VMI Football coach Scott Wachenheim has decided to step down from his job after a 1-10 season in 2022.
The school announced on Monday that assistant head coach Bill Parker will serve as the interim head coach as the search for the next head coach is underway.
Wachenheim was 24-61 in eight seasons at VMI, and 1-10 in 2022, but he had just led the program to its first back-to-back winning seasons since the early 1960s.
The 2021 spring season saw VMI finish 6-2 with a Southern Conference championship and the program’s first-ever FCS playoff appearance, a narrow 31-24 loss at James Madison.
That season earned Wachenheim several FCS national coach of the year honors.
The fall 2021 season had VMI on the cusp of another playoff bid after starting 6-2, but narrow losses at ETSU and Furman and then a 52-24 loss to Western Carolina in the home finale left the Keydets on the outside looking in.
But the roster that had keyed that success ended up being gutted by losses to the transfer portal.
Just this past year, VMI lost record-setting quarterback Reece Udinski and All-America wideout Jakob Herres to Richmond, where each put up huge numbers in 2022 – Udinski passing for 3,162 yards and 24 TDs, Herres hauling in a team-leading 65 passes for 850 yards and five TDs, for a Richmond team that finished the regular season with an 8-3 record and earned a 2022 FCS playoff bid.
Another former top VMI receiver, Kris Thornton, was the leading receiver at James Madison, which this year made the move up from FCS to FBS.
Thornton has 53 catches for 922 yards and seven TDs for JMU, which is 7-3 in its first season at the FBS level in 2022.
VMI, as a military school without graduate-level programs, has a hard time using the portal like other schools can to replenish its roster.
The Keydets’ 1-10 finish in 2022 concluded with a 26-22 loss to military rival The Citadel on Saturday, VMI’s ninth straight loss.
Wachenheim, who under contract through the 2025 season, said in a tweet on Sunday that he felt the need to “step back from VMI and reassess” his future.
“VMI is a challenging place, and I have loved working to find ways to win. I love every player I have coached,” Wachenheim said in the tweet. “However, our accomplishments have come at a cost, and I find the need to take some time to recharge and reassess the steps I need to take in my life to become the very best man I can be.
“I’ve fulfilled my purpose here at VMI.”
VMI Superintendent Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins said in a statement that he “reluctantly accepted” Wachenheim’s resignation.
“Over the past eight seasons, Coach Wachenheim has led our cadet-athletes to achieve a great deal of success on the football field, in the classroom, and as individuals of character,” Wins said. “I am grateful to Coach Wachenheim for his unquestioned dedication to our football players and cadet-athletes over the years and will fondly remember those times when we celebrated the Southern Conference championship and the return of the Silver Shako trophy during his tenure. He has been a great and committed friend to the VMI family. I wish both Scott and his wife Karla the best in their next chapter of life.”
“I cannot thank Coach Wachenheim enough for his time here at VMI,” VMI Athletics Director Jim Miller said. “Coach Wachenheim is a tremendous leader of men and helped bring success both on and off the football field. We have a strong foundation here with our returning players, and we remain excited about the future of VMI Football as we integrate incoming players and staff that will help guide us to future success.”
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Chris Graham
