| Old Dominion Monarchs football | |||
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| First season | 1930 (revived in 2009) | ||
| Head coach | Bobby Wilder | ||
| 3rd year, 26–7 (.788) | |||
| Home stadium | Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium | ||
| Stadium capacity | 19,818[1] | ||
| Stadium surface | AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D | ||
| Location | Norfolk, VA | ||
| Conference | CAA | ||
| All-time record | 88–26–4 (.763) | ||
| Postseason bowl record | – | ||
| Consensus All-Americans | 2, Both since 2009 | ||
| Colors | Slate Blue and Silver | ||
| Mascot | Big Blue | ||
| Website | odusports.cstv.com | ||
The Old Dominion Monarchs football team is the college football program for Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. The first iteration of the team created in 1930 was known as the William & Mary Norfolk Division Braves. The current Monarchs founded in 2009 compete at the NCAA Division I-FCS level. Beginning in the 2011 season, they joined the Colonial Athletic Association and added conference games to their schedule, prior to 2011 the team was Independent.
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William & Mary Norfolk Division Braves played football for eleven seasons (1930-1941) when the university was a two-year school, with a record of 62-19-4. The program was discontinued due to a rule against freshman players and a 10,000 USD debt.[2]
On June 14, 2005, the Board of Visitors approved with a 14-0 vote to create a new football team to compete at the NCAA Division I level, along with university's other sports teams, and to begin play in 2009. On February 9, 2007, Athletic Director Jim Jarrett announced that Bobby Wilder, then the associate head football coach at the University of Maine, would be the head coach, and the team signed its first recruiting class in 2008. As is the case with many new football programs, all players in 2008 were redshirted. These players, along with the recruiting class of 2009 and transfer players comprised the initial 2009 roster.
Old Dominion began play in 2009 as an independent team at the Division I FCS level (formerly I-AA), and joined the Colonial Athletic Association for the 2011 season.
In 2009, their first competitive season in 68 years, the Monarchs finished 9–2. That was the best winning record ever for a first-year program in college football's modern era.[3] The Monarchs were outscored by a total of only eight points in their two losses.
Wilder's inaugural team finished the year ranked in the top ten in five FCS statistical categories, including second in sacks allowed, third in scoring offense, turnover margin and net punting. The 2009 Monarchs were ninth in rushing offense.[3]
In its first three years of competition after its rebirth, Old Dominion compiled a 26-7 record and earned a berth in the 2011 FCS playoffs, hosting crosstown rival Norfolk State. Also in 2011, after playing 27 games in its "modern era", ODU received its first Top 25 ranking on October 3, coming in at No. 21 in The Sports Network poll. The Monarchs were ranked among the Top Ten after competing in 33 games. [4]
ODU was fifth in FCS attendance in 2009, selling out all of their home games in the 19,782-seat Foreman Field.[5] Season tickets for the Monarchs' inaugural season sold out quickly and the school had to refund 1,065 orders.[6] Foreman Field, formerly the ODU field hockey and women's lacrosse teams' home venue, was renovated to accommodate the new football program. Field hockey and women's lacrosse were relocated to the Powhatan Sports Complex.
ODU finished 9-2 in their first season in the CAA, good enough for second place in the conference. Many pundits had picked ODU to finish near the bottom of the conference, however ODU smashed those predictions and ultimately hosted a first round FCS playoff game. On the 26th of November, 2011 the ODU Monarchs crushed their crosstown rivals, the Norfolk State Spartans, 35-18 to advance to the second round of the 2011 FCS playoffs. ODU then traveled Georgia to take on Georgia Southern in the second round of the playoffs where they lost 55-48.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Rank# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William & Mary Norfolk Division Braves (Independent) (1930–1939) | |||||||||
| 1932 | Old Dominion | 9-1 | |||||||
| Old Dominion: | 62–19–4 | ||||||||
| Old Dominion Monarchs (Independent) (2009–2010) | |||||||||
| 2009 | Old Dominion | 9-2 | |||||||
| 2010 | Old Dominion | 8-3 | |||||||
| Old Dominion: | 17-5 | ||||||||
| Old Dominion Monarchs (CAA) (2011–present) | |||||||||
| 2011 | Old Dominion | 10-3 | 6-2 | 2nd | L Georgia Southern FCS Second Round | 10 | |||
| Old Dominion: | 10-3 | 6-2 | |||||||
| Total: | 89-27-4 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
| †Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches' Poll. | |||||||||
ODU played William and Mary on November 12, 2011 in the inaugural Battle for the Silver Mace. ODU won by a score of 35-31 over the Tribe in the first meeting and was presented with a replica of the Norfolk Mace.
ODU and Norfolk State played for the first time on November 26, 2011 in the first round of the FCS playoffs which resulted in a 35-18 Monarch win. They will then play annually for six years starting in 2013.
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