Jim Rankin isn't one to sit around, enjoying the perceived comforts of idle time.

"It's not my nature at all," Rankin said. "Some people travel or just kind of hang around the house when they get to this point, but I just couldn't see myself being that way. I just had to do something."

So he's going back to college.

Rankin, who coached the North Allegheny High School football program for 18 years and amassed a 144-62-2 record before stepping down in November, has been hired as an assistant at Carnegie Mellon University. He will coach the Tartans' offensive guards and centers.

Rankin becomes one of three full-time assistants under Carnegie Mellon coach Rich Lackner.

"There was a period of indecisiveness right after I left North Allegheny," said Rankin, who also was the head coach at Ellwood City for eight years.

"I looked around for a high school job and was considered for a few, but as things worked out, and to my benefit, I didn't get any of those jobs.

"That allowed me to end up where I am at Carnegie Mellon and I couldn't ask for a better situation."

A situation made better by the caliber of student-athlete traditionally brought into play at the prestigious Division III university.

"To be able to coach kids who are athletically endowed and also gifted in the classroom is something that really appeals to me because all the kids will be overachievers," Rankin said.

"It might work as a double-edged sword in some regard in that you might find a kid who fits in athletically, but he doesn't have the grades for the school, but I don't think that will be too much of a problem."

What also won't be a problem is becoming accustomed to the Tartans' style of play. For years, Rankin studied the Carnegie Mellon system and often employed many of the same offenses and defenses at North Allegheny and Ellwood City on Friday nights that Carnegie Mellon would run on Saturday afternoon.

In addition, Rankin is looking forward to mentoring players a few years older and a little more mature than high school kids.

"The maturity is significant," he said. "When you're 17 or 18 years old and playing against 21- and 22-year-old kids, there's a big difference.

"From that standpoint, I am excited that I'll be working with kids who are a little older and they'll have a different level of maturity, both mentally and physically."

There are a lot of guys who would never think about becoming an assistant after being one of the most successful high school coaches in the state and capturing a WPIAL and PIAA title.

Well, Rankin isn't one of them.

"To be honest, I have thought about that and that's something that the people at Carnegie Mellon asked me about when I first met them," Rankin said. "But, you know, I was never enamored with the ego part of being a head coach.

"I liked being a head coach from the standpoint that I enjoyed having a say in what direction the offense and defense went and the style of play that we used.

"But, I'm a big believer in the chain of command and the success that can be found if everyone works together. I am very excited about working with the guards, centers and special teams as a smaller group than I am used to.

"I have to prove myself all over again and I'm so excited about this opportunity and to be put in a situation where I really am a part of something that can come together and accomplish bigger things."