North Carolina QB Bryn Renner's dad makes move

In his last season of coaching in Virginia, Bill Renner would serve as offensive coordinator for Lake Braddock High School on a Friday night, then hop in the car in the morning for a 540-mile round trip to Chapel Hill, N.C.

No wonder he started to meet with a retirement counselor.

His son, Bryn, had signed to play football and baseball at North Carolina, and Renner didn't want to miss any of his son's games.

"No way was I going to drive down there for the next five years," Renner said, "so I was going to move, even if I had to retire."

Renner, the head coach at West Springfield High School and two other Fairfax County high schools over a 20-year period, would not have been unhappy as an assistant and thought he had a position lined up at Wakefield High School in Raleigh, N.C.

That was before the head coaching job at East Chapel Hill (N.C.) came open in the summer of 2010. Renner jumped at it.

"We're counting our blessings," said Renner, who was a punter at Virginia Tech and for a time with the Green Bay Packers. "We see [Bryn] after the games, but otherwise, I've got my own thing."

East Chapel Hill finished 1-10 in Renner's fist season as head coach, and that was tied for the most wins in the program's last six seasons.

"They've only had one winning season in the 15-year history of the program," said Renner, whose team is off to an 0-4 start this year. "It's pretty downtrodden."

Renner was known for his high-powered offenses at West Springfield, where Bryn broke passing records that were set by Virginia signee Peter Lalich, but he also served as a mentor for a host of Northern Virginia kickers.

Renner also has ties to Southwest Virginia, not just as a former Tech punter, but as the son-in-law of a former Pulaski County school superintendent, the late Kenneth Dobson, and his wife, Sue.

Dobson retired in 1989 but helped out as a Pulaski County kicking coach until the day before his death in 2006. Dobson's daughter, Cindy, is Bill Renner's wife and Bryn Renner's mother.

Bryn Renner, a redshirt sophomore, will make his third start as North Carolina's quarterback when the Tar Heels host Virginia at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. He was attracted by the chance to play football and baseball at North Carolina but subsequently elected to concentrate on football.

Lalich, a fifth-year junior at California University of Pennsylvania, was 16-of-25 for 272 yards and two touchdowns Saturday in a 41-13 victory over C.W. Post.

Connections

Wide receiver Xavier Boyce, who transferred from Virginia Tech during the preseason, had eight receptions for 100 yards in Norfolk State's 56-12 loss at West Virginia.

Boyce, who was dealing with legal issues before he left Blacksburg, caught a touchdown pass in the Trojans' 37-3 victory over Virginia State in their opening game.

Virginian Joe Bauserman, starting at quarterback for Ohio State as a 25-year-old fifth-year senior, played at Strasburg High School in 2001 before transferring to Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Fla. Bauserman later spent three summers in the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball organization.

The offensive coordinator at Ohio State is onetime UVa offensive line coach Jim Bollman, who this week will be opposing onetime Cavaliers defensive coordinator Al Golden, the first-year head coach at Miami.

Local update

Kate Norbo, a junior from Patrick Henry in Roanoke, started the first five games for the Virginia women's soccer team before she suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament Sept. 2 against Arizona State. Norbo will miss the remainder of the season but meets the criteria for a successful hardship appeal.

Rockbridge County graduate William Copeland, the 2004 Timesland boys swimmer of the year, continues to train under his college coach at the University of California in hopes of qualifying for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Copeland, who has the seventh-best time in the country in the 50-meter freestyle, will represent the United States in the Pan-Am games in Mexico in October.

Freshman Blake Carter, from Bassett, and sophomore Dylan Jensen, from Carlisle, are in the starting lineup for the Longwood men's golf team.

Homecoming

Ex-Northside High School and University of Virginia football standout Jon Copper will be the guest speaker Monday night at the Roanoke Valley Sports Club's monthly meeting at the Salem Civic Center.