Minium: Aaron Young Has Been Reunited With His Brother And His Love Of Football At ODU
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – Aaron Young played parts of five football seasons at Rutgers, and honestly, loved New Jersey, his coaches and teammates.
But because of injuries that forced him to redshirt a year and knocked him down the depth chart, as well as a change in coaching staffs, he hadn’t been “the guy” in the Rutgers backfield since his freshman year.
So, with a Rutgers degree in hand, he entered his name into the transfer portal last winter, and immediately began hearing from coaches. He and his father, Anthony, a former NFL player, were waiting in an airport to take a trip to Toledo when they got a call from Ricky Rahne, Old Dominion’s head coach.
Two days later, Young and his father were in Norfolk and when they departed, he had committed to ODU.
It seemed a perfect fit, and in many ways, it has been.
In part because of losses in the transfer portal, ODU needed someone to be “the guy” in their backfield. And Young was no stranger to ODU. His older brother, Jordan, was a former Monarch linebacker who became ODU’s all-time leading tackler.
“We knew the family so well from Jordan’s time here,” Rahne said. “His parents, and all the brothers, they’re such great people.
“We had no questions about Aaron’s character or his talent. We knew he was a great young man and a good football player.”
When he came to ODU, there were no guarantees, said running backs coach Tony Lucas.
“The starting job here was wide open,” Lucas said. “But we laid it out to him up front that we play the guy who gives us the best chance of winning. So many guys want to hear coming in day one I’m the starter.
“Well, that’s not real life. He knew that and was comfortable with that.”
And just as he hoped, Arron Young has been “the guy” for ODU this season. He has rushed 131 times for 657 yards and four touchdowns and is sixth in the Sun Belt in rushing with a 73-yard per game average.
He’s rushed for 100 or more yards in ODU’s two previous games.
But he’s been more than just a good player on the field, he’s also been an invaluable addition to the locker room. He assumed a leadership role early-on in the process and said he’s grateful that his teammates accepted him from day one.
“I’ve enjoyed every bit of my time here,” Young said. “I came during the spring and getting to know the guys here through the summer, that was a great experience.
“It’s been a fun ride, a fun journey, for sure.
“And to say the least a fast one.”
A very fast one. He plays his last home game for ODU Saturday night when the Monarchs host Marshall at 7:30.
Coming to ODU reunited Aaron with Jordan, a defensive graduate assistant. And although they don’t work directly together, it’s their first time, in essence, being on the same team since high school.
He played with his older brother, Avery, at Rutgers.
After leaving ODU, Jordan bounced around several teams, from Tampa Bay in the NFL to Ottawa in the CFL, before returning to ODU as a grad assistant. He is working on a Master’s degree in public administration.
“It’s been such a cool dynamic to be with Aaron again,” Jordan said. “I was six hours away from him for so many years. It’s seen so much fun to be close to him and see him more often.
“In some ways, I feel like we’re little brothers again.”
Jordan said his brother was a victim of circumstances at Rutgers, that he had the talent to start there.
“When a new coaching staff comes in, you can get lost in the shuffle, especially at a power school,” he said. “That’s what I think happened to Aaron. You can be a really good player and get buried.”
Between the three brothers, Saturday will mark the fifth and final Senior Day for the Young family.
“My entire family will be here,” said Aaron Young, who along with Avery and a dozen or so other family members, cheered Jordan’s last game in the 2021 Myrtle Beach Bowl.
“My parents have been coming to ODU football games a long time. They really enjoy coming here.”
ODU is coming off a 35-32 loss to James Madison that knocked the Monarchs out of the Sun Belt Conference title race, and he acknowledges, “that still hurts.”
“Since the summer, we’ve been talking about that,” he said. “Our group chat was 2024 Conference Champions. And that was our goal.
“But football is the ultimate test of life. It prepares you for life. You’re not going to win all the time. If you’re not successful, if you’re knocked to the ground, you’ve got to get up off the ground.
“I love my teammates. We’ve been in battles with these guys day in and day out. We wanted so badly to get that done.
“But now, we’ve just keep pushing forward.”
Aaron Young said he remains close to coaches and players at Rutgers, and that he is happy the Scarlet Knights are now bowl eligible.
"Those guys there, they are still my guys," he said. "I have only good things to say about the people at Rutgers."
The Monarchs can still go to a bowl game by winning against Marshall and at Arkansas State in its final two games.
“Beating Marshall is the first step,” he said. “If we don’t beat Marshall, we’re not going anywhere, so we’re just concentrating on them.”
Young, who is 5-foot-10 and 210 pounds, said he’d rather not talk about any hopes he has for an NFL career until after the season. But that is one of the reasons he’s at ODU. He needs film for NFL scouts to watch.
And he could have an NFL future, said running backs coach Tony Lucas.
“His father had a shot and both of his brothers had a shot,” Lucas said. “He will get a shot.
“His journey hasn’t been very smooth. He’s had to navigate some hardships. But he’s a very determined kid and very hard working. Because he goes about his business the right way, I'd love for him to get a shot.”
Jordan said that ODU gave his brother something he had lost at Rutgers – his love of playing football.
“With everything that went down there at Rutgers that last two years, I feel like he came down here and found his love for the game again,” Jordan said.
“He’s just kind of re-energized, refocused and just honed in on loving football and playing the game.”
Last week, Aaron rushed for a 51-yard gain in the first half in front of a national TV audience and with a sellout and cheering crowd of 21,984.
“I haven’t been in that kind of a situation, running the ball like that, hearing the crowd cheering, since I was in high school,” he said. “It was really an awesome feeling.”
His love for football began at an early age in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, a city of about 13,000 people located halfway between Philadelphia and Lancaster.
“Coatesville is like Friday Night Lights,” Aaron Young said. “The town shuts everything down on Friday nights.
“All of your friends are there for every game, everyone you grew up with. It’s such a great community, a such a diverse and good place to live. I have so much love for Coatesville.
“My father, when I was little, he put the football in my hand, and he’s been there every step of the way since. He gave me encouragement when it got tough. There were times when I didn’t want to speak to him after games. He was hard on me.
“But since going to college, it’s come full circle. I understand everything he’s been preaching to me about since I was young.”
“I’ve been in college so long, you would think that it would feel surreal at this point that my college career is about to end,” he added. “But it doesn’t. Not yet.
“I don’t think it will feel real until I take that last step off the field with my guys here.
“Until that happens, I will cherish every moment I have left, every practice, every time I’m with the guys.”
Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram