Ricky Rahne (born July 19, 1980) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach and former player who is currently the head coach at

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia w ...

. He played college football at

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach a ...

Early life

A native of

Morrison, Colorado The Town of Morrison is a home rule municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The population was 428 at the 2010 census. Red Rocks Amphitheatre is located nearby. History This small foothills settlement is named after George ...

, Rahne attended Bear Creek High School in Lakewood, where he

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

in football and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

. During his senior season, Rahne led all Colorado

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

s with 3,114 passing yards for 33

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

College playing career

Rahne was a three-year starting quarterback at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

from 1999 to 2001.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Rahne spent the 2004 season as a defensive assistant at Holy Cross, primarily working with the

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

s. Other important roles included coordinating the scout teams, breaking down opponents' game film and assisting the defensive coordinator in developing games plans.2009 K-State Football Media Guide
p. 65, retrieved February 22, 2018. Cornell head coach Jim Knowles hired Rahne as the Big Red's running back coach in 2005.

Kansas State

In 2006, Rahne served as an offensive

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respo ...

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

under Head coach Ron Prince and Offensive coordinator James Franklin.

Scott Frost Scott Andrew Frost (born January 4, 1975) is a former American football coach and player. He was the head football coach at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 2018 to 2022. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Frost played college football as a qu ...

served as a defensive graduate assistant for the Wildcats during the same period. In 2007, Rahne was promoted to

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

s coach where he served for two seasons. After the firing of Ron Prince, Rahne was retained by Head coach

Bill Snyder William D. Snyder (born October 7, 1939) is a retired college football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University from 1989 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2018. Snyder initially retired from the p ...

as the

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

s coach, a position he would hold for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Vanderbilt

In December 2010, Rahne was hired away from Kansas State to lead the quarterbacks for James Franklin and the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's teams), 14 of which compete at the National ...

. At the time of the hire Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder was quoted as saying, “I am proud of Ricky, He is a fine young coach and person. His desire was to become a quarterback coach and that opportunity presented itself at Vanderbilt. I am happy for him and his wonderful family.” It is a position he would hold for three successful seasons mentoring quarterbacks Jordan Rodgers and Austyn Carta-Samuels. Rodgers, under Rahne's guidance, finished 2012 season completing 60 percent of his passes for 2,539 yards, and 15 touchdowns to 5 interceptions. Following the season, Rodgers would sign a free agent deal with the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars.

Penn State

Following coach James Franklin, Rahne spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons as the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...

quarterbacks coach. Working with quarterback Christian Hackenberg, Rahne helped him break all of the Nittany Lions major career passing records. Hackenberg finished his career with 693 completions, 8,457 passing yards, 48 touchdown passes, 9 career 300-yard passing games, and 21 200-yard passing games. After the final game of the 2015 regular season, John Donovan was fired as Penn States offensive coordinator, and replaced by Rahne as the interim to coach the

TaxSlayer Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised nati ...

. During preparation for the bowl game, it was announced that ex- Fordham Head coach,

Joe Moorhead Joe Moorhead (born November 2, 1973) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at the University of Akron. He was the offensive coordinator at the University of Oregon from 2020 to 2021, and the head coach at ...

would be taking over as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the 2016 season. Rahne took over as tight ends coach, a position that was previously held by Donovan. During his time as the tight ends coach Rahne mentored

Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, ...

finalist

Mike Gesicki Michael William Gesicki (born October 3, 1995) is an American football tight end for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State. He is the record holder for most receptions by a tight end ...

as he broke the Penn State career record for receptions (123), receiving yards (1,419) and touchdowns (15) by a tight end. Gesicki was selected first-team All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

and second team in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

. Gesicki set single-season records at Penn State for receptions (51), receiving yards (679) and touchdown catches (9) by a tight end. On December 1, 2017, Rahne was named Penn States offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after Joe Moorhead left the Nittany Lions to become the head coach at

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, Penn State saw its best rushing production in 10 years, averaging 204.9 yards per game. That was good enough to finish 29th nationally, and fifth in the Big Ten. That season the offensive line was led by center Connor McGovern, who was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2019 NFL Draft, and tackle

Ryan Bates Ryan William Bates (born (February 14, 1997) is an American football offensive guard for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State. Early life Bates attended Archbishop Wood Catholic Hi ...

. Junior running back Miles Sanders, who was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2019 NFL Draft, rushed for over 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns. Senior quarterback Trace McSorley, who was drafted in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, passed for 2,284 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also ran for 723 yards and 11 scores. Both Sanders and McSorley earned second team All-Big Ten honors. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, Rahne helped lead the Nittany Lion offense to 34 points and 204.9 rushing yards per game. Wide receiver

K. J. Hamler Kahlee Jacoby Hamler (born July 8, 1999) is an American football wide receiver for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State. Early years Hamler moved from his hometown, Pontiac, Michiga ...

, guard Steven Gonzalez and tight end

Pat Freiermuth Patrick John Freiermuth (born October 25, 1998) is an American football tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State and was drafted by the Steelers in the second round ...

earned second team All-Big Ten honors. Hamler was selected by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

with the 46th overall pick in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Old Dominion

On December 9, 2019, it was announced that Rahne had been selected as the next head football coach at

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

. On August 10, 2020, Old Dominion University announced the cancellation of the football season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

Old Dominion profile

Cornell profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahne, Ricky Living people 1980 births American football quarterbacks Cornell Big Red football coaches Cornell Big Red football players Holy Cross Crusaders football coaches Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Old Dominion Monarchs football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches People from Morrison, Colorado Coaches of American football from Colorado Players of American football from Colorado