The last time Virginia Military Institute had a winning season, many of the freshmen on this year s team hadn t been born. Since then, VMI has endured 18 consecutive losing campaigns and gone through six coaches. In my mind, it s almost pitiful, what s happened to VMI football, after you see what it was with Bob Thalman and John McKenna , said Cal McCombs , who guided the Keydets through a 1-10 season in his first year at the helm. We need to get it back, and to get it back, we need some stability.
Stability starts at the top.
I look at this program, and I think we ve got to keep not just the head coach, but some good assistant coaches. It takes a while, when you come into a school, to learn the school so you can go out and do a good job identifying the kind of kid you think will be successful here. McCombs wants to keep those players who enter the Corps as freshmen together through their senior season. Last year, there were only three seniors on the squad. McCombs has had an encouraging start this season, with 25 of last year s 30 recruits in preseason drills.