Minium: ODU Football Opens Practice Tuesday with an infusion of talent from 28 transfers

 

By Harry Minium

NORFOLK – Old Dominion’s football team will have more depth and more experience and likely will have more talent than the Monarchs had a year ago.

But in the age of the NIL and transfer portal, molding the 115 players on the ODU roster into a cohesive team has to occur much more quickly than it used to.

ODU will open fall camp today with 57 newcomers, most of whom were not on campus for spring practice.

ODU’s staff will have exactly 31 days to teach the newcomers ODU’s system and meld them with the returnees to prepare the Monarchs for their Aug. 31 opener at South Carolina.

If that sounds difficult, and it will be, but ODU is far from alone. Almost every FBS team, from the Sun Belt to the SEC, faces enormous turnover nearly every season.

While ODU announced its signing classes in December and February, the 28 college and junior college transfers were only officially added to the roster only last week.

Twenty transfers come from four-year schools and eight from junior colleges. Combined with the 11 returning starters, and many returnees who did not start but saw significant playing time, the Monarchs have a ton more bodies to put on the field.

Clearly, Rahne and his staff helped themselves helped at running back, defensive backfield, offensive line and quarterback.

And some of the names of newcomers may seem familiar to ODU fans.

Aaron Young, a 5-foot-10, 203-pound senior transfer from Rutgers, was an on-again, off-again starter at running back for the Big Ten team and will surely see playing time for the Monarchs.

And if that name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the brother of Jordan Young, ODU’s second all-time leading tackler. Aaron rushed for 586 yards and seven TDs in his four seasons.

Jordan, meanwhile, has rejoined ODU as a graduate assistant coach.

Bryce Duke, a 6-foot, 210-pound junior running back from Virginia Tech, played 11 games for the Hokies last season, rushing 11 times for 69 yards. He was the Washington Post’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2021 while playing at Tuscarora High School in Leesburg, Virginia.

Freshman Maurki James (6-0, 190) rushed 278 times for 1,8921 yards and 23 touchdowns last season at Cape Henlopen High in Delaware and almost surely will see playing time this season – he has impressed in summer workouts.

Emmett Morehead, a 6-5, 225-pound quarterback transfer from Boston College, started four games in 2022 or BC. He completed 125 of 219 passes for 1,376 yards at BC and could push returning quarterback Grant Wilson.

Redshirt freshman Colton Joseph (6-2, 195) from Newport Beach, California, will also compete for playing time.

While he isn’t expected to see much immediate playing time, freshman Quinn Henicle (6-2, 190) from Downingtown, Pennsylvania, has impressed in summer workouts with his throwing arm.

“We will have much more depth at quarterback,” Rahne said.

And at defensive back, too. Safety Patrick Smith-Young (5-9, 185), a redshirt sophomore, was second in tackling last season at North Texas, and had a career-high 11 tackles against Tulsa.

Dywan Griffin, a 5-11, 170-pound senior cornerback from New Orleans, had 26 tackles with five pass breakups, two forced fumbles and an interception last season for UTSA.

Safety Will Jones II (5-9, 191) comes to ODU from South Florida, where he started much of the 2022 season. Last season Jones had 15 tackles and a pass breakup for USF.

Angelo Rankin Jr (5-9, 185) started as a junior at Richmond and had 17 tackles last season in five games for the Spiders. Justin McKithen (5-10, 160), a cornerback transfer from Florida Atlantic, had 35 tackles and two interceptions with the Owls in four seasons.

One of ODU’s most promising newcomers in the defensive backfield is Jahron Manning (5-10, 185) who was an All-American and the team’s defensive MVP at Copiah Lincoln Junior College. He had 71 tackles in 12 games last season. He enrolled at ODU in January and participated in spring practice.

ODU needed depth at linebacker and the defensive line and got it in freshman linebacker Taysean Stevenson (6-4, 230) who played for three state championship teams at Phoebus High and was ranked the No. 12 prospect in Hampton Roads by Larry Rubama of The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press. The Monarchs also got a promising junior college linebacker in Michael Devereaux (6-1, 235) from Northeast Oklahoma A&M.

Defensive tackle Jackson Banks (6-2, 262), a sophomore, helped lead Mississippi Gulf Coast to a junior college national championship.

ODU returns a solid crew of wide receivers, led by Isiah Paige and Kelby Williams, but needed depth and got it from the recruiting class, including two from Power 4 schools

Wide receiver Diante Vines (6-0, 198), a transfer from Iowa, started in eight games and caught 12 passes for 134 yards and a touchdown. He was the Big Ten’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2022 when he returned from a season-ending injury in 2021 to start five games.

Wide receiver Demariyon Houston (5-10, 180), who transferred from Missouri, missed much of 2022 and 2023 with injuries but showed plenty of potential when he’s been healthy. He caught six passes for 39 yards and a touchdown in a bowl game loss to Wake Forest in 2022. He was rated a four-star prospect by 247Sports as a senior in high school in Oklahoma City.

Freshman Dallas Sims (6-3, 195) redshirted last season at Minnesota, but had a distinguished high school career in both Canada and Florida, where he moved in 2021. He was played on two state championship teams at Clearwater Academy International, where he was named conference Offensive Player of the Year.

Fidel Tau Pitts (6-foot, 190) is a junior wide receiver transfer from the College of San Manteo. He only played in four games last season, but he caught seven passes for 77 yards and helped his team win all four games.

Pat Conroy (6-2, 235), a senior tight end who transferred from Merrimack College, caught 14 passes for 233 yards and six touchdowns as a junior in 2022. He missed most of the 2023 season with injuries.

ODU also picked up a promising tight end from Long Beach State City College in Kyle Miller (6-1, 245), who caught 41 passes for 704 yards and four touchdowns.

ODU’s offensive line has numbers and size, with 21 players on the roster, but many are inexperienced and untested. Fortunately, the Monarchs added some experience via the portal.

Rick Moore, a 6-6, 300-pound transfer from Boise State, played in nine games for the Mountain West team last season while Zack Barlev (6-5, 315), a junior transfer from Illinois, played in every game for the Fighting Illini the last two years, mostly on special teams.

Colin Henrich (6-3, 205) spent two years at South Carolina, where he didn’t play, and came off the bench last season at Georgia State before transferring to ODU.
ODU played a Division I eleven one-score games last season. The Monarchs won six, finished 6-6 in the regular-season and garnered a bowl bid for the second year in a row.

But a lack of depth prevented the Monarchs from making the kind of big plays on special teams that can turn a game around, and perhaps transform a break-even year into a championship season.

“My first two years here, we blocked a lot of kicks,” Rahne said. “We did not do that last year. If we blocked a kick in some of those one-score games, it would have made a huge difference.”

“I am very happy with our depth,” Rahne added. “Obviously, we’ve got to go out and play. But I think our depth will help our special teams.”

ODU has one of the most difficult schedules among the Group of 5 as the Monarchs play South Carolina, East Carolina, Virginia Tech and Bowling Green in four of their first five weeks.

The Sun Belt is rated the best Group of 5 conference in the country, and ODU has a particularly tough draw in conference play. All six East Division foes went to bowl games last season. The Monarchs also host Texas State, the West Division favorite, and plays at Arkansas State.

Ten of ODU’s 12 opponents went to bowls last season and the two who didn’t – South Carolina and ECU – have strong football traditions.

“I’m excited about the opportunity of playing our schedule,” Rahne said. “I know it’s going to be challenging, but I look at as more of an opportunity than a challenge.”

The Monarchs play their best home schedule ever, hosting ECU (Sept. 7), Virginia Tech (Sept. 14), Texas State (Oct. 19), Georgia Southern (Thursday, Oct. 24), James Madison (Nov. 16) and Marshall (Nov. 23).

ODU football season tickets are on sale beginning at $200 for all six home games.

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