By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – A few months ago, Blake Seiler was in the office of a Power 4 college football head coach who really wanted him and was giving him the hard sell.
That’s not been an unusual thing for Seiler, the Old Dominion defensive coordinator who in his seven years turned ODU’s D from among the worst in FBS to among the best. He’s often turned down jobs at power schools.
But this was a particularly attractive offer from a successful program. His salary would increase and he’d be given a multi-year contract.
But as always, he said no.
Seiler, who came to ODU with Head Coach Ricky Rahne in 2019, is a rarity in the modern, vagabond world of college football coaching. Everyone loves money and greater resources.
But he’s happy at ODU. His family loves living in Norfolk. They are devout Catholics who love their church.
And for Seiler, family is everything.
“We keep our priorities, which are faith, family and football,” Seiler said. “And sometimes that’s hard to do. I’ve been doing this long enough that I know the grass isn’t always greener. So, when you’re in a good spot with good people, working at a University that provides so much support, there’s a lot of value in that.”
“We love it here,” he added speaking for his wife, Inge, and four young children. “You’re always going to have feelers. I tell the players the same thing. If you play well, you’re going to get recruited. I’ve been tempted. But the truth is, we have something special here in this program.”
Seiler came to ODU with Rahne in 2019 and said the head coach is one of the primary reasons he’s decided to remain. They met coaching at Kansas State, and Seiler said he immediately respected Rahne not only as a coach, but as a person.
“He’s not only a great football coach, but he’s an honorable man who really cares about his players and everyone who works for him,” Seiler said. And to Ricky, family comes first. That was a crucial factor for me.”
Rahne moved on to Vanderbilt and Penn State, where he was the offensive coordinator, after leaving K-State. Shortly after being named ODU’s head coach, he reached out to Seiler in 2019, who had every reason to say no.
He was coaching at West Virginia, which a year earlier had finished 8-4 and nationally ranked.
He would have to take a pay cut to come to ODU, which needed major rebuilding after finishing 1-11 in 2019.
But he took the cut and gladly came to ODU.
“Family is everything to Ricky,” he said. “I knew him and knew that to be the case. He said he wanted to build something special at Old Dominion and that was attractive. You hear horror stories at some other schools where no one is allowed in the offices but the players and coaches.”
At ODU, family is welcome in the L.R. Hill Sports Complex. There are certain times – Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings – when coaches are mandated to spend time with their families.
Inge and the four kids are generally there every day when practice ends. When practice is over the kids, romp on the field while the Seiler’s have a few minutes to reconnect as a couple.
At times, during the afternoon, when I walk into the football coaches’ offices, kids are running around, talking with players and coaches. The players seem to genuinely like the coaches’ children.
“What we have here is a true blessing,” Seiler said. “Coaching can divide families. You have a short window to raise your kids. You need to be able to see your kids.”
This isn’t the first time Seiler made a career choice that defied conventional wisdom. He did so twice before ever coming to ODU.
As a college freshman, he had a full wrestling scholarship at Oklahoma State and was part of a team that won a national championship. But his heart was on the football field and in Manhattan, Kansas, where Kansas State plays.
He’s always loved K-State and especially loved the game of football.
A broken leg as a senior nixed most of his football scholarship offers out of high school, but he was able to return for wrestling season and caught the eye of legendary Oklahoma State Head Coach John Smith.
But even as he was celebrating the national title with his teammates, he knew he wouldn’t be back for a second.
He transferred to Kansas State and walked onto the football team without a scholarship. He took out student loans and worked during the offseason and in the end, it paid off. He earned a scholarship and was a starter on the defensive line his last two seasons.
As a senior he was named the football team captain and K-State’s Male Athlete of the Year.
Seiler and Inge Jorgensen met the day of his last game for K-State, her first day on the job as a football research assistant. Her primary task was to coordinate the former players’ club, including reunions and other events.
They were instantly smitten. They began dating when Seiler was a senior and continued to date for three more years while he worked two hours away in Wichita, Kansas, where he designed parts for private jets built by Cessna Aircraft.
With degrees in mechanical and nuclear engineering in hand, he earned an MBA at Wichita State. He was making great money and appeared headed for a successful professional life.
But after a while he had to admit to himself that he was bored. “I had a great job, but in the end, it wasn’t what I wanted to do,” he said.
When former K-State Head Coach Bill Snyder returned to the job after a three-year absence, Seiler reached out to him and accepted a non-paying job as a graduate assistant.
“You learn a lot about yourself working for nothing,” he said. “You find out how quickly you really want to do something. I loved football and was so happy to be back in the game, even if I was working for free.”
He quickly moved up the ladder and was hired as a full-time coach and eventually promoted to defensive coordinator.
By the time he arrived back in Manhattan, Inge had worked her way up and was director of football operations, a job that few females have ever held.
“We quit doing the long-distance thing,” he said. “We were in the same town. But we both knew we both could not be in football. We’d never see each other.”
So, Inge made the decision to step down at K-State and instead, went to work managing a local golf course.
They were quickly married and started having kids. Eventually, she became a full-time Mom and a part-time athletic trainer.
Seiler readily admits that his wife was the better athlete, in high school and college, and admires her for the many sacrifices she has made for her family.
“Our wives basically become single parents for much of the season, especially during the fall and now even in the off season,” he said.
The Monarchs have their final day of spring practice on Saturday in the ODU Charity Bowl Spring Game, to be held at 2 p.m. at S.B. Ballard Stadium. And although spring ball will be over, the grind doesn’t end.
“Right after the spring game, we’re going to hit the road for six weeks straight of recruiting,” he said. “Our wives, they are our studs. I couldn’t be more thankful for Inge and everything she does for our family, our kids, for us.”
Inge said that she and Blake sat down and talked about his latest offer from another school.
“We talk about anything that comes across the table,” she said. “But in the end, I leave the decision in his hands. We talk about it, and he always wants to know my opinion, but he knows what’s best in order to keep our faith first and foremost and our family life with football. We’re able to do that here. I don’t think there are a lot of places where you have a head coach who operates in a manner that allows you to have our faith and family as a priority. You’re never going to have a situation where the time is equal in those categories, but here, you do have opportunities to make them a priority within reason.”
Wives and girlfriends of assistant coaches are also involved in the lives of the players their husbands coach. Players often dine at the homes of the head coaches and wives and girlfriends often fix treats for players.
“I stayed in college football because for me, it’s about developing young men to become good husbands and good fathers. In the NFL, you don’t get to do that,” Seiler said.
“The great thing about coaching, and especially coaching at ODU, is that my kids all have a bunch of big brothers. The transfer portal has definitely had an effect on our kids,” Seiler added. “They get so disappointed when someone they really like leaves. They’re adjusting to the new world of college athletics just like we are.”
Seiler said there’s another big reason he keeps saying no to Power 4 schools. He calls it “unfinished business.”
The Monarchs are coming off a 10-3 season in which they defeated South Florida in the Cure Bowl. It was their best record and first bowl victory since 2016.
“But we didn’t come here just to go to bowl games,” he said. “We came here to build a championship program and achieve at the highest level.
“I think we’re close. We were close last season. But there is definitely unfinished business for sure. There’s a lot to that, right? You’ve got to win your division and there are some teams in the league we haven’t beaten yet. It’s important for us to beat those teams, win the East and get a chance to play in the championship game and go win it. That’s why we came here.”
Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
To see past stories from Minium, CLICK HERE