Old Dominion

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Cal adds Sacramento State, Old Dominion for 2027 football gamesour readThe Liberty rivalry

Sun Belt · Ricky Rahne, year 7 (31-34) · S.B. Ballard Stadium · 20,118 · 21,944 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#66 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #88 (-6.2) · FPI #96
The marketOld Dominion by 3vs East Carolina · our model 66% Old Dominion · a number, not a pick

LastL 21–44 at Virginia Tech · Sat Sep 12 · Quinn Henicle 187 pass yds, 1 TD, 83 rush yds

Nextvs East Carolina · Sat Sep 19 · 6 pm ET · S.B. Ballard Stadium · Old Dominion by 3 · series 0-5, lost the last 5 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist statureRegional Program II#151 all-time– holding
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

11 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 61-74 11 seasons
Best season 10-3 2025
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 11 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 6-6 '15 5-7 '16 10-3 '17 5-7 '18 4-8 '19 1-11 '21 6-6 '22 3-9 '23 6-7 '24 5-7 '25 10-3

Old Dominion's 2014–2025 record is 61-74. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.451
Ranked seasons (AP)
0/11
Best AP finish
—

Program outlook

Old Dominion didn't play football for 68 years. In 2025 the Monarchs went to Blacksburg, hung 45 on Virginia Tech, won ten games, and authored the best season in a program that has existed for 17 years. The resurrection is real.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

The program didn't exist until 2009. Bobby Wilder built it from the first practice — a commuter university in Norfolk's Tidewater with no football culture, no recruiting base, and no reason to think it would become anything. By 2014 the Monarchs were FBS. In 2016 they won the Bahamas Bowl. In 2018 they went to Blacksburg and beat the No. 13 Virginia Tech program 49-35 — a Power Four giant-kill that announced the program had a chip and wasn't afraid to use it. The identity was set: a young program with nothing to protect, built to ambush bigger names with players nobody else trusted.

The 2025 season was the clearest proof yet. Ricky Rahne's sixth-year program went 10-3 — the first ten-win FBS season in program history — with a Sun Belt record good enough to force respect. The Blacksburg trip in September was the program's signature moment: ODU 45, Virginia Tech 26, on the Hokies' own field, the first road win over a Power Four program since the program started playing people. Colton Joseph accounted for three touchdowns. A win that helped cost the Hokies their coach. The Monarchs closed the year with a 24-10 Cure Bowl win over South Florida, a program with resources and history that still lost to the 17-year-old upstart from Norfolk.

Entering 2026, the question is whether ten wins becomes a floor or a peak. The Sun Belt is a real conference now, not a soft landing for mid-majors — winning it outright requires depth, portal acumen, and the ability to beat Sun Belt programs that can also recruit. The fanbase fracture is clean and generous: the dream-bigger room wants ODU treated as a genuine Sun Belt contender with upward trajectory; the grateful-for-everything room is still quietly amazed the program exists at all. Both are right, and 2026 is where the distinction matters.

On the field

Tidewater-tough and opportunistic: a young program built on the chip of being underestimated, with a scheme designed to create explosive plays out of scheme rather than physical mismatches. Rahne's offense uses spread concepts with a mobile quarterback at the center, manufactured yards-after-contact and manufactured big plays out of designed rollouts and receiver motion. The defense punches above its recruiting level through preparation. The program's best games have come as decided underdogs — the nothing-to-lose brand is not an accident, it is a cultivated identity.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · Old Dominion

Old Dominion has won 55% of its games since 2009 — 63% at home, 41% on the road.

107-89 all-time · 17 seasons · 2009–2026

Home 59-35
Away 35-50
Neutral 13-4
82% 2000s
56% 2010s
48% 2020s

Coaching Era · Old Dominion

Ricky Rahne

Ricky Rahne has held the program for 6 seasons — the era is established.

Era Ricky Rahne · 2021–presentPrev: Bobby Wilder (2014–2019)OC: Kody CookPrev OC: Kevin Decker (2023–2025)DC: Blake SeilerPrev DC: co-David Blackwell / co-Grady Brown (2019)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
6 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

2009

Football resurrected

The Monarchs play their first game in 68 years — the founding moment of the modern program

2018

Upset of No. 13 Virginia Tech

ODU 49, Virginia Tech 35 — the program's first win over a ranked Power team and the biggest win in school history

2025

Rout of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg

ODU 45, Virginia Tech 26 — the program's first road win over a Power Four team

Moment of the season — so far · Old Dominion · 2026

Won 31-10 vs Norfolk State

Week 1 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.

Decisive Margin

NFL Draft Pipeline

2023–2023

Old Dominion has sent 3 players to the NFL Draft since 2023 — none in the first round.

Developing. Pipeline emerging.

3 picks · 0 in round 1
#103 Nick Saldiveri Offensive Tackle · 2023 · New Orleans
#209 Tre Hawkins III Cornerback · 2023 · New York · #121/322 final season
#220 Zack Kuntz Tight End · 2023 · New York · #6/119 final season

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-1

Old Dominion is 1-1 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Ricky Rahne2020
  • Bobby Wilder departs31-42, 6 seasons
  • Hired Bobby Wilder2014
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Old Dominion’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2019 · Brian Scott2020–2021 · Kirk Campbell2022 · Kevin Reihner2023–2025 · Kevin Decker2026 · Kody Cook
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2018 · Rich Nagy2019 · co-David Blackwell / co-Grady Brown2020–2026 · Blake Seiler
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

2009 Football Resurrection

since 2009

more

Old Dominion football was dropped after the 1941 season + remained dormant for 68 years. The 2009 program resurrection — under Bobby Wilder — produced rapid ascent: FCS in 2009, FBS reclassification in 2014, multiple bowl appearances. The 68-year gap + revival is unique in CFB. The 2009 ODU 'Football Returns' moment is permanent institutional canon.

Bobby Wilder 2009-2018 Era

since 2009

more

Bobby Wilder — the football resurrection-era head coach — built ODU from scratch through FCS to FBS to Conference USA membership. The 2016 10-3 + Bahamas Bowl championship was the era's peak. Wilder's 2018 retirement opened Bobby Rahne's tenure; Ricky Rahne's 2020-present tenure continues the rebuild.

S.B. Ballard Stadium 2019

since 2019

more

S.B. Ballard Stadium (built 2019, replacing old Foreman Field on the same site) — Old Dominion's dedicated football venue with 22,000 capacity — anchors the post-2009 era. The Norfolk Tidewater geographic setting + modern facilities + 2019 ribbon-cutting + the brick-and-concrete construction create a venue distinct from the historic legacy programs.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2016-2025): 2-2

Most recent: 2025 — win 10-24 (away). Last 5 postseason: 2-2.

2025202320212016
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

886
[Postgame Thread] Old Dominion Defeats USF 24-10
Dec 2025 · r/cfb
560
[Postgame Thread] WKU Defeats Old Dominion 38-35 (OT)
Dec 2023 · r/cfb
107
[Game Thread] Famous Toastery Bowl: Old Dominion vs. WKU (2:30 PM ET)
Dec 2023 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

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