NORFOLK, VA (WTKR) – After a preseason and postseason training camp that saw the two compete against each other, Old Dominion is ready to make a splash in a different colored jersey.
The Monarchs will get that chance next Saturday when they open their season at South Carolina, and their attitude during their annual media day at SB Ballard Stadium on Tuesday was high on energy.
“If a team is exactly where it needs to be right now, then people’s expectations are probably too low,” noted ODU head coach Ricky Rahne. “We still have quite a bit of time to prepare. In football, a week is everything.”
Rahne is entering his fourth season on the sidelines at Old Dominion. Last year he led the Silver and Blue to a bowl appearance for the second time in three seasons. Key playmakers like linebacker Jason Henderson and quarterback Grant Wilson return, but the team is also looking to add new players to fill some key gaps.
As for Henderson, Rahne says he’ll go full steam ahead into next Saturday’s season opener at South Carolina. Henderson is recovering from a knee injury that forced him to miss the Famous Toastery Bowl and required an intensive recovery. The senior has the most tackles per game in the country over the past two seasons and was named a 2023 First Team All-American.
“I think it’s more excitement than anything else,” Henderson noted. “Excitement has been the biggest feeling I’ve ever felt. I’m excited to see how I’m going to do, I’m excited to see how the team is going to do, I’m excited to see how the coaching staff is going to do and then when we put all three of them together, what we can do with it.”
“I think he’s really taken his mental game to another level, which I think is really going to help him,” Rahne said. “He’s running around, he’s ready to go, he’s tearing people down, so we’re excited to have him back.”
Rahne also confirmed that Wilson will be the starting quarterback, although that didn’t need any further explanation. Wilson started 11 games at quarterback last year and is the first signal caller since Taylor Heinicke in 2014 to start two consecutive season openers.
“Just being able to be in a role where people understand how I approach them, being comfortable around people and then taking control of a situation,” Wilson said of his development. “That’s the biggest part.”
“I see he’s a lot more confident when he’s throwing the ball,” the head coach said of Wilson compared to last year. “I see him having a lot more leadership when he’s talking to guys and running routes and stuff like that. I think he’s moving better and more efficiently in the pocket.”
It was a productive preseason training camp and now the Monarchs are ready to compete.
“I don’t care who you play. You just get excited about playing against someone you don’t play against every day, who doesn’t know everything you’re going to do before you do it, and you’re just ready to play against someone different,” Rahne said.
Next Saturday’s opener at South Carolina kicks off what is arguably the most exciting schedule in the Monarchs’ history. The schedule includes non-conference home games against East Carolina and Virginia Tech, as well as home games in the Sun Belt against James Madison, Marshall, Georgia Southern and Texas State.
“I think this is the best opportunity Old Dominion has ever had,” Rahne noted. “Our home schedule — if you’re a fan here and you like football — there’s no better home schedule, maybe in the entire country, especially at the Group of Five level. That’s incredible, so I think it’s a great opportunity for us and that’s how we’re going to approach it.”
The season opener in Columbia begins next Saturday, August 31st, at 4:15 p.m.
