Over the course of Tommy Laurendine's long and storied football career, Lenoir-Rhyne University's new offensive coordinator has done his share of traveling.
He began his collegiate journey in 1985 as a red-shirt freshman quarterback at Appalachian State amid little fanfare.
After a year of practice in Boone, then two years as a nondescript backup in 1986 and 1987, Laurendine realized he would never get a chance to start for the Mountaineers.
"So I looked for a school to come to, one I felt comfortable with and had a chance to start," Laurendine said. "I shopped around and found Lenoir-Rhyne."
That was 20 years ago and Laurendine, from Oak Ridge, Tenn., is happy to be back in the Bears' fold.
The former L-R star's first game as offensive coordinator is Saturday night at 7 p.m. against West Virginia Tech.
Laurendine comes to L-R from Washington & Lee. His stops along the way include starting out as a graduate assistant at West Georgia in 1991 to being assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Southern Arkansas.
At Southern Arkansas in 2003, the Muleriders shattered 18 school records, finished 9-3 and were ranked No. 11 in the country.
He's happy to be the one responsible for trying to add some spark to the Bears' offense.
"I wanted to coach (at L-R) for years and I think Coach (Fred Goldsmith) is in the process of turning the program around," Laurendine said.
Laurendine knows a little about how that works, too.
When he arrived at L-R in 1988, the Bears were coming off a 7-4 season under head coach John Perry and they needed quarterback.
As it turned out, the "light-haired, squinty-eyed kid" fit the bill. With guidance from Perry and assistant coach Charlie Fisher, Laurendine set the South Atlantic Conference on fire in 1988.
L-R went 8-3 in 1988 and won the conference championship.
But it wasn't just me," Laurendine remembers. "I had a great opportunity and we had a lot of talent on that team, offensively and defensively."
Laurendine returned as the starting quarterback in 1989. The Bears finished 5-6 but he repeated as the league's offensive player of the year after throwing for 4,064 yards and 29 Tds in two seasons.
"I wouldn't have gotten any of that without my teammates and some great coaching," Laurendine said.
Laurendine was a graduate assistant at L-R in 1990, then began his journey apart from the Bears' program that ended when Goldsmith offered him a job.
It's not a job without challenges. Laurendine recognizes the need to bolster an offense that scored only 55 points in six conference games last season.
"The offense is going to be different this time around," Laurendine said. "We have the personnel to run the option: quick running backs like James Pone and Andrew Courman, and a solid player in Justin Sanders at quarterback."
Laurendine can see some of his own playing style in Sanders.
"A couple of quiet leaders," Laurendine said.
Nowadays, though, Laurendine has to do his leading from the sidelines, decked out in a sweater, cap and shorts instead of a uniform.
Still probably in good enough shape to play, Laurendine's focus is on seizing an opportunity he's being waiting on.
"It just feels good to be back home," he said.
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