When Coatesville native Jordan Young and his teammates on the Old Dominion University football team learned from their new coach Ricky Rahne that the program would sit out all of last season, it was a tough pill to swallow, writes Paul Myerberg for USA Today.

ODU was the only team of the nation’s 123 in the Football Bowl Subdivision with a conference affiliation to cancel the season.

For the senior linebacker, his emotions were all over the place. Not being able to participate in one of the defining aspects of his life left him reeling.

The players practiced three days and lifted weights another three days each week. With a lot of pent-up frustration and no opponents to face, practices turned unusually physical.

“I would definitely say a lot of guys took out their anger on other people,” said Young.

Saturdays were the most difficult for the players. Young usually spent them watching his younger brothers, Avery and Aaron Young, playing for Rutgers.

Despite the adversity, Young was able to find the silver lining from being given a chance to practice and train under the new coaching staff.

“Ultimately, I felt like it was a time when we were able to progress a whole lot,” said Young.

On Sept. 3, the Monarchs returned to field, snapping a 653-day dry spell nearly without precedent in the sport’s history, and lost to Wake Forest.

Read more about Jordan Young in USA Today.