Minium: In era of transfer portal, NIL, Jason Henderson, Santana Saunders have shown ODU football loyalty

 

By Harry Minium

NEW ORLEANS – Two-time All-American Jason Henderson may be the nation’s best college football defensive player. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound linebacker has led all of FBS in tackles per game the last two seasons.

He’s a relentless player who plays through pain and almost never misses a tackle.

Santana Saunders, meanwhile, is a 6-5, 300-pound offensive tackle and a massive human being with 20-inch biceps. And he plays at a position where so many college football teams are thin on depth.

Like Henderson, he’s an excellent student and a solid citizen. After football, he hopes to become a Secret Service agent.

They both know that had they entered the transfer portal, they surely would have had many offers from schools in power leagues.

And while it may seem that loyalty is hard to find in the modern era in which players can transfer to another school every year, loyalty is a big deal to them both, especially their loyalty to Old Dominion Head Coach Ricky Rahne.

“I love ODU, I love my teammates. I love the support we get. I love the fans. I love the community there,” said Henderson, a senior from Dingmans Ferry, Pennsylvania, earlier this week at the Sun Belt Conference media days.

“I think everything here is great. It was mentioned earlier that the grass isn’t always greener. So, if I’m content, if I’m comfortable where I am, why am I going to take that risk and explore my options?

“Maybe I can find a better place. But maybe not. To me, the risk was more than it was worth to me. You know, I heard earlier today (from other players), ‘I’m finishing where I started.’

“And I’m thankful be a senior at Old Dominion and I’m ready to finish.”

So is Saunders, a senior from Upper Marlboro, Maryland just outside of the nation’s capital. Like Henderson, his relationship with Rahne began when he was in high school.

Rahne recruited Henderson for several years when he was offensive coordinator at Penn State. Days after he was named ODU’s coach in 2020, he offered Henderson a scholarship.

“Jason was the first player we offered,” Rahne said.

Saunders was among the earliest to receive a scholarship offer, too. He had committed to Maryland, but the Terps appeared to sour on him as signing day approached.

“I heard from them maybe a couple of times a month,” he said.

Meanwhile, he heard from Rahne almost every day.

“Coach Rahne brought his entire staff to see me when I was in high school,” he said. “That meant a lot to me.

“Coach Rahne, all of our coaches, they are really big on family,” he added. “They bring their wives and kids into the building. Being three hours from home, it’s nice to have a family and a home” at ODU.

He said his relationship with Rahne was enough all by itself to dissuade him from putting his name in the transfer portal.

“I love coach Rahne,” Saunders said. “His door is always open to us. I’ve stopped by his office so many times to talk about life, to talk about problems. We talk about everything. And his door is open to everyone.”

Rahne joked after hearing Saunders speak that his offensive tackle will sometimes call him while he’s on vacation.

"Sometimes we'll be on vacation and Santana will just call me," Rahne said. "When you've got children and you get an unexpected call from one of your kids, man, you are thinking the worst, you know?

"Then you see his big smiling face on Facetime and he says, 'I'm just checking on you. I'm just seeing what's going on. I just want to see how you and your family are doing'

"And that's a pretty special thing."

Rahne listened quietly as his players paid homage to him and his coaching staff, but spoke with emotion after hearing their responses.

“I’m blessed that I’ve got two young men up here that have attended just one university,” he said. “I think that’s a pretty special thing in today’s college football to be able to have two guys who go through their entire career in one place.

“I think these guys know that I care about them, that our coaching staff cares about them.”

And that matters, he said, because the same isn’t always true when a player decides to transfer elsewhere.

“We have guys who have gone to other places,” he said. “And they talk to these guys. They say, ‘Be careful, buyer beware.’

“I think that’s the other thing that these guys are starting to see. Ultimately, how am I going to be the happiest? How am I going to be the most successful?

“That’s one thing that I talk to our coaches about all the time. In today’s modern age, it’s hard sometimes to keep investing in kids” because some transfer to other schools.

“But the reality of it is, guys like Santana, guys like Jason, they deserve my investment,” he added. “They deserve everything I’ve got each and every day.

“If I pull back because I’m worried about getting burned, then how can I tell them they’ve got to attack each and every day, even after we lose a game.

“I’d better invest everything I’ve got. I’d better tell my wife that she needs to invest everything she’s got into this team.

“Our coaches, they all feel the same way. So, I know these guys feel that.

“I’m so happy and excited to have the guys up here who began and are going to finish their careers at Old Dominion. It’s truly a very special thing.”

Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him  on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram