Following the big win for ODU football in Statesboro, the Monarchists catch up with head ball coach Ricky Rahne. We discuss the offensive scheme including QB reads, audibles, choice routes and OL attack angles. We also touch on some ideas for rule changes and a lot more.

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Hi, I'm Josh Stanton, a proud Old Dominion class of 2017

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alum in Pennsylvania, and you're

listening to the Monarchist Podcast.

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Go ODU!

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Ricky Rahne: podcast

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Mike: Monarchs

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Today, we are welcomed by ODU

head ball coach, Ricky Ronnie.

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Welcome to the show, coach.

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Hey, thanks for having me, guys.

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We're blessed to have you.

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Congrats on getting your

team to this position.

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What does it mean to you, for

you and your guys, to be in this

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position to grab bowl eligibility?

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Ricky Rahne: Yeah, I mean,

obviously it's a, you always wish

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you'd get there earlier, right?

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But, um, having this opportunity

to play for it is important.

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Um, to get to bowl eligibility, you

know, would be something that would be

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an important part, step for our program.

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You know, it gets us 20 more

days together with this team.

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It allows us to get some more

opportunities to get some practice

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with some of our younger players

and see more of what they have.

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You know, it, it kind of ends as

like a, another spring practice.

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So it allows us to get

a little bit better.

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And so that would be a huge.

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All right, coach.

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Obviously, we don't want to give any

trade secrets away, but we're all about

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educating our fans to help educate our

fans on what they see our offense do.

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Could you walk us through the mind of

the quarterback when a running player

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in RPOs called in from the sideline

up to the point where the ball snap?

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Yeah, well, first he gets the play

and, uh, You know, some of the plays

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have an RPO built into them, some

of them, there's an RPO tag onto

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it, so it just kind of depends.

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At that point, he's got to

understand, alright, who are the...

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Who, you know, there's only

five offensive linemen, right?

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So who are the five

offensive linemen blocking?

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Um, if the tight end is involved,

who's the tight end blocking?

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So who, you know, either the five for

five or six, and then the quarterback

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knows, you know, I have the extra guy.

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And where is that extra guy coming from?

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Um, and then how do I deal with that

extra guy based on what the RPO is?

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So, you know, sometimes it's a downfield

throw with a safety hitting it.

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Sometimes it's, you know, reading

a defensive end and then reading

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the support player, almost

like old school triple option.

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Um, sometimes it's reading a linebacker

for either a handoff, a give or some sort

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of throw, but It's just the quarterback

giving the quarterback the power to

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understand how to deal with them.

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And then a lot of times there's

multiple ways you can deal with them

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depending on where they're sitting.

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If they're closer to line of scrimmage,

farther away from the line of scrimmage.

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Um, there's just a bunch of

different things that you can do.

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And so really, really

get good at this offense.

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You have the ability to kind of.

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Solve your own issues and you

know, there's times you can turn

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things into a pure pass play.

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There's times you can, you

know, read a guy like for a run

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play, you know, another run.

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So there's a bunch of different

things that you can do.

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And I think that the more you

get experienced with it, the

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more you'll feel empowered and

actually you get more freedom.

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You know, it gives a coach Decker the

ability to kind of tag everything,

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you know, and that sort of thing.

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And I think that's where, you know, as a

quarterback, you start to feel, you know.

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He starts to feel pretty

darn good at that point.

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Yeah, that's got to feel great.

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Uh, you know, as a quarterback,

that's a lot of responsibility.

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It's a lot of things to see

what's going on outside of the

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reads that the quarterback has

and the play that calls in.

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Does he have any leeway to,

you know, adjust that play?

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Or does that kind of just depend on

where you are in the offense and how

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much experience the quarterback has?

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Yeah, I mean, sometimes he does.

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You know, sometimes you want to run a

certain, a play a certain way, meaning

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like to a certain technique on the front.

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You know, either the, what we call the one

technique that the nose guard, sometimes

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you want to run it to the three technique.

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Um, sometimes you may want to

run it to a certain linebacker.

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You're not sure where he's going to be

lined up or something to that effect.

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So there are times when he's

going to make those changes.

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And then there's other times.

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And like I said, he has the ability

to kind of change maybe a RPO

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into just a true drop back pass

play based on, uh, the type of.

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Uh, that is being shown

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Gary: awesome.

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All right, coach.

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We're going to keep grilling you

about some offensive strategy here.

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Uh, going to switch to

the wide receivers though.

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Uh, I know that we run a lot of choice

or option routes with our wide receivers.

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Can you kind of walk us through

what those choice option routes are

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and why they're so pivotal for us

to incorporate into our offense?

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Ricky Rahne: Well, I won't give

away exactly what they are, but

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I will give you what they can be.

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I mean, basically it

allows you to be right.

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Based on the leverage and depth of the

defender that you're getting it against.

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And it does take some time.

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It's why you see, you know, I thought

we were much better in this last game,

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particularly later in the game and some

things I think that it's why you see.

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Offenses that, or teams that run

this offense, they tend to be much

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better their second year running this

offense because they have a better

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feel for that part of the offense on

the op, the option or choice routes or

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however you wanna say that they are,

you know, we did a little bit of that

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type of stuff in our last offense.

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Um, so it wasn't devoid of that.

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It's, there were certainly

some shorter ones.

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You know, Zach Cos, Ali Jennings had.

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Catches on choice and option routes, and

then all we had a bunch of catches on some

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deeper option routes that we ran as well.

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Some of our most explosive plays were some

deeper option routes, so they probably

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didn't look that way to the, to probably

even the defense, to be really honest

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with you, the way he ran them, so it.

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It's not like we haven't done this.

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And most teams have those type

of things in their offense.

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We just do it probably a little bit more.

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So it does require some, some

time and some conviction and

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running things with belief.

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And it also it's trust between, you

know, the quarterback and the receiver.

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And really, it's also time on job.

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I mean, you just have

to do it more and more.

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And then you feel really

comfortable with it.

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And then you don't feel like there's

a coverage that they can stop you in

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Gary: awesome.

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Yeah, that's I think always the

question of how do you make sure

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the quarterback and the receiver

seeing the same thing on the field?

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Once the ball is snapped kind

of related to that question.

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I know we've seen a couple of

times this year with some defenses.

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They will Kind of bluff a look to you or

change it right, the point of the snap,

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kind of trying to intentionally force a

read a certain one, a certain way, one way

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or another, depending on what the call is,

you know, how does that kind of disrupt

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what we're trying to do offensively?

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Or we kind of have built ins there to

where, all right, yes, they bluff their

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blitz and they backed out into a zone.

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We can go attack it anyway.

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Ricky Rahne: Yeah, I mean, I think

a lot of teams are doing that now.

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I mean, trying to show some things,

show one thing, give another.

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Our defense obviously does

it quite a bit as well.

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No, I mean, you, you want to get pre snap

indicators and post snap confirmation is

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kind of what we always say, you know, so

you can't just say, okay, well, this is

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what the pre snap thing and just do it.

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You still have to get some sort of

post snap confirmation on the thing,

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you know, because if not, you're

going to be, you know, throwing a

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ball into the flat against cover to

which every quarterback in the history

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of football has done and feel like

an idiot right after you've done it.

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So, yeah, you still have to, we still

have answers for those sort of things.

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All right,

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Gary: I got to get you to clarify

something for us and it's our four wide

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stack set We've got to get the right

name for it We've called it like the

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decker double stack the discount double

stack a bunch of different things What

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is it called within the team and what can

we as fans use to nickname that thing?

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Ricky Rahne: Well, again, I probably

won't tell you what's called here.

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I don't like to give that away because

it does make some things a little bit

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easier for, as we've seen with, uh,

in college football right now, it does

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make it easier to get those signals.

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If you know what it's called,

you know, I would say, I think

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whatever you guys want to call it.

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I kind of like all those, you

know, although I will say as a.

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Football coach, all of our

formations, anywhere I've ever

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been, like the original formation.

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Now there's always adjustments, but

the original formation is always

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one word, you know what I mean?

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And really it's usually one

syllable, you know, uh, so that's

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how a lot of things are done.

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And, but, you know, just so

you can get it out easier.

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Cause you know, you're going

to have some sort of kind of.

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For lack of a better term,

you're going to have some sort of

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adjustment to all those formations.

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You know what I'm trying to say?

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So, you know, we, uh, we like to keep

them to one word, no doubt about it.

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Gary: All right.

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We'll go back to the

drawing board on that one

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Ricky Rahne: then.

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Yeah.

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But you guys are going out.

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I mean, I like it, you know what I mean?

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Like, yeah.

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Yeah.

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Decker

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Gary: double stack I think

has been the go to so far, but

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we'll, uh, we'll work on that.

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Ricky Rahne: I didn't know if

you're like double Decker, like,

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so then you could just call it bus

or whatever you wanted to call it.

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I don't know if you know what

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Mike: I'm saying.

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All

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Gary: right.

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I like that.

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I like that.

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I like where your

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Mike: head's at.

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All right, Coach.

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Offensive line play can be a thing

of beauty that no one notices.

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We've seen you incorporate many different

blocking schemes up front to bust some big

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runs and create time for the quarterback.

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Can you walk us through some

of our basic blocking concepts?

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Ricky Rahne: Well, I'll tell you,

I'll give you this, the overall, like,

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strategy of what we're trying to get done.

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What you're trying to do with the

offensive line is you're trying to give

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them angles as much as possible to block.

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You don't, you know, so sometimes

when you look at things and you

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look and you say to yourself, all

right, well, we want to zone that.

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And then you look at the angles

and the angles just aren't good.

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You know what I mean?

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So, like, let's say you have this, right?

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You have two linemen, defenders

here and the other defenders here.

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To zone right to get back to that

guy can be really difficult, right?

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Because you just don't,

you don't have an angle.

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So on that point, you may want to

zone all the way through and push

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everything through so that you can

have angles on people because the

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reality of it is you want to be on the

down lineman for as long as possible.

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Right.

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And so the longer you can be

on the down lineman, the longer

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you can, the more you can get

movement and those sorts of things.

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But if you're on the down lineman

and your angle isn't bad, what

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happens or the angle isn't good, you

end up working against each other.

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So if I'm blocking here and then

this guy's coming this way, but his,

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his guy's there, we end up working.

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Against each other on that down line.

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So you want to get where you guys are

working together so you can get movement.

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What I think that sometimes fans

don't understand is it's always not

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going to be vertical movement, right?

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I mean, these guys are

getting coached too.

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I mean, if they were getting

blown 3, yards off the ball, I

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mean, obviously we're going to

keep running the ball every down.

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And then second of all, I mean,

we're probably murdering that, right?

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I mean, like that, that's

not a thing in the Sunbelt.

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I mean, we play good

football teams, right?

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They were well coached.

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So you're going to get some vertical

movement, but you're also going

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to get horizontal displacement.

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Right.

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You're going to be able to knock a guy out

of his gap by knocking him horizontally.

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So what you're trying to do is just

get some sort of movement at all.

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The defense, on the other hand,

is trying to get displacement.

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They're trying to make sure that

they can get the O line off level.

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Right.

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And so that's why they're trying

to knock back and split things

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and do those sort of things.

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They're trying to get them off level so

that they can't be double teamed anymore.

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And that's why you see guys

like running through like Jason.

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Some of our Wayne will run through

sometimes because when they do that

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now it makes the double team come off.

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And then all of a sudden it's harder

to block our defense blind that way.

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Right.

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So it's a lot about.

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Making sure that you're, you have those

sort of angles in order to dictate how

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those, how the blocks are getting done.

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So that's why we do run so many

different schemes, whether we're

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pulling somebody, maybe that's the

best way for us to get our angle.

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Right.

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Where, you know, we may be pulling

for the linebacker, we may be pulling

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to trap or kick out what defensive

lineman and maybe a zone blocking scheme

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where, hey, we're going to zone, right.

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But even on zone blocking schemes, you're

still zoning to people most of the time.

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Right.

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Do you guys understand what I'm saying?

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So it's not like you're just zoning.

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I'm just going to zone

indiscriminately over here.

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You're still zoning to people.

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Now, there are some outside zone

plays where you might zone to an area.

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And say, all right, we're just

going to pick up whoever comes into

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this thing and that sort of thing.

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So there's a bunch of different things

that you're trying to get done, but

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all of them are, the base concept

is you're just trying to get angles.

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All right.

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That was taught a long time ago

that you're trying to get numbers,

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angles, and graphs, right?

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So, you know, where do

I have the most numbers?

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Right.

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Where do I have the best angles?

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And then where's the, where,

where can I have the most space?

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I mean, is a, uh, you know, I mean,

it's essentially trench warfare, right?

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I mean, you know, it's world war one,

everyone's dug in and where can you

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try to, you know, find that ability

to get through You know what I mean?

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And that's why there's so much

innovation in the game of football.

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Same reason tanks came around, same

reason machine guns came about.

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Right.

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I mean, you're trying to

find a flamethrower, right?

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All those sorts of things that were

innovative in, in world war one, because

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you had to find a way to, to get that

space well, you know, football, that's

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why you're innovating all the time too.

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You know, I was also, you

know, sometimes you expand.

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To get that space like we do right

other times, some people will

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constrict everything and now you're

being able to create space otherwise,

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right by either creating more gaps

or now there's space on the outside

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because you brought everybody in.

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Mike: All right, so when coach

Decker was hired, I was very excited

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because I knew it would bring some

life to the running game and that

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has shown to be the case this year.

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Obviously, that's a big part of

the offense, the offensive line.

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But another big part of

that is Jalen Butler.

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He's kind of an unsung hero in this group.

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Uh, can you tell us your thoughts

on his performance this year and

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what a weapon he has been for you?

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Yeah.

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You

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Ricky Rahne: know, we want to continue

to find ways to get him to football, um,

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because he can be a great receiver for us.

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Um, and he, on those option rounds, he's,

he's got a good feel for him and he's

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doing a nice job on those, but we've

asked him to block a lot this year.

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For a guy who played wide

receiver in junior college, who's

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already put on 20 pounds with us.

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You know, I think coach Harper has

done an unbelievable job of getting him

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ready to go and he is blocking much,

much better, you know, and long term

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that's going to help his future for

the NFL to be able to see him block.

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That's going to, that's going to be

a huge thing because they're going to

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be able to notice that he can run and

catch and do something and they don't.

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Really care about his stats as much

as people probably think, right?

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They want to see him do that other stuff.

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So he's doing a nice job.

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He really is.

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And his, what he does is he gives

us, sometimes the angle is him

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blocking a defensive lineman.

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Sometimes the angle is him

blocking a, uh, a linebacker.

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He's been great in pass pro and

by bringing him in, it allows

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us to, they don't know where the

extra gap is going to happen.

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Right.

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So, you know, we can put that extra

gap, might be the C gap, might

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be the B gap, might be the A gap.

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Doesn't matter.

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The team we're about to play

does an unbelievable job of that.

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They do it differently.

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They actually line their tight

up, tight end in those gaps.

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They'll separate their offensive

line and actually put their

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tight end as like basically the

guard or basically the tackle.

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Um, so they do it a little bit

differently than we do, but they're

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still trying to do the same thing.

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They're just creating a different gap.

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Obviously huge win this past

week at Georgia Southern.

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No one's gone in there and won this year.

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That game, no different than any of

them this year, really have been close.

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Your team's been a 9 1 possession

game this season, the most in the

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country, and you've had to make many

difficult decisions late in those games.

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Some have worked

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Gary: out, some haven't.

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Ricky Rahne: But that's how

football goes at this level.

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How have those experience helped

you and your staff grow as

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Gary: coaches?

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Ricky Rahne: Yeah, I mean, you know,

you've got to, it's one of those

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things where you've got to live that

one and O mantra, but that doesn't

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mean I don't learn from things, right.

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You know, and, uh, but you can't let

maybe something that didn't go right.

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You know, sometimes the

decision doesn't go right.

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It's still the right decision.

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On the flip side, sometimes the

decision works, it doesn't make

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it the right decision, right?

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And so like when I've looked back

at it, um, some of the things I've

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done, I'm like, yep, I would do

that again, exactly the same way.

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And it didn't work, you know,

and then there's some of them

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where I'm like, no, that was.

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Wouldn't do it that way again, and

it worked, you know what I mean?

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But what I've got to do is I've got to

learn it and see why it worked or why

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it didn't work And then go from there

There's also some things that there's

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some decisions you're gonna make in a

game that maybe you didn't make early in

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the year and it's Not you're not changing

why you did it based on because it did

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or didn't work You're changing it based

on what's happening in that game at that

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moment You know, and you have to be able

to adjust on what is happening around

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you, your opponent, how you're playing,

injuries, all those sort of things.

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So that's also going to change

some of these decisions.

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You know, it's not always going to be

one of those situations where it's going

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to be, uh, Hey, I made this time, I

just, this time, uh, and it didn't work.

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So now I'm not ever

going to do that again.

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I mean, that's not, I can't be like that.

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I can't be a prisoner of the moment.

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Like that.

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I've got to make better

decisions than that.

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Now I'm not going to, I'm not one of

those people who uses the book and all

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that sort of stuff, because I think

the book, while a useful tool and I

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understand analytics and I appreciate it.

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I think the book struggles to

take into account that a guy

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get a twisted ankle, right?

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Is a guy just not having

his best day that day.

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You know, is a guy hot and he's

just moving people left and

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right on the offensive line.

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Like is a quarterback doing well?

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Is your defense playing really well?

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Is your defense playing not so well?

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I mean, like, I think that, you know,

that's hard for those books to take

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into consideration, which is why

football hasn't been as analytics

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based, at least successfully as.

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Like for example, basketball

and baseball, right?

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I mean, those games, particularly

baseball, um, they had to make rules to

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get rid of some of the analytics because

those analytics were so good because

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it's one picture on one matter, you know?

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And so it makes it a little

bit harder in football.

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Gary: All right.

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Switching gears a little

bit, looking to, to Saturday.

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Uh, it's going to be senior day for

a number of fifth and sixth year guy.

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And obviously they've been through a

lot with this program from going back

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to 2019, the COVID year and everything

that's kind of transpired since then.

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Uh, Want to know, do you have a number

estimate of how many are going to be

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walking out on the field before the game

Saturday and just talk a little bit about

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what this fifth and sixth year senior

class has meant to you and your time here?

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Ricky Rahne: Yeah, it's going to

be anywhere between 10 and 14.

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So not quite as many as last year.

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Yeah, this class means a lot to

me, obviously, because I've got

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to coach them a little bit longer.

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You know, that first class was important

to me, because those guys really

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trusted me and those sort of things.

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But this class, it means a lot to me.

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Yeah, I've been with

these guys for a while.

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Some of these guys I've been with for

a long while, you know what I mean?

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And if not, if it's a guy who transferred

in here, it, they trusted us to, to help

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them along with their career or to give

them a great, you know, last experience

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of their college career or for some

of them, even their football career.

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So yeah, it's an important deal.

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You know, I think the hardest part

for these young men is like, it

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was a little bit harder for me.

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And I don't mean that.

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I mean that for one very simple reason.

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I knew that was my last

football game of my life, right?

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So like, and for me, like when it was

my, when it was the last game of my

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last regular season, I knew that was it.

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Now my senior day was actually

the week before because we

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didn't play my last game at home.

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We played it on the road.

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But these guys.

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Don't necessarily know that, right?

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Because we can win and

play in a bowl game.

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Some of them can, some of

them might still transfer.

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Some might go play in the NFL.

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I knew none of those things

were up on the horizon for me.

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So I do think it's a got a little bit

different than maybe it used to be.

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But for some of our

guys who are know that.

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One of these games, one of

these last two games will be

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their last game of their lives.

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It means a little bit

more, you know what I mean?

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And the one thing they all know is,

yeah, this is their last game in S.

425

P.

426

Ballard Stadium, or as you

guys call it, the castle.

427

I think that Mr.

428

Ballard would prefer that

I continue to call it S.

429

P.

430

Ballard Stadium, so I will, I will do so.

431

But, uh, although I do like

the castle, it's kind of cool.

432

But, yeah, so those guys, you know,

knowing that it's their last time playing

433

there, and as many times as they've put

the uniform on, uh, yeah, it means a

434

Mike: lot.

435

All right, coach, I'm not sure if

you picked up on it, but we wanted

436

to use this time to kind of educate

fans and if they want to hear your

437

thoughts on Georgia Southern, they

should go and listen to the presser

438

or listen to the coaches show tonight.

439

Obviously, you're going to cover Georgia

State as well in both of those situations.

440

So this will be our only

Georgia State question.

441

This weekend, we host six and

five Georgia State fresh off

442

a tough trip to Baton Rouge.

443

What can fans expect this

weekend from Georgia State?

444

Ricky Rahne: It's a very

tough football team.

445

They're coached by a tough

man who's very passionate.

446

Ton of respect for Coach Elliott.

447

You'll watch him on the

sideline and he gets into it.

448

He is very, very into it.

449

Um, they, they play tough, you

know, watch him in pregame.

450

I recommend watching him in pregame.

451

I'll be a dead serious when I say

that, because he gets into it pretty

452

darn good, that that's what we

should expect from them, a tough

453

team that is going to give us every.

454

Thing they have and we

know they're talented.

455

So this is gonna be this can

be a football game Okay, coach.

456

So throughout this season, we've seen some

new wrinkles get unveiled as the season

457

has kind of progressed uh, obviously We

saw some trickeration in the last one

458

that worked out brilliantly I have to

ask because it was beautiful to to watch

459

Is there much that we haven't seen yet?

460

Yeah, yeah, there's

still some other stuff.

461

Yeah, I mean, we've been working

on some things for a while.

462

Yeah, that's usually what

happens on those Deceptives.

463

I like to call them Deceptives,

not Tricks, you know.

464

I learned that one from, uh, watching

Urban Mire a bunch, you know.

465

It just sounds better, right?

466

Trick sounds like it was luck.

467

Deceptive sounds like you were,

like, trying, like, like, yeah,

468

like we knew this was gonna work the

whole time, you know what I mean?

469

So, yeah, I, uh, you know, We, they

take some time to, to work on and

470

do some of those sorts of things.

471

So yes, we definitely still

have some things out there.

472

And it's got to be the right time.

473

It's got to be the right opportunity.

474

There's been some times where, uh, coach

deck has asked me, Hey, should we run

475

it here or should we run this here?

476

And I said, no, there's a couple of

times I've said, Hey, what about this?

477

And he's like, I just don't

feel good about it right now.

478

So, I mean, they've come up, you

know, they've come up and, uh,

479

but that was the perfect time.

480

He didn't really need to ask me on

that one because we've kind of talked

481

about it pregame and I, he called it

and I've never been more confident in

482

the play was going to work in my entire

life, to be very honest with you,

483

it's just, that was pretty awesome.

484

It worked well and

485

Gary: Grant put that guy on skates.

486

So that was a lot of

487

Ricky Rahne: fun for us.

488

Yeah, it was a heck of a throw.

489

First of all, you know what I mean?

490

I mean, like to get that ball,

put it and get it out there.

491

What a great job by Granger.

492

He really well blocked on the front side

of that play, which was a huge part of it.

493

Because, you know, you get

some penetration with a guy

494

who's not a quarterback, that

thing can go hairy quick.

495

You know, I thought Grant sold the

heck out of it because one of their

496

guys actually kind of made a mistake.

497

And was back there when he

really shouldn't have been.

498

And I'm not saying that from like,

he shouldn't have been there.

499

Like, we don't think we

didn't want him there.

500

Like you look at the defense, like

he should not have been there.

501

And so it was like, Oh man,

but he really, he sold it.

502

He didn't panic.

503

I ran that in a game once and I paid.

504

Like a little chump and then and then the

ball got batted away by the free safety.

505

So he did it much better than I did

506

Gary: awesome Well, uh switching gears

again a little bit here Uh recently

507

the pride of odu nil collective was

announced and put out there publicly

508

for fans to sign up and go support You

know, what does that collective being

509

started mean to you and for the program?

510

Ricky Rahne: It's just a way for us

to be able to adjust to the changing

511

climate Of college football and to

give our guys another opportunity.

512

Let's give our guys as many opportunities

as possible and reasons to stay

513

and be successful at Old Dominion.

514

I mean, and I think that that's the

thing that, that it does, you know,

515

it's not one of those things where, you

know, you're going out and you, and.

516

And you're using it for other things.

517

You're trying to get guys to stay here

and develop in those sort of things.

518

And I, and that's where I really

appreciate what the, uh, you know,

519

the people have started and supported

that collective, that's really

520

what it's about and what it's for.

521

And if it helps our guys be a little

bit more comfortable, it helps them

522

maybe help their families a little bit

more, if it helps them eat a little

523

bit better, if it helps them recover

a little bit better than, I mean,

524

that's only going to help them be

better players and us be a better team.

525

All right,

526

Mike: coach.

527

So, you know, you've talked

with us before, you know, we

528

always end with fun questions.

529

Here's that point.

530

We know you and your family have checked

off all the baseball stadiums now.

531

Did you ever go to Turner Field?

532

Ricky Rahne: Yeah.

533

We had to do Atlanta twice.

534

Yeah, because we went

to Turner Field earlier.

535

And then, uh, and then we, uh, So

then we had to go back, uh, this year.

536

Or, is it this year?

537

Yeah, this year we went over the

spring, over the spring, um, this year

538

so that we could get it knocked off.

539

And then obviously we played them last

year there and all that sort of stuff.

540

It's a way different atmosphere

than, uh, um, way different

541

environment than it's kind of weird.

542

I mean, to be very honest with

you, they did a great job and I'm

543

sure they're very happy with it,

but it is a weird environment.

544

It is.

545

Hey,

546

Mike: you beat me to

my follow up question.

547

We were going to ask you if it

was weird to coach a game at a

548

place you attended for baseball.

549

Ricky Rahne: Well, I'd already done that.

550

Because we played in the pinstripe

bowl and I'd been to Yankee Stadium.

551

That was really strange because I was in

the booth at the time, not calling plays.

552

I was the quarterback coach.

553

And I was in the booth.

554

You're in a, you're not,

there is no booth, right?

555

You're in a, you're in a suite, right?

556

They're like, you know, some stockbrokers

are in most of the time at that thing.

557

You know what I mean?

558

So it's like really

awkward, but it was awesome.

559

I mean, I loved every part of

that bowl game, um, especially

560

cause we won in overtime.

561

But yeah, so I had done that before.

562

And so that, yeah, so it wasn't

my first time doing that.

563

All right, coach, it's Christmas morning.

564

You tear the wrapping paper off

a gift with your name on it.

565

Inside is the golden ticket that says

good for one college football rule change.

566

Gary: What rule are you changing and

567

Ricky Rahne: why?

568

Mike: All

569

Ricky Rahne: right, so, uh, uh, oh man.

570

I got two though.

571

I got two.

572

You can, you can get those one's.

573

One pre-game, one's during the

game, one's during the game, one's

574

pre-game and the one in the pregame.

575

No one would ever matter.

576

Well, no one ever looks,

so I'm taking two.

577

All right.

578

The first one is this, there's called,

what's called a long side and a short

579

str, a short side in pre-game warmups,

and it lasts until the 45 minute mark,

580

and that's where like the kickers are

kicking the ball into the other team.

581

It's bananas.

582

That makes no sense.

583

And all the time, the only almost fights

in college football always occur because

584

of the long side and the short side.

585

The coaches almost get into it.

586

Eventually, there's always going to

be some jerk punter or kicker that's

587

going to just kick and like make a

scene of it and all that sort of stuff.

588

Eliminate that.

589

45 yard lines each.

590

The point of no return

there in the middle, right?

591

And then you just, you stay on your sides.

592

Kickers, if you want to go out there

and kick it long, go out there before

593

the 90 minute mark and wail away, right?

594

But once the 90 minute mark hits, no.

595

We're doing a 45 yard line so we don't

have any issues, that sort of thing.

596

So that's pregame.

597

Actually, that, if I could get that

done, I would feel more accomplished

598

about football than anything else I've

ever done in my entire life, right?

599

So there's number one.

600

Number two.

601

There should be grades.

602

Targeting, right?

603

So for example, if the ridiculousness of

that Boston college kid, that he, that

604

we all saw that on Twitter, like that was

targeting of like the, to the nth degree.

605

Yeah.

606

Toss him out of the game.

607

Right.

608

Get at him.

609

But if something happens, like what

happened with Terry, it's like, make,

610

okay, fine for a 15 yard penalty.

611

I'm fine with that, but he shouldn't

have to miss the first half.

612

Of his senior day, if he, and he's

actually, he's actually not walking so

613

it's not a senior day, but he shouldn't

have to miss of a bunch of his boys

614

and all that sort of stuff going.

615

Right?

616

He shouldn't have to do that.

617

He shouldn't have to miss

that game for a play.

618

I don't know how to coach him

to tell him not to do that.

619

The guy, because if the guy doesn't

go down for the ball, Is the guy

620

just puts his hands down instead

of putting his whole entire body

621

down there, which I'm not telling

that young man to do that either.

622

Right.

623

But let's just say he did.

624

Terry would have hit him in the

gut with his shoulder pad, by the

625

way, the exact perfect hit that

we want everything to happen.

626

So in my mind, there should be just

like Like other, there should be flank

627

flagrant ones and flagrant twos, right?

628

There should be targeting

ones and targeting twos.

629

And if you get two targeting twos in a

season, then you do miss the next half.

630

You know what I'm saying?

631

But like a targeting one, fine.

632

The way the rule stands down, you

know, the target two targeting twos.

633

Anytime in the season, you

miss the next half, man.

634

Like you gotta find a

way, you know what I mean?

635

But that's how I feel

like that should happen.

636

Now, really, if I was really doing

it, I would say a target two targeting

637

twos within a four game span.

638

You know, is how I'd really do it,

or even at six games, but those would

639

be the two rules that I would change.

640

Gary: I think that's fair.

641

It's that you can't put the human

lawn dart in the same conversation

642

as what happened to Terry.

643

No, they're

644

Ricky Rahne: totally, like one guy is

trying, like whether he's trying to hurt

645

him or not, it looks like he's trying to

hurt somebody and do something egregious.

646

Let's be real.

647

We all know Terry.

648

Terry could have done something

bad to that kid, right?

649

And he chose not, he made a choice

not to, and still got punished.

650

And guess what?

651

Based on the rules, it was right.

652

So I don't want people to think

that I don't think that the way

653

the rules officiate that rule was

officiated right on that play.

654

I'm not saying it wasn't i'm saying

that particular rule should be modified.

655

Gary: Yeah Terry's probably like the

last person on the defensive roster

656

that I would want to go up against He

quotes him and henderson, but terry

657

he's yeah, he could do something.

658

So, all right, we got one more

question for you coach Uh, the miss

659

michigan signed stealing shenanigans.

660

They've been a big story all year

We won't ask you to comment on

661

that specific situation unless you

just want to Uh, but what are your

662

thoughts on a potential remedy for

this being communication devices

663

and helmets like we see in the NFL?

664

Ricky Rahne: All right.

665

I actually have a very big opinion

on this I won't talk about the sign

666

seeing thing because what I will

say this if They were doing on what

667

they were alleged to be doing guys.

668

That's way over the top.

669

That's not everybody's doing it

That's not one of those things.

670

That's way over the top.

671

That's very similar To what the astros

were doing in their thing Right.

672

Like everybody's feeling side, like,

but there's a limit and a level to it.

673

Right.

674

You understand what I'm saying?

675

So, so to go to that thing that if they're

doing, that's a bad, that's a bad deal.

676

Right.

677

That's a bad deal.

678

All right.

679

Now onto the next thing.

680

I am all for helmet to helmet

communication, but I want

681

it in everybody's helmet.

682

Like I think everybody should have it.

683

And if that's the case, because if

not, you still have to signal, like

684

you still have to do something, right?

685

Like you, if you, if the quarterback

only has it, how do the whiteouts know?

686

Right.

687

You know what I'm trying to say?

688

So eventually there's still going to

be some signals and stuff, because

689

like, I'll just give you, I'll

just tell you the truth when we

690

were playing pit back in the day.

691

They were really good at, their

signals were hard to pick up.

692

What we've started realizing is, they

would call two plays on every one of

693

their signals, and then based on the

formation, they would call another thing.

694

So we start, stopped looking at the

coaches and started looking at the

695

players, because the players had to

signal to each other what they were doing.

696

So we were started, we started to

be able to pick up the signals based

697

on what the players were doing, not

what the coaches were doing, right?

698

So then when Pit, guess what, when Pit

figured that out, you know what they did?

699

They stole our formation signals.

700

So then they could just signal in

directly to their kids, what they were

701

doing, the way they were doing it.

702

And then they told their kids to

not signal to each other at all.

703

Just do what we tell you to do

because they had our formations.

704

So it's like.

705

You know, there's, that's

some in game stuff.

706

That's really cool.

707

I think, I think that's, I

think that's kind of cool.

708

I mean, no one, like, I, I love how

we have movies about like the enigma

709

machine and things like that and

code breaking and things like that.

710

And it's really cool.

711

And everyone's all look how cool it is.

712

But now that it's in football, now it's.

713

Now people think it's

like cheating and stupid.

714

I don't understand it.

715

Like, whole things are built on this,

you know, they're, you know, the Navajo

716

code talkers and all that sort of stuff.

717

That stuff is cool in

movies, but now it's not.

718

I mean, like it's, that's

all we're doing, right?

719

But if you have the, it's the

problem with the helmet communication

720

is this, in the NFL, they can

do that because the NFL runs it.

721

So the son, an NFL worker is turning

that thing off at 15 seconds.

722

Right.

723

Or as the ball is snapped, guys, we

obviously can't trust each other.

724

We, this, we're all talking about this

because of this big scandal that happened.

725

Right.

726

Like, is that what I mean?

727

Like, that's what I don't think.

728

So it's like, we can't trust a worker

who is a, well, since they're the ones

729

involved, how can we trust a Michigan

stadium worker to do this and not leave it

730

on for the whole play for the quarterback?

731

And leave it on all 15 seconds

for the other team, right?

732

You have to now employ a Sunbelt

official to turn that thing on and off.

733

You have to.

734

Like, you don't have an option there.

735

You know what I'm saying?

736

And so, I think that that's one

of the things that, you know,

737

people have got to understand.

738

But if you remember in, what

was it, the XFL, I think?

739

Everyone had it.

740

Yes, yep.

741

And it worked pretty darn well.

742

Worked pretty darn well.

743

I mean, I'm not just saying

the offensive players.

744

I want the defensive players should

have it too, you know, and everyone's

745

like, well, they'll just be getting

coached too much and they'll just be

746

like robots will be like a video game.

747

No, it won't.

748

It's one guy will be able to talk to him.

749

You know what I'm trying to say?

750

And if he's trying to coach everybody

at once, let me assure you that

751

he is coaching nobody, right?

752

Like, I mean, that's not a thing.

753

It's not a thing.

754

I mean, that's not really going to happen.

755

So I'm all for it now.

756

What I do want.

757

Yep.

758

And obviously they've done the

research, so I think this will be fine.

759

I would want to know that the

helmets were still safe for the

760

kids and all that sort of stuff.

761

Like that it didn't affect

the helmet structurally.

762

I assume you're putting a 52 million

dollar quarterback's head in there, so I

763

gotta assume that they'll be fine, right?

764

You know what I'm saying?

765

So, and yeah, I think they can.

766

Mike: I was just gonna make a note.

767

You talk about the league and competing

with each other and how that could impact

768

this without an official turning it off.

769

You'd also have to worry

about the different stadiums.

770

Uh, Louisiana Monroe hosted a game

earlier this year where they didn't

771

have power for the whole first half.

772

Then, uh, I think it was Southern

Miss where your communication

773

devices weren't working at all.

774

Southern Miss,

775

Ricky Rahne: their headsets went

off, so we had to take ours off.

776

And you guys probably saw me

losing my mind because they

777

had theirs on before we did.

778

And I was like, whoa, theirs

are the ones that went off.

779

Like, you know what I mean?

780

Like, why are, now, what they were

doing, they were just checking that.

781

Coach, Coach Hall is a very, a

lot of respect for Coach Hall.

782

I don't think, I want that duly noted.

783

I did not think he was doing anything

nefarious or anything like that.

784

But, you're right.

785

I mean, it now.

786

You're adding another layer, you're

adding another layer, there's no

787

question, there's no question.

788

And so you would have to upgrade

a lot of things, which I still

789

think we do need some upgrades.

790

You'd love to see the pylon

cam at every stadium, right?

791

I think not only at the, not

only at the end zone, but

792

also at the first down marker.

793

I think that's something that would help.

794

And listen, I'm not saying you played

anywhere other than instant replay.

795

The instant replay official

is the only one that needs it.

796

It doesn't need to go anywhere else.

797

But I mean, those would be things

that would probably need to go down.

798

Mike: I'm sure some JMU fans would love

a pylon cam right now after that game.

799

Ricky Rahne: Yeah, I think it was a good

800

Gary: touchdown.

801

He had the elbow over with the ball in it.

802

I

803

Ricky Rahne: think he's, yeah.

804

I mean, the interesting part about that is

just like, if you're, if you're app state.

805

You don't want, guess what, if you're

at App State, you want it too, because

806

you don't want the clout, you don't

want, you don't want, you don't want

807

anybody to say that you were gifted that

win, you took it, you won it, you know

808

what I mean, so guess what, you want,

at App State, you want the exact same

809

thing as JMU wants, you believe that it

was over, and they believe it wasn't.

810

Alright

811

Mike: coach, I just want to say thank you

for coming on the show today, we really

812

appreciate it, can't wait to talk to you

next time, and can't wait to be at Ballard

813

this weekend, to pack the castle, and

hopefully send you guys off to a bowl.

814

Yeah.

815

Ricky Rahne: Anybody can get there.

816

Let's go.

817

I know if you're probably listening to

this podcast, you're probably already

818

going to be there anyway, or, or you can't

be because you're, uh, on deployment or

819

you're not in this state or whatever.

820

Um, but if you can listen to this

thing and you can find a way to get

821

there, I mean, let's find a way.

822

I mean, it's, it's too easy.

823

Hey, ask one of your buddies

who has season tickets.

824

They will get you a cheap ticket.

825

It is not hard.

826

There's deals for 10 for a ticket.

827

What you tell me, what else you can get?

828

What other entertainment can you have

for 10 for three hours entertainment?

829

I mean, like it doesn't exist

and go show up early tailgate.

830

Everybody's always got extra beer.

831

I assure you, I mean,

like that's happening.

832

So there's extra food, actually,

everyone's, I mean, I've

833

never heard of anybody at our

tailgates getting turned away.

834

You know what I mean?

835

And so, go show up, go hang out, and,

you know, let's just show everybody

836

what 757 football, Hampton Roads

football, and ultimately Old Dominion

837

football, what we can be about.

838

Absolutely.

839

Mike: And, as always, if you

don't have somewhere to tailgate,

840

you're always welcome to

tailgate with us in the Blue Lot.

841

Let's pack Ballard and send you

guys off the way you guys deserve.

842

So thank you, coach and go Monarchs.

843

Go Monarchs.

844

Ricky Rahne: Go Monarchs.

845

Nice guys.

846

podcast

847

Mike: Monarchs