NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- After an offseason and preseason camp of going up against each other, Old Dominion is ready to knock some heads in a different colored jersey.
The Monarchs will get that chance next Saturday when they open their season at South Carolina. Their attitude during their annual media day at S.B. Ballard Stadium on Tuesday was full speed ahead.
"If a team is exactly where they need to be right now, then I think people's expectations are probably too low," noted ODU head coach Ricky Rahne. "We've got quite a bit of time left to prepare. In football terms, a week is everything."
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Rahne is entering his fourth season on the sidelines at Old Dominion. Last year, he led the silver and blue to a bowl appearance for the second time in three campaigns. Key play-makers like linebacker Jason Henderson and quarterback Grant Wilson return, but the team is also looking to newcomers to fill some key voids.
As for Henderson, Rahne says he'll be full speed going into next Saturday's season opener at South Carolina. Henderson is coming off a knee injury that forced him to miss the Famous Toastery Bowl and required intense recovery. The senior has led the country in tackles per game in each of the last two seasons and was a First Team All-American in 2023.
"I think there's more excitement than anything," Henderson noted. "Excitement's been the biggest emotion that I've felt. I'm excited to see how I'm going to be able to do, I'm excited to see how the team's going to be able to do, I'm excited to see how the coaching staff's going to be able to do and then, when you put all three of them together, what we can do with that."
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"I think he's really taken his mental game to a new level, which I think is going to really help him," Rahne said. "He's running around, he's ready to go, he's tackling people to the ground so we're excited to have him back."
Rahne also confirmed that Wilson will be the starting quarterback, though that did not need any clarification. Wilson started 11 games at QB last year and becomes the first signal caller to start back-to-back season openers since Taylor Heinicke in 2014.
"Just being able to be in a role where people understand how I'm approaching them, being comfortable explaining myself to people and then taking charge of a situation," Wilson said of his growth. "That's the biggest part."
"I see him having a lot more conviction when he throws the ball," the head coach said of Wilson when compared to last year. "I see him having a lot more leadership when he's talking to guys and running routes and things like that. I think he's moving better in the pocket, more efficiently."
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It's been a productive preseason camp and now the Monarchs are ready to go up against some competition.
"I don't care who you're playing, you're just excited to play somebody you haven't been going against every day, who doesn't know everything you're going to do before you do it and you're just ready to play somebody else," Rahne said.
The opener at South Carolina next Saturday opens up what might be considered the Monarchs' most exciting schedule in program history. Non-conference home games against East Carolina and Virginia Tech are on the slate, as well as Sun Belt home games against James Madison, Marshall, Georgia Southern and Texas State.
"I think it's the best opportunity Old Dominion's ever had," Rahne noted. "Our home schedule, if you're a fan around here and just like football, there's no better home schedule, maybe in the country, especially at the Group of Five level. This is unbelievable, so I think for us it's a great opportunity and that's how we're going to approach it."
The season opener in Columbia kicks off next Saturday, August 31, at 4:15 p.m.
