All’s fair in love and college football.
While Old Dominion may not have any connections to UCF, the Monarchs are happy to welcome Knights’ fans to come out and support them when they take on USF in the StaffDNA Cure Bowl on Wednesday.
“I always tell people, I have no problem being somebody else’s second favorite team,” ODU coach Rickey Rahne said. “If they want, we can be the second-favorite team for this week. Monarchs are very close to a knight, right?”
However, the 44-year-old Rahne does have a personal connection with UCF coach Scott Frost. The two were roommates while serving as graduate assistants on the Kansas State staff during the 2006 season.
“He was the defensive GA when I was the offensive GA,” Rahne told the Orlando Sentinel. “We actually lived in Raheem Morris’ house. He was the defensive coordinator, while James Franklin was the offensive coordinator. You would have thought we would have won more games.”
Kansas State would finish the season 7-6, losing to Rutgers in the Texas Bowl.
University of South Florida interim head coach Kevin Patrick with players, from left, Cole Best, Christian Helms and Mack Harris at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl pregame press conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld resort, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. USF takes on Old Dominion in the 11th edition of the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Head coach Ricky Rahne of Old Dominion with players, from left, Kris Trinidad, Zach Barlev, and Stephon Dubose-Bourne at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl pregame press conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld resort, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. Old Dominion takes on University of South Florida in the 11th edition of the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Head coach Ricky Rahne of Old Dominion answers a question at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl pregame press conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld resort, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. Old Dominion and the University of South Florida kick off in the 11th edition of the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Interim head coach Kevin Patrick of the University of South Florida listens to a question at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl pregame press conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld resort, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. Old Dominion and the University of South Florida kick off in the 11th edition of the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
University of South Florida interim head coach Kevin Patrick signs helmets at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl pregame press conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld resort, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. USF takes on Old Dominion in the 11th edition of the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Head coach Ricky Rahne of Old Dominion signs helmets, with with Zach Barlev, right, at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl pregame press conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld resort, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. Old Dominion takes on University of South Florida in the 11th edition of the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Alan Gooch, CEO of the Orlando Sports Foundation, right, presents head coach Ricky Rahne of Old Dominion with an official bowl hat as players, from left, Kris Trinidad, Zach Barlev, and Stephon Dubose-Bourne look on at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl pregame press conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld resort, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. Old Dominion takes on University of South Florida in the 11th edition of the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Alan Gooch, CEO of the Orlando Sports Foundation, right, presents an official bowl hat to University of South Florida interim head coach Kevin Patrick, with players, from left, Cole Best, Christian Helms and Mack Harris looking on at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl pregame press conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld resort, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. Old Dominion and the University of South Florida kick off in the 11th edition of the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
University of South Florida join players, from left, Cole Best, Mack Harris and Christian Helms sign helmets as interim head coach Kevin Patrick looks on at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl pregame press conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld resort, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. USF takes on Old Dominion in the 11th edition of the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
University of South Florida’s Mack Harris answers a question at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl pregame press conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld resort, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. USF takes on Old Dominion in the 11th edition of the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Head coach Ricky Rahne of Old Dominion, with Zach Barlev, left, answers a question at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl pregame press conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld resort, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. Old Dominion and the University of South Florida kick off in the 11th edition of the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Old Dominion and University of South Florida jerseys and helmets on display at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl pregame press conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld resort, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. The two teams kick off in the 11th edition of the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
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University of South Florida interim head coach Kevin Patrick with players, from left, Cole Best, Christian Helms and Mack Harris at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl pregame press conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld resort, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. USF takes on Old Dominion in the 11th edition of the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
“Scott’s obviously an incredibly hard worker. He’s very intelligent and I liked being around him and learning from him,” said Rahne. “This was back in the days when a team only had one offensive GA and one defensive GA, so you were grinding.
“We also had to take classes, which neither one of us really wanted. I remember us both grinding through our entire class load in the week after the regular season, before the bowl game.”
Frost went on to serve as linebackers coach at Northern Arizona the following season, then at Oregon, UCF, and Nebraska, before returning to the Knights’ program last December.
Rahne spent four more seasons at KSU after being promoted to an assistant coach, working first with the running backs and then the tight ends. He moved on to Vanderbilt and Penn State before being hired as Old Dominion’s head coach in 2020.
“I’m terribly proud of what he’s been able to go on and accomplish,” said Rahne.
But as a roommate, both were opposites, much like the dynamic between the perverbially messy Oscar Madison and the neat freak Felix Unger from the television show “The Odd Couple.”
“He was very meticulous,” Rahne recalled. “I don’t know which one’s Oscar and which one’s Felix, but whichever one the sloppy one is — that was me.”
Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.