NORFOLK, Va. (Tribune News Service) — In an alternate universe, Ricky Rahne might be well into a career in the Air Force.

Instead of starring as a quarterback at Cornell, as he did, the fifth-year Old Dominion coach and Colorado native briefly considered attending the nearby U.S. Air Force Academy after high school.

But there were aggravating factors that directed Rahne toward a more traditional college experience.

He has red-green colorblindness, meaning he never could’ve been a pilot. Despite his great respect for those who put in lengthy military careers, he wasn’t really interested in that.

And football-wise, Air Force has long been known to run an option offense, which didn’t appeal to Rahne.

“They kept telling me, ‘Hey, we’re going to probably change the offense. We’re going to change the offense and everything,’ ” Rahne said this week. “When really what they were trying to do is they needed somebody to run scout team quarterback when they’re playing those other Mountain West teams. So that’s what I was going to have to do.”

In addition to his near-miss with the military, Rahne’s father, Ray, served in the Vietnam War. He had two grandfathers and multiple uncles who served in the military, including one who was an admiral in the Navy.

It’s why Thursday’s nationally televised game against Georgia Southern, which falls on Military Appreciation Night in one of the country’s largest military markets, has extra meaning for Rahne.

Rahne and the Monarchs (3-4, 2-1 Sun Belt Conference) showed their appreciation by scheduling his weekly radio coach’s show aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, the nation’s second-oldest aircraft carrier.

For an hour Monday night, Rahne, play-by-play man and show host Ted Alexander and Ike commander Capt. Christopher “Chowdah” Hill sat at a table draped in black cloth in the massive vessel’s hangar bay, wearing mic’d-up headphones and discussing, among other things, the similarities between running a ship and running a football team.

They discussed the importance of discipline, maintaining morale and of each member of the team pulling his or her weight.

Rahne, who often uses quotes from military leaders to motivate his team, said he’s gotten away from using war analogies in an effort to avoid trivializing its seriousness.

But there are parallels to be drawn.

“Football is very much a military game,” Rahne told Hill on the air. “There’s a set amount of space, and you’re trying to make gains in that space.”

A contingent of 40 ODU administrators, coaches and donors boarded a bus on campus Monday evening and headed to Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest Naval base.

The group climbed a set of steep stairs and crossed a long, narrow, perforated metal gangway plank, able to see the water far below between land and ship.

During the show, smaller groups navigated a series of even steeper stairways to have a look at the vast flight deck, where fighter jets take off and land with uncanny precision.

The Ike, whose hangar is festooned with the motto “The Best Damn Ship in the Navy,” recently returned from an intense, nine-month deployment, most of it in the Red Sea.

Hill, who’s been in the Navy for 28½ years, said Monday’s event provided a chance for his sailors to reconnect with the area.

About 40 sailors stood behind the ODU contingent and took in Rahne’s show, which is broadcast locally on ESPN Radio 94.1 FM.

“A lot of times we’ll go to a different base as we progress in our careers, and we don’t get integrated,” Hill, a native of Quincy, Massachusetts, with the accent to prove it, said shortly after the show. “And that’s a problem. So we want people to get enmeshed and integrated and to become part of the community, to contribute to the community — the greater Hampton Roads area, and specifically ODU, which is our main college here. So we should be proud of that.”

ODU officials have long made efforts to attract Navy and civilian personnel from the base to its stadiums and arenas.

According to the Hampton Roads Military Transportation Planning Organization, about 20% of the region’s population — or about 300,000 — is comprised of active-duty, reserves, retirees and their family members.

Rahne repeated Monday his realization that that segment of the population comes from all over the nation and the world, and that they have their own favorite college teams.

Rahne said on the show that he wants the Monarchs to become “their second-favorite team” and help pack the stands at S.B. Ballard Stadium.

Military Appreciation Night will feature a flyover of Navy jets, a pregame display by a parachute jump team and a military-themed drone show at halftime.

Monarchs quarterback Colton Joseph had offers to play at Army, Navy, Air Force and ODU coming out of high school in Newport Beach, California.

Like his coach, Joseph took the traditional route. But he still has an affinity for those who serve.

“I really have a good appreciation for everyone who’s been in the military, who’s serving right now,” Joseph said. “I just think it’s awesome that we can show our appreciation.”

With his deep family ties to the service, as well as his own consideration of it, Rahne agreed.

Having his weekly show on the Ike, he hopes, will solidify the connection between the university and the Navy.

“I have an incredible, tremendous amount of respect for the military,” Rahne said. “A lot of my friends in town are former military now, obviously. So I love that we’re going to be able to honor them.”

David Hall david.hall@pilotonline.com.

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