NORFOLK, Va. – Stephanie Carr Field was the first to text me Tuesday night, but she was far from the last.
Stephanie is a friend and former Old Dominion cheerleader who lives just north of Miami. Why, she wanted to know, did I refer to ODU football coach Ricky Rahne as "Ricky Rahne, ODU's Thurmond Family Head Coach" in a follow-up story to the Monarchs' 20-17 victory over Virginia Tech?
Story on impact of ODU's victory over Va Tech
Good question, actually. I got a bunch of emails and text messages asking the same.
Here's the reason: Like every major college football program, ODU must raise millions of dollars from donors in order to be competitive. Recently, Dick Thurmond and his wife, Pat Jennings, made a $1.25 million donation to ODU football.
That money will provide Rahne and his staff with the extras that help them recruit and retain players. It may be used for capital projects or to supplement the salaries of coaches and support staff.
As a result, we will now refer to Rahne as "ODU's Thurmond Family Head Coach" on odusports.com
In addition, a courtyard area between the 49th Street garage and S.B. Ballard Stadium will be known as the Thurmond Family Plaza. A Daktronics video board will be placed there in October -- it's on back order -- that will carry college football games during pregame events and show the footage from the TowneBank Scoreboard during the game.
The video board will be used by the University for other events year-around.
Rahne said he's happy to be known as the ODU's Thurmond Family Head Coach.
"Dick Thurmond made a very generous donation that's going to help our program," he said. "We're all very appreciative that he's made this commitment to our program."
He added that while this is the first time ODU has given a coach such a title, "It's something that is done all over the country. A lot of schools are doing this in multiple sports."
Thurmond graduated from ODU with a degree in marketing in 1976 and credits the University for much of his success in life.
Taylor Heinicke, Dick Thurmond and Jena Virga
He met his wife at ODU and by the time he graduated was already working as a real estate agent. He joined William E. Wood, one of the region's dominant real estate firms, decades ago and eventually bought the company.
In 2013, he sold the company to Howard Hanna. He now serves as southeast regional chairman for Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.
Thurmond lived in Northern Virginia when he enrolled at ODU. It took him a little longer than usual to graduate because at first, he tried to major in engineering and then accounting.
"The math (in both majors) made marketing look pretty good to me," he said, laughing.
Thurmond has been a prolific donor to ODU's academic programs for many years. He recently made a $6 million donation to create the Thurmond School of Professional Sales and Negotiations in ODU's Strome College of Business.
It is the world's first school of professional sales and negotiations.
He was inspired by an event that occurred many years earlier, when he saw a woman at a local car dealership being taken advantage of by two salesmen. He surmised that she lacked negotiating skills. As part of the program, communications workshops will be held for women and minorities.
He became involved with athletics in 2009 when ODU began playing football.
"Some people like the NFL and other sports," he said. "College football has always been my very favorite. I was so happy when ODU began playing football."
Thurmond developed a close relationship with then football coach Bobby Wilder and made several large donations to the program. When Wilder was replaced by Rahne in 2019, the two hit it off right away.
They were introduced by Jena Virga, executive director of the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation.
"Jena told me, 'you'll like this guy,' and she was right," he said. "I'm extremely impressed with him."
Virga said Thurmond "has been wonderful to ODU athletics. He and his wife have supported women's golf and women's basketball."
The couple's son, Taylor, is working on a degree at ODU in computer science.
Thurmond said he's appreciative for the well-rounded education he received at ODU.
"I was shy," he said. "And you can't be shy in the real estate business.
"I joined a fraternity (Lambda Chi Alpha) and I opened up. I credit the fraternity and my professors for helping me to grow and mature.
"I wouldn't have met my wife had I not gone to ODU. In so many ways, ODU changed my life."
And in return, he's changing the lives of ODU students and athletes.
Minium: ODU Football Coach Ricky Rahne is Now "ODU's Thurmond Family Head Coach"
