When Todd Fitch '86 was named interim head football coach at Vanderbilt University last week, he gained more than his first head coaching position in 35-plus years in the profession. He found himself in an OWU reunion.

The appointment gave Vanderbilt two Ohio Wesleyan graduates among its head coaches, with Fitch and Tim Corbin '84, the Commodores' head baseball coach, becoming work colleagues for the first time since their undergraduate days.

"It was a sudden change...it came very quickly, so obviously there's a lot to go with it (and we've) just really focused in on our team, but with Tim being here, we've spoken a few times since I've taken the job, so it's great to have him here on campus as a friend and a resource," Fitch said. "Obviously, it's a challenging time, but we're looking forward to the opportunity."

Fitch came to Vanderbilt in May as offensive coordinator after four years as offensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech, where he helped guide the Bulldogs to four straight postseason victories.

"I was excited for Vanderbilt because I knew that Todd would have very clear and organized thoughts on running an offense," Corbin said of Fitch's joining the Commodores' staff. "He is a very good and demanding teacher. I thought his impact would be immediate on this program."

Fitch and Corbin met in 1982, when Corbin was a student assistant for the Battling Bishop football team and Fitch arrived on campus as a cornerback.

A friendship developed between the two, and the seeds for outstanding coaching careers were planted.

"My college roommates were football players and I was a student assistant on the football team, so I got to know Todd immediately during his freshman year and beyond," Corbin said. "My experience as a student assistant led to my passion in wanting to be a teacher and coach. I loved the fact that I could learn the coaching craft while being around like-minded people."

Under head coaches Jack Fouts and Steve Farkasovsky, Fitch wrapped up his career by winning All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors, while Corbin started his baseball career under Bob Colbert, played two years under Kevin Colbert, now vice president and general manager for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and finished his career under Roger Ingles, who would guide the Bishop baseball team to nearly 650 wins in 22 years.

"Coach Fouts was a guy that had been doing it a long time and been around a lot of great coaches and programs," Fitch said. "It was later in his career when I played there, but he had great energy and cared deeply about the players, and he just loved coaching. He was always an upbeat, positive person, and you remember people like that as you move on as a player, as a coach, and (he) certainly left an impression over the years."

"I loved all three coaches very much," Corbin said. "Bob Colbert was the oldest of the group and I enjoyed his discipline and care for what he was doing. Kevin, his brother, really took me in as a person. I loved Kevin's passion as well and his ability to communicate with athletes. Kevin was very much as a self-made guy and I so admired that about him. Roger came to OWU during my last year. Although we only had him for that one season, I knew he was going to move a program in a direction of success. Baseball was at the front of his mind all the time and I loved his approach to the game and as a teacher."

Those experiences started Fitch and Corbin on paths that have converged in Nashville.

Fitch's road to Vanderbilt was a long and distinguished one. In addition to Louisiana Tech, he has been offensive coordinator at Boston College, East Carolina, and South Florida, and has made stops at Iowa State, South Carolina, Connecticut, Colorado State, West Virginia, and Bowling Green after starting his coaching career at Ohio Wesleyan as an assistant coach during the 1986-87 seasons. He has helped 16 teams make postseason appearances.

After Corbin graduated in 1984, he started as a graduate assistant at Ohio State, then moved on to Wofford before getting the head coaching job at Presbyterian. He moved on to Clemson, where he was assistant coach and later assistant head coach and associate head coach for some outstanding Tiger teams. That led him to Vanderbilt, where he has built the Commodores into an elite program, winning 2 national championships.

"The OWU Connection continues to bring our alumni together," said Ohio Wesleyan athletics director Doug Zipp. "Tim Corbin's success in his baseball career at Vanderbilt and Todd Fitch taking over the interim head coach role for the football program speak volumes of the impact of an OWU education. The fact that these two outstanding alums are head coaches at the same Southeastern Conference school is amazing. This is inspiring for our student-athletes and for all of Division III."