Most of Chris Coffland's former Washington and Lee teammates and coaches were unaware of his presence in Afghanistan, but none of them were surprised.

Coffland, who played football and lacrosse for the Generals from 1984-87, was killed Friday in the explosion of a roadside bomb.

He had been in Afghanistan for two weeks.

Coffland, 43, had traveled extensively since his graduation, playing and coaching football during one stretch, and even living with pygmies in Africa, according to a Baltimore Sun story.

"It didn't surprise me that he joined the Army at 43," said W&L baseball coach Jeff Stickley, who served as offensive coordinator for the Generals' football team during Coffland's career.

"I understand that he said he enlisted so a guy with a family wouldn't have to go. Chris was not married."

Stickley said that his first thoughts upon learning of Coffland's death was of W&L's head football coach during his career, Gary Fallon. Fallon, who suffered a fatal heart attack in 1995, was a Marine Corps veteran.

Coffland "was one tough son of a gun," Stickley said. "He was a good, solid player. Not a great tailback, but I remember him playing half the year one year with a broken hand. He never wanted to come out."

There's a story that goes with the broken hand.

"We were sitting in the office one day," said retired W&L football assistant Chuck O'Connell. "Chris showed up at the door and his hand was all swollen and bruised. We asked him, 'How's the hand?' Chris took his hand, slammed it against the metal door frame and said, 'I'm ready to go.'

"Nobody was about to argue with him."

O'Connell, a former interim athletic director and lacrosse assistant, was the Generals' defensive coordinator and recruited Coffland out of one of Baltimore's most prestigious prep schools, Gilman.

"He was very blue-collar, which is not the norm for W&L," O'Connell said. "You could ask Chris to do anything. He had no ego."

Clearly, Coffland was a character.

"Chris was on a lifelong quest for the meaning of life," O'Connell said, "and, in the end, I think he found that meaning."

Nice touch

When the Virginia Tech women's soccer team gathered Wednesday morning for the first leg of its trip to Portland, Ore., for its match with Portland in the round of 16, greeters included coach Pete Hughes' entire Hokies' baseball team.

"Our guys knew exactly why we were there," said Hughes, noting that football director of operations John Ballein passed out chocolates to the soccer team.

"First of all, we were there to support one of the best coaches [Kelly Cagle] in our program.

"Secondly, it was important for our guys to wake up and see what it's like to go to a Super Regional, which is our equivalent of the final 16. This is one of the Tech programs most similar to our own, fighting for respect in a sport in which the ACC is one of the best leagues in the country.

"Know what? We've always got a chip on our shoulder from people thinking we can't win in our sport at Virginia Tech. You mean, [the women] are ranked No. 12 in the country and can't play at home in the first round? You've got to be kidding me."

Local update

Franklin County graduate Kaitlyn Whitmer, a freshman on the Catawba College volleyball team, has been named freshman of the year in the South Atlantic Conference. Whitmer, a first-team All-Timesland selection last year, ranks second in kills for a Catawba team that is headed to the NCAA Division II playoffs with a 17-7 record.

Catawba's first-round opponent Friday will be SAC-8 regular-season champion Carson-Newman, which features another top recruit from the Roanoke Valley, 2008 Timesland volleyball player of the year MacKenzie Tyree from Lord Botetourt. Tyree, a defensive specialist, is first in serving percentage for the Eagles (22-8).

Golfers sign

Add Cave Spring's Matt Harman and William Byrd's Ben Firebaugh to the list of local golf standouts who signed letters-of-intent during the period that ended Wednesday.

Harman, a second-team All-Timesland selection as a junior, signed with Radford. Harman won the Andrew Haley junior tournament this past summer and tied for fifth recently in the Group AA tournament.

Firebaugh, recent winner of the Group AA Region III championship, signed with Newberry College. Firebaugh also won the Hall of Fame junior championship this summer in a playoff with Harman.

Other golfers who have either committed or signed include Cave Spring's Jack Wilkes (Richmond) and Carlisle's Dylan Jensen (Longwood).

Recruiting

UCLA has taken an oral commitment from Aramide Olaniyan, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound linebacker prospect from Woodberry Forest who had re-opened his recruiting after making an earlier commitment to Duke. Olaniyan finished with a team-high 59 tackles this year for Woodberry, including 16 tackles for loss and 7¹₂ sacks.

Coaching scuttlebutt

With the announcement Monday that fourth-year Murray State coach Matt Griffin will not be returning, speculation has focussed on third-year South Carolina assistant Shane Beamer, son of Virginia Tech head coach and former Racers' coach Frank Beamer. Shane Beamer, 32, is the recruiting coordinator and special-teams coordinator at South Carolina, where he also coaches defensive backs.