NORFOLK, Va. – The longest tenured coach in Old Dominion Athletics history, ODU Men’s Golf Head Coach Dr. Murray Rudisill is retiring at the conclusion of the 2026 season, Rudisill announced on Wednesday.
“In the fall of 1974, the athletic director at ODU, Dr. Jim Jarrett, offered me the job starting in the spring of 1975. No recruiting, no scholarships. Just have some tryouts and play a few matches. I was given a 25% reduction in my teaching assignments and a salary of $800,” Rudisill said. “I immediately said yes since golf had been such a big part of my life and it was really an answer to a prayer. As I close out this final year, it is with a lot of mixed emotions. Mentally and emotionally I still love this job and don’t want to leave, but physical requirements demand more than I can give.”
A seven-time conference coach of the year, Rudisill has led the Monarchs to a pair of conference championships, and he won four state championships. He won his Virginia State Championships in 1983, 84, 86, 92, and 93 and won CAA Championships in 2003 and 2007. In 2003 the Monarchs finished 15th at the NCAA West Regional and in 2007 ODU took 22nd in the NCAA East Regional.
“Dr. Rudisill has literally poured his heart and soul into ODU golf for over half a century,” ODU Director of Athletics Dr. Wood Selig said. “There are a few in the history of college sport coaching who can match his overall impact and legacy in any sport. The hundreds of success stories, on and off the course, that Coach Rudisill has produced is hard to match anywhere else in the country. Coach Rudisill has arguably brought more donors to ODU than any other individual associated with ODU athletics save for Ed Fraim. It has been an honor to work with such a man of integrity and character. On behalf of ODU and ODU athletics, I offer a tremendous thank you to Coach Rudisill and his wife Sara for giving the heart of their adult lives to the hundreds of ODU golfers and their families over these last 51 years.”
Rudisill graduated from NC State in 1960 where he was a member of the golf team. He then earned his master’s degree from North Carolina and then received his doctorate from Florida in 1972. He joined the ODU faculty as a professor in 1972 and became the men’s golf head coach in 1975.
Seven of Rudisill’s golfers won a conference championship, while Alan Schulte won back-to-back titles in 1984-85. Eighteen of his pupils finished in the top three at a league championship. He helped guide Geoff Harris to win the CAA Rookie of the Year in 2000 and catapulted that into a two-time CAA Player of the year. He also helped Eric Onesi to win the 2007 CAA Rookie of the Year honors.
“I have been so blessed to have so many great young men who have come through the program over these 51 years. I still have players who call just to check in and see how things are going. Not only the players but also with the parents I have formed lasting friendships. What a blessing these friendships have been,” Rudisill said.
Overall, six of Rudisill’s golfers are in the ODU Sports Hall of Fame, while McGovern and Daley played on the PGA Tour.
“I have always been extremely “competitive” and had a strong desire to win. Being a Christian, however, and striving to live out my faith, I have had to try to love these guys unconditionally even when they were playing poorly and to keep telling myself that their “worth as a human being does not depend on their golf score,” Rudisill said.
Rudisill retires as the longest tenured Division I head coach in the country.
“Most coaches will be remembered by their wins and losses, but to me the most important part of my job has been to love and nurture these young men as they grew and matured while being here at Old Dominion. These lasting relationships hopefully will be my legacy.
Thanks be to God and to ODU for all these wonderful memories. What a blessing it has been,” Rudisill said.