Coach Fleming steps down, but not away, from CVU football
A little more than two months after celebrating what may be the greatest season in the history of Vermont high school football, team members got news that tempered some of their jubilation.
Coach Rahn Fleming gathered members of the team before school on Jan. 15 to tell them he was stepping down as head football coach.
Fleming left that meeting and promptly sent out an email to team parents, saying he had gotten news from his doctor that precipitated this decision.

Rahn Fleming in his element, working with young people.
In his email, Fleming said he had hit a wall of “genetic predisposition” he described as “a kind of cumulative medical trifecta: cholesterol, blood pressure and atherosclerosis,” that are all known as “silent killers.”
“I’m told that without immediate and conscientious response, I walk a path that could potentially lead to embolism, including possible stroke or heart attack,” Fleming said.
Upon getting his diagnosis, Fleming said his first thought was, “no one needs that disruption on the sideline half way through the third quarter,” not to mention the trauma that having a coach collapse during a game would cause.
Fleming was quick to emphasize that there is no immediate cause for alarm about his health; he is just taking steps to ensure he can experience all that life can offer, namely grandchildren.
He was also emphatic about encouraging others to get regular medical checkups. He said he wouldn’t have known about his medical condition down if he hadn’t had consistent physicals.
“Please, get your physicals; find out what you need; learn what you need to know. It’s like having a good, solid game plan,” he said.
After six years at the helm for the Redhawks, Fleming said he is giving up the steering wheel but still plans to be around for the ride. He is considering not just the quantity of years he has remaining, but also the quality of those years.
At 65, he doesn’t have grandchildren — yet, if grandchildren are in his future, Fleming said, he doesn’t want to be watching them from an armchair; he wants to be on the floor engaged in the “romp and stomp and play.”
Fleming, who is the coordinator of CVU’s learning center, has been at the school since 1999. Shortly after coming on board, he began coaching middle school players on the Buccaneers, the feeder team of CVU Redhawk football.

CVU title football game 2024. Coach Rahn Fleming and sophomore quarterback Orion Yates are all smiles after completing an unbeaten season for a state title with the final score on the scoreboard behind them.
He was able to coach his sons on the Buccaneers, and then later with the Redhawks.
“Really, my coaching career in its earliest years just followed in the footsteps of my boys,” Fleming said.
He worked his way up from Redhawks’ assistant coach to become head coach in 2019. In his six years as head coach, CVU played in the state finals three times, winning the title this year and in 2022.
This year, the Redhawks didn’t lose a game, defeating Rutland 41-14 to take the Vermont championship and outscoring its opponents by 400 points (462-62).
Fleming said he has been considering this decision since the football season ended. He took his time because he didn’t want his resignation after a perfect season to be a knee-jerk reaction, he wanted the decision to be reflective after a lot of thought.
He doesn’t know who will be head coach next season, but he plans to still be involved with the program, possibly even on the sidelines. He will continue to oversee the fitness center and weight training.
“Everyone knows Father Time is undefeated. Well, I’m takin’ that son-of-a-gun to overtime,” many have heard the coach declare, particularly anyone involved with the fitness center.
Overtime is still Fleming’s intention, he said, “It’ll just require a little mid-third quarter adjustment in my personal gameplan.”
Fleming majored in comparative world religions at Dartmouth where he played defensive back before being moved to inside linebacker and outside linebacker. He described his playing assignment as essentially being a utility infielder on the defensive side of the ball, filling in for players who needed to be spelled.
One of his favorite assignments was as a wedge breaker on kickoffs, running down the field to break through lines of blockers to get at the ball carrier. As a young man, he loved running fast and knocking people over.
“I never missed a kickoff,” Fleming said. “I loved that assignment.”
He earned his master’s in counseling psychology. “I’ve been a big fan of humans for a long time, both in the macro and the micro.”
And lot of humans associated with CVU have been fans of Fleming. It is rare that you interview him after a game that you aren’t repeatedly interrupted by people alone and in groups stopping by to tell him how much they love him, how much he has changed their lives. And giving him a hug.
Hugs are another thing that Fleming is a big fan of. “I think of hugs as nature’s way of reminding us that give and take are equal when given the chance,” he said. “You give as much as you get when you’re given a hug.”
“The response from literally decades worth of players and parents has been overwhelming,” he said. This response has had the coach repeatedly weeping without even trying to hide it.
He signed his message to parents and caregivers, “Still on the journey — just not driving the boat.
Fleming said he doesn’t know if he will have an official football title at CVU next year, but that he will be involved in some way: “I’ll never be more than a heartbeat away from Redhawk football. Never.”