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"Being a part of the original staff that started football here at ODU, a graduate of ODU, and now living and recruiting in the Hampton Roads Region (the 757) - I have developed a tremendous pride for this area, and the tremendous student-athletes the high school coaches within this region produce. Our spread offense continues to develop and grow based off of the regional speed and talent in this area - allowing our version of the spread to truly be a reflection of the state and community ODU represents."
- Coach Whitcomb
Ron Whitcomb has been with the Old Dominion football program since the beginning and worked his 12th season with the Monarchs in 2018.
Whitcomb guided quarterback Blake LaRussa to a 3,000-yard season that saw the junior signal-caller finish No. 14 in FBS with 274.1 passing yards per game. That number jumps to 300 yards per game when taking out the two games where he played sparingly. In ODU's 49-35 stunner over No. 13 Virginia Tech, LaRussa passed for 495-yards and four touchdowns. The 495-yards was a C-USA high in 2018 and the second most ever allowed by a Tech defense. LaRussa earned multiple National Player of the Week awards and was named C-USA Player of the Week. LaRussa finished second in C-USA with 274.1 yards per game and led league quarterbacks with six, 300-yard passing games.
In April of 2019, Whitcomb was inducted into the Section V Football Hall of Fame for his playing exploits at East Rochester High School in New York.
LaRussa was the second quarterback in ODU history to throw for 3,000 yards in a single-season, throwing for 3,015, and joining current NFL QB Taylor Heinicke in that regard. LaRussa earned C-USA honorable mention honors, becoming the third ODU quarterback in the Monarchs' five years in the league to earn All-C-USA honors, joining Heinicke and David Washington.
A year after graduating senior quarterback David Washington, the ODU offense was taken over by true freshman Steven Williams in 2017. Williams' first career start came at Virginia Tech and the improvement each week from the then 17-year old was noticeable. In the final four games of the year, Williams completed 68 percent of his passes for 664 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers, while rushing for 101 yards and two more touchdowns. Williams was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team.
Whitcomb groomed quarterback David Washington to the second-best touchdown to interception ratio in the country in 2016 to help ODU to a 10-3 overall record and victory in the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl. Washington passed for 2,836 yards and 31 touchdowns in his first full season as a starter, after playing wide receiver most of the previous two seasons.
Washington threw a touchdown pass in all but one game in 2016, and tossed multiple TD passes 11 times. He passed for 188 yards and three scores in the bowl win.
Whitcomb guided current Carolina Panther Taylor Heinicke to a tremendous four year career as 2015 was the first time since 2011 that Heinicke was not behind center. Shuler Bentley and David Washington split the QB duties, combining to complete 234-for-432 for 2,2587 yards and 20 touchdowns. Bentley started the year at quarterback and led a come-from-behind win at Eastern Michigan in the opener and a win over Norfolk State before Washington came in vs. Charlotte for the second series, going 25-of-43 for 365 yards and four touchdowns for a dramatic 37-34 win over the 49ers. Washington led ODU to wins over UTSA and UTEP before suffering a season-ending injury at Southern Miss.
For the eighth straight season Old Dominion quarterbacks threw at least 20 touchdown passes and for the fourth time in school history threw less than 10 interceptions.
Whitcomb guided four-year starting quarterback Taylor Heinicke to one of the best statistical careers of any Division I quarterback ever. Heinicke ranks third all-time among FBS quarterbacks in total yards of offense with 16,279 and sixth in career passing yards with 14,959. Heinicke’s 132 career touchdown tosses is fourth most all-time, just two behind Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell for third place.
In ODU’s first full season in Conference USA and FBS in 2014, the ODU offense finished second in the league in passing offense and third in total offense. For the third-straight season ODU averaged more than 30 points per game, putting up 32.7 points per game.
Heinicke completed 289-of-457 passes for 3,476 yards and 30 touchdown passes, despite working with three true freshman wide receivers, and two sophomores, including backup quarterback David Washington, who had 47 receptions on the year. Heinicke earned Conference USA honorable mention honors.
The 2013 season saw the Monarchs play five FBS programs for the first time in school history, and the offense nearly duplicated the same numbers from its record season a year ago. ODU scored 42.3 points per game and averaged 519 yards per game and 359.4 passing yards per game.
ODU junior quarterback Taylor Heinicke completed 340-of-486 passes for 4,022 yards and 33 touchdown passes. Heinicke finished in the top-10 in the FBS in passing yards per game, completions per game and passing yards, while finishing third in the country with a 70.0 percent completion percentage.
In 2012, the Monarchs led the FCS in scoring offense with 45.15 points per game, passing offense at 393.85 and total offense with 548.23 yards per game. Whitcomb helped lead Taylor Heinicke to the most prolific season by a quarterback in FCS history. Heinicke led the nation in passing yards, passing yards per game, touchdown passes, total TD’s, total offense and points responsible for. Heinicke set FCS single-season record for passing yards and completions. Heinicke threw for 5,076 passing yards surpassing Steve McNair’s record of 4,863 he set for Alcorn State in 1994. Heinicke’s 398 completions broke Brett Gordon’s mark of 385 he set in 2002 for Villanova. Heinicke won the Walter Payton Award given to the Best Player in the FCS, becoming just the second sophomore ever to win the award. The 2012 season also saw Heinicke earn CAA Offensive Player of the Year honors and first-team All-CAA honors. He received First-Team All-America honors by seven organizations and won the Dudley Award for the best Division I Player in the state of Virginia.
Under Whitcomb’s watch, over the last four seasons the Monarchs have a two-time Walter Payton Watch List member in Thomas DeMarco in 2010 and 2011 and the College Football Performance Awards FCS National Performer of the Year, Jerry Rice Award Runner-Up, and the Payton Award Winner in Heinicke.
In the Monarchs' first season of FCS play, Whitcomb tutored quarterback Thomas DeMarco, who went on to become the second leading quarterback in the FCS in rushing behind Florida A&M's Curtis Pulley and seventh among FCS student-athletes in scoring, averaging 9.45 points per contest. DeMarco completed 137 of his 255 attempts throwing for 21 touchdown passes and making only four interceptions as the Monarchs finished at 9-2 as the winningest FCS start-up program in history.
Whitcomb's tutelage of signal caller Thomas DeMarco continued in year two and resulted in the Monarch quarterback being named to the prestigious Walter Payton Award Watch List in the preseason and ending the 2010 campaign ranked seventh in the nation in total offense.
Success continued for the Monarch signal callers in 2011 with DeMarco being named to the Walter Payton Watch list for the second-straight season and Heinicke, as a true freshman, having a breakout year completing 211 of his 307 passes with just one interception. Although Heinicke did not appear in the minimum 75% of games plays to have his name listed among the national stats, Heinicke would have ranked 18th nationally in passing yards, fifth nationally in pass efficiency rating, and 10th among all FCS athletes in total offense per contest.
Before joining the Old Dominion staff, Whitcomb was a four-year starter at the University of Maine where he played under Coach Wilder from 2003-2006.
Whitcomb, departed as the Black Bears' all-time leader in completions (755), total offense (8,801) and touchdown passes (68). His 8,183 passing yards ranked second, as did his .592 completion percentage. One of three senior captains at Maine in 2006, Whitcomb was named the Atlantic-10 and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Rookie of the Year as a redshirt freshman after passing for 2,428 yards and 21 touchdowns. The passing yardage was the most by a freshman in Atlantic-10 history and he also established a new school record with touchdown passes in 11 straight games.
A standout off the field as well, Whitcomb was honored as the 2006-07 Atlantic-10 Student-Athlete of the Year. He earned his B.S. in education from Maine in 2006 and a M.S. Ed. in educational leadership at Old Dominion University in 2009.
For the last three seasons, Whitcomb has participated in the annual Lauren's First and Goal Football Camp at Lafayette College. The one-day clinic features nearly 275 college coaches who volunteer their time to teach aspiring football players the in-and-outs of the game and raise money for Lauren's First and Goal, a charitable organization created to support pediatric brain tumor research and support local pediatric cancer services.
The Whitcomb File:
Hometown: Rochester, NY
High School: East Rochester High School
College:Maine `06, Old Dominion `09
Recruiting Areas:
Primary:All Quarterbacks (National), North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia: Atlanta (Cobb and Gwinnett County)
Auxiliary:New York
JUCO/Prep: North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas
Coaching History:
2012 - Present: Old Dominion University - Quarterbacks
2011: Old Dominion University - Quarterbacks/Recruiting Coordinator
2007 - 2010: Old Dominion University - Quarterbacks
All-Conference Monarchs Under Coach Whitcomb:
2018: Blake LaRussa - Honorable Mention Conference USA
2016: David Washington - Honorable Mention Conference USA
2014: Taylor Heinicke - Honorable Mention Conference USA
2012: Taylor Heinicke - First Team All-CAA - CAA Offensive Player of the Year
2011: Taylor Heinicke - Third Team All-CAA