In the face of an unprecedented time in the country, Scott Wachenheim found a way to lead the VMI Keydets to unprecedented success as the United States navigated its way out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In fact, Wachenheim & Co. helped the Keydets with the Southern Conference Championship and earn an Football Championship Series playoff berth during the spring 2021 season, which was necessitated after the pandemic wiped out the fall slates at the FCS level.
But the Keydets, a military institution that has admirably battled its personnel and resources limitations under the command of Wachenheim, a former Air Force player, could not sustain that breakthrough success.
And on Sunday, multiple sources told FootballScoop that the 60-year-old Wachenheim had stepped down from the program.
"After spending numerous hours in quiet reflection, prayer and in conversations with my wife Karla, I believe I need to step back from VMI and reassess with Karla, as a partner, our future and the next chapter of our lives," Wachenheim shared with FootballScoop in a statement.
Assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator Bill Parker has been named the Keydets' interim coach, per sources.
Parker was a star player at nearby William & Mary who went on to a brief professional career before embarking on his climb through the coaching ranks.
Highlights of Wachenheim's eight-year tenure atop the VMI program included the aforementioned SoCon title and FCS playoffs berth, both program benchmarks, and additionally a decades-in-the-making win against Furman.
Additionally and perhaps most notably, Wachenheim in his eight years never fired a single assistant coach but likewise saw numerous of his assistants rise through the coaching ranks, be it at in-state Power 5 programs Virginia and Virginia Tech or myriad other major-college programs around the country.
One of Wachenheim's final gestures as head coach was to have his team show its solidarity with the Virginia Cavaliers' program that was hit with tragedy a week ago when three. members of its team were gunned down by a former walk-on footbal player. Wachenheim and the Keydets wore decals honoring the Cavs in their season-finale Sunday, a hard-fought, 26-22 loss to The Citadel.