ODU hires Penn State OC Ricky Rahne as new head coach

Penn Stateoffensive coordinator Ricky Rahne was named Old Dominion's head coach on Monday, it was announced.

Rahne emerged last week as the leading candidate at Old Dominion. He spent the past two seasons as Penn State's offensive coordinator and has served on coach James Franklin's staffs at Penn State and Vanderbilt since 2011. Rahne, 39, coached both quarterbacks and tight ends under Franklin.

South Carolina defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson and Cincinnati defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman also were among the candidates at Old Dominion. Football Scoop first reported that Rahne would become the new Monarchs coach.

Rahne replaces Bobby Wilder, who launched the Old Dominion football program and served as coach for the past 11 seasons, going 77-56. Rahne, a former Cornell quarterback who grew up in Colorado, first started working with Franklin at Kansas State in 2006 and reunited with him at Vanderbilt.