ODU Football Week 0 Preview
Points of emphasis
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By Mike Langston
It's week zero, meaning football is finally back. The long off-season drought is over, the tailgates are loading up, and we can finally stop speculating and start watching real games. But if you've spent the last few months consuming endless previews, podcasts, and hot takes β€” often from national pundits who've never set foot in Norfolk, let alone at an ODU practice β€” it all starts to blur together. You don't need more noise; you need clarity. As lifelong Monarch fans who actually attend the practices and track every roster rotation, we're here to cut through the fluff. Here are the two things you should focus on most in the early season:
1. SUCCESS THROUGH THE AIR
Throughout Coach Rahne's tenure at Old Dominion, offensive efficiency has directly dictated the team's success.
Take 2021: fueled by Hayden Wolff alongside explosive playmakers like Ali Jennings, Zack Kuntz, Blake Watson, and Elijah Davis, the Monarchs averaged 160.5 yards on the ground and 214.8 through the air. That balanced attack sparked a late-season surge, locking up a 6-6 regular season and a trip to the Myrtle Beach Bowl.
Then came 2022. Injuries to Jennings and Kuntz neutered the passing game's consistency. Opponents repeatedly stacked the box and dared ODU to throw, and the offense couldn't force them to play honest. The run game ground to a halt β€” ranking 124th nationally at a miserable 91.4 yards per game β€” and a three-win season prompted the hire of Kevin Decker.
Decker brought in quarterback Grant Wilson and the wide-split scheme. By stretching defenses from sideline to sideline, the system reopened massive running lanes. In year one, Kadarius Calloway and Keshawn Wicks pushed the ground game back over 150 yards per game, securing another 6-6 bowl campaign. That momentum carried into 2024, as Aaron Young and Colton Joseph spearheaded a dominant 211.3-yard rushing average. Yet, despite the resurrected run game, passing volatility and heartbreaking one-score losses kept ODU just shy of bowl eligibility.
Everything finally clicked in 2025. The offense paired a dual-threat Joseph with arguably the most gifted receiving corps in program history β€” Tre Brown, Ja'Cory Thomas, and Na'eem A-R Gladding β€” alongside a versatile backfield of Devin Roche, Trequan Jones, Bull Hargrove, and Maurki James. The result was a defense-rattling, explosive attack that delivered ODU's finest season since the David Washington era.
Old Dominion Monarchs Football
5-Year Offensive Breakdown
2021–2025 Β· Yards Per Game
Source: cfbtrack.com
Β Best of 5 seasons Β Middle Β Lowest of 5
Ranked 1 through 5 against Old Dominion's 2021–2025 span
Season Rushing Passing Total Offense
2021 160.5 3rd/5
yds/game 		214.8 3rd/5
yds/game 		375.3 3rd/5
yds/game
2022 91.4 5th/5 β–Ό
yds/game 		248.1 1st/5 β–²
yds/game 		339.5 5th/5 β–Ό
yds/game
2023 153.5 4th/5 β–²
yds/game 		194.8 4th/5 β–Ό
yds/game 		348.3 4th/5 β–²
yds/game
2024 211.3 2nd/5 β–²
yds/game 		192.6 5th/5 β–Ό
yds/game 		403.8 2nd/5 β–²
yds/game
2025 238.9 1st/5 β–²
yds/game 		216.0 2nd/5 β–²
yds/game 		454.9 1st/5 β–²
yds/game
Trend Watch 2025 was the program's best offensive season in this span β€” a five-year high in both rushing (238.9 ypg) and total offense (454.9 ypg), after 2022's ground game (91.4 ypg) was the low point of the stretch. Passing peaked earlier, in 2022 (248.1 ypg).
Best since 2021 β€” Rush: 2025 (238.9 ypg) Β· Pass: 2022 (248.1 ypg) Β· Total: 2025 (454.9 ypg)
The Monarchists
The playbook for 2026 is clear: ODU must maintain a legitimate passing threat to complement the run.
While the offense features a lot of fresh faces under new offensive coordinator Kody Cook, the foundation remains. We can expect Cook to preserve the RPO wide-split concepts while infusing his Kansas State roots. With Quinn Henicle's elite speed taking over at quarterback, returning backs Roche and James, and incoming dynamic weapons Trey Hall and Ja'Varien Salter, the ground attack should remain formidable. But if the pass game fails to keep defenses honest, we'll see eight-man boxes all year, making every single yard a dogfight and wins harder to secure.
2. HAVOC LEADS TO SUCCESS
Blake Seiler has served as defensive coordinator throughout Coach Rahne's tenure at ODU. Defensive assistants Remington Rebstock and Kevin Smith joined the program alongside Seiler in 2020, Victor Irokansi joined in 2021, and Kresean Reed arrived prior to the 2025 season. Apart from Reed, this entire defensive staff has matured together as a unit. For a program routinely mocked as "NoDU" before their arrival, they have completely shifted the perception in Norfolk.
Continuity is a great thing in football, and we clearly have it with the defensive staff. But after a successful transfer portal run, we also have it with the athletes. Proven multi-year starters return at every level: guys like Chris Forbes and DeAndre Lynch up front, Koa Naotala and Mario Thompson in the middle, and Mario Easterly, Zion Frink, and Brandon Crutchfield on the back end. ODU's returning production on defense ranks 45th in the country at 58% β€” with only Georgia Southern holding a higher rate in the Sun Belt. The combination of a stable coaching staff and returning production should result in continued success in 2026, provided they can generate pressure.
Now, "havoc" is a word that carries some nasty memories at Old Dominion. It reminds many of that basketball rival up the road in Richmond, and hearing it uttered in the winter makes plenty of us cringe. But since Seiler's hiring, it has been as accurate a barometer for defensive success as it gets.
Havoc measures a team's total tackles for loss, passes defensed, and forced fumbles, divided by total plays (additional note - sacks are included in tackles for loss and interceptions are included with passes defended). Essentially, it tracks how often a unit disrupts opposing offenses. Tracking the defense's progression over the years makes it easy to see why 2025 was our most successful season yet: we created pressure, finished plays, and forced turnovers. That yielded the most balanced defense ODU has ever seen β€” one that could shut down both the run and pass while generating a program-high havoc rate of 18.6%.
On the flip side, while the 2021 squad managed to shut down the run, it failed to force enough turnovers and proved to be a bit of a sieve in the passing game, resulting in a low havoc rate of 13.8%. In other years where ODU failed to battle for the top of the league, noticeable dips in sacks (2023) or turnovers (2024 β€” the year of those brutal one-score losses) told the story.
Old Dominion Monarchs Football
5-Year Defensive Breakdown
2021–2025 Β· Team Production Data
Source: cfbtrack.comΒ 
Β Best of 5 seasons Β Middle Β Lowest of 5
Ranked 1 through 5 against Old Dominion's 2021–2025 span
Season Rush Defense Pass Defense Pressure & Takeaways
2021 134.2 1st/5
yds/game allowed 		250.5 T-4th/5
yds/game allowed 		Sacks: 25
TO Created: 16
Havoc: 13.8%
2022 199.4 5th/5 β–Ό
yds/game allowed 		244.1 3rd/5 β–²
yds/game allowed 		Sacks: 31 β–²
TO Created: 19 β–²
Havoc: 14.9% β–²
2023 142.2 3rd/5 β–²
yds/game allowed 		250.5 T-4th/5 β–Ό
yds/game allowed 		Sacks: 19 β–Ό
TO Created: 21 β–²
Havoc: 16.5% β–²
2024 173.3 4th/5 β–Ό
yds/game allowed 		237.8 2nd/5 β–²
yds/game allowed 		Sacks: 23 β–²
TO Created: 17 β–Ό
Havoc: 16.0% β–Ό
2025 140.2 2nd/5 β–²
yds/game allowed 		191.5 1st/5 β–²
yds/game allowed 		Sacks: 39 β–²
TO Created: 26 β–²
Havoc: 18.6% β–²
Trend Watch 2025 was the program's best all-around defensive season in this span β€” a five-year high in sacks (39), takeaways (26), havoc rate (18.6%), and pass defense (191.5 ypg). The one mark it didn't beat: 2021 still holds the best rush defense of the stretch at 134.2 ypg allowed, after a rough dip to 199.4 ypg in 2022.
Best since 2021 β€” Rush D: 2021 (134.2 ypg) Β· Pass D: 2025 (191.5 ypg) Β· Sacks: 2025 (39) Β· Havoc: 2025 (18.6%)
The Monarchists
The takeaway is clear: if we are going to meet our goals as a program, we must generate pressure. Pressure bursts pipes and wrecks offenses. Let's go wreck some game plans in 2026.
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Early next week, we'll release the season kickoff episode of The Monarchists Podcast. Stay tuned for that. Until then, Go Monarchs!