyball coach Fred Chao are all worried about how the pandemic, and the loss of the fall season, will affect their athletes mentally.
Rahne said that similar to his Twitter post, when he said he identifies as a coach, his players also identify as football players. The same is surely true for Olympic sports as well.
"My identity is as a coach and you can fight that if you want to, but the fact of the matter is that really is my identity and my life revolves around this game. Vacations revolved around our schedule. And my family landmarks can be marked by which game you're playing.
"I mean, I can still remember my first child was born around a spring game and my second was born around the Liberty Bowl.
"Football players are allowed to see themselves that way, but it doesn't mean they're not students. Some are engineering majors, some may become lawyers and doctors and politicians and fathers and husband and all of those things.
"But right now, their essential identity is around being a football player. So, I think we have to understand that that something big in their lives got taken away from them. There's a sense of loss for them.
"It's OK for them to feel that way."
Selig was there with Rahne at the meeting and both emphasized to players that ODU has counselors available and not be too proud or too stubborn to reach out.
"Our kids have done a good job of that," Rahne said. "Hopefully, that's a sign that there is no longer a stigma attached to getting help from mental health professionals."
It will help that ODU's fall sports teams will continue to practice, albeit in a new way.
The football team is wearing helmets with plastic covers on the front and players dress and shower at home. "We won't be throwing on pads anytime soon," Rahne said. "That wouldn't be smart."
The volleyball team is sanitizing balls between volleys and players sanitize their hands during water breaks. Every athlete in every sport has an individual water bottle and every team is practicing social distancing, as much as practical.
The field hockey team, which plays a sport than can be quite physical, is using obstacles rather than other players as they work on techniques. The men's and women's soccer teams aren't contesting loose balls.
All that makes practicing far more difficult, but also much safer.
And being together with teammates will help. I was a high school athlete during the tumultuous 1960s and know that when you are part of a team and there are difficult things going on around you, your comradeship with teammates is a rock you lean on.
I was running with my Norview High track teammates shortly after Martin Luther King was assassinated when a guy pulled up on Chesapeake Boulevard and shouted, "Martin Luther King is dead." He smiled and then drove off.
Being with my good friends, most of whom were African Americans, helped me sort out my feelings.
Practice may not completely salve the pain that many athletes feel. The volleyball team was to make its debut at ODU in a $3.1 million, 900-seat new venue. The field hockey team had high of getting to the NCAA tournament after being the last team left out in 2019.
The men's and women's soccer teams were looking to make the Conference USA tournaments after both not qualifying in 2019.
"Most of our kids were in favor of not playing, but it still hit them pretty hard," women's soccer coach Angie Hind said.
In time, I think the nearly 200 fall athletes will cope and understand. And the fact is, this decision was likely inevitable. I think it's doubtful football will be played this fall, and if it is, will be shut down by the first viral outbreak.
Rahne says he feels for everyone involved in the game, from high schools to colleges to fans, that football won't be played on most campuses this fall. He's concerned about high school players, especially those in Virginia, who won't have a senior season.
"It's been hard for me," he said. "It's been hard on our coaches and everyone who loves college football.
"It's been difficult for my wife. And it's been hard on a lot of people because your ability to coach and ability to play is finite.
"I was looking forward to this season, but I'll just look forward to it in a different way. So, I'll come to the office every day and get to work with a great group of coaches and players. We just have to change our focus.
"I told our kids the most important thing is that we've got to communicate with each other. If we know anything about eligibility or spring ball, we have to communicate that right away. If our guys have questions or problems, you need to communicate it to me or to your position coach.
"We're going to get through this, together."
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu
Text of Ricky Ranhe's Tweet
Minium: Ricky Rahne's Heartfelt Message on Football and Family Went Viral on Twitter
