NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Saying a football team is focused on football might be stating the obvious, but with all the noise around Old Dominion lately regarding conference realignment, Ricky Rahne has been pleased with how his team has blocked that out and kept its focus on the task at hand.
"I've tuned it out, our players have tuned it out. They haven't asked me one question about it, even in passing" Rahne said during his weekly press conference on Monday. "I was actually really happy about that because it shows one of two things: they either are buying control what you can control and the 1-0 mentality, or they know that's the answer I'm going to give them when I ask that question."
"I [haven't] really put a lot of thought into that," added senior linebacker Jordan Young. "I'm just focusing on where we're at in the season right now and just moving forward."
On Friday, a source confirmed to News 3 that Old Dominion and the Sun Belt are in discussions, though that source could not speculate as to when an invitation to the conference could be coming. The Athletic is reporting that the Monarchs could be announced as a new member of the league by the end of the week.
"I have the utmost confidence in Dr. Selig and President Hemphill that they've got a great plan and they're going to execute it," Rahne added. "I'm here to coach football and no matter who the opponent is, conference, non-conference, we're going to play that game."
Old Dominion is 1-6 on the year and coming off an open date. The bye week gave them a chance to recharge and reset and with five games to go, players say it came at a perfect time in the season.
"We have five games remaining and I think with this reset we can focus on each week. What do we have to do to win?," said quarterback Hayden Wolff. "Right now that's our focus for Louisiana Tech."
"The perfect time," noted Young of the bye. "You don't want it too early because the second half of the season will feel extremely long and your body will get a little bit more tired. You don't want it too late because you'll be a little bit too beat up."
The Monarchs host Louisiana Tech on Saturday at 3:30 PM. They'll be looking to beat an FBS team for the first time since November 10 of 2018.
