"Rudolph has had opportunities to move on before this year but explained the chance to join the Virginia Tech staff, though initially unexpected, offered myriad benefits..... "I’ve never really pursued much of anything," he said. "What I’ve always looked at is where I’m at. Is any move beneficial to me and my family?

"This year was a bit different because some things lined up that you don’t really anticipate lining up. And I started to think a little change could be a positive thing here..."Then you start to look and ask, 'Can a change for me be beneficial? Can it be fun to put together something new, a chance to learn again?' "

Rudolph and his wife, Dawn, have three sons. Both have family relatively close to Blacksburg, Virginia. "I can’t lie," he said. "Location was big, being (closer) to our families in North Carolina, Pittsburgh and West Virginia was a pretty unique scenario."

Rudolph's son Alex is in eighth grade. His son Andrew is in seventh and his son Austin is in first.

"A chance to connect them with family again before they go on to college would be a good thing," he said, referring to Alex and Andrew.