College football preview: After fateful phone call, new offensive coordinator Kevin Decker settling in at ODU
NORFOLK — Kevin Decker’s eyes were fixed firmly on the road, and not at all on what his next move might be.
Decker, then the offensive coordinator at Fordham, was driving with his girlfriend from Durham, New Hampshire, to Fordham’s Bronx, New York, campus a day after his team’s 52-42 loss to New Hampshire in the FCS playoffs when his phone rang.
Looking down, Decker saw the caller ID: “Maybe: Jen Rahne.”
Many phone calls later, and without so much as a visit to Old Dominion’s campus, Decker became the Monarchs’ offensive coordinator.
A 35-year-old former New Hampshire quarterback, Decker accepted the job after taking Fordham to heights previously unreached.
Last season, the Rams put up an FCS-leading 609 yards of total offense per game, the second-highest total in FCS history. Fordham was second among FCS teams with 49.5 points per game.
The numbers piqued ODU coach Ricky Rahne’s interest.
“Obviously, stats were a huge part of it because it showed sustained production,” Rhane, whose team opens the season Saturday at Virginia Tech, said this week. “But it was also watching tape and understanding what type of offense I wanted to go down. So that was a huge part of it as well.”
Though the two men had never met, Rahne and Decker knew some of the same coaches in the industry.
Rahne, a former quarterback at Cornell, vetted Decker through, among others, longtime Brown University coach Phil Estes, who had employed Decker at the school for three years.
Rahne, apparently using his wife’s phone, decided to reach out to Decker, which prompted Decker to vet Rahne through Estes and UCLA coach Chip Kelly, a New Hampshire native.
“Yeah, I know him a little bit,” Kelly told Decker. “I know he’s a fast riser in this industry. I’ve heard nothing but good things.”
Four or five phone calls to Decker later, Rahne had his man.
“I became really comfortable, I would say, after talking to Coach Estes,” Decker said. “He knew Ricky pretty well, and he was like, ‘You guys are a lot alike. You would be a match made in heaven.’ Now I can see what he was talking about.”
Decker hopes his explosive, fast-paced spread offense, which doesn’t use huddles and includes a balance between passing and running, can help the Monarchs improve upon last season’s numbers. They finished last in the Sun Belt Conference with 19.5 points per game, going 3-9 in a season riddled with injuries to key skill players.
Junior quarterback Grant Wilson, who was named the starter last week, said he happened to transfer to ODU from Fordham after Decker left the program.
Wilson entered the transfer portal, foregoing what would’ve almost certainly been a starting job, before he knew where Decker would land.
Of the 58 new players on the Monarchs’ roster, no one knows Decker’s offense better.
“You’re going to see guys playing fast, hard and smart and making sure everyone does their job,” Wilson said.
“I had no idea where (Decker) was going. He didn’t inform us on his whereabouts. But I knew that when he left, I wanted to leave.”
If what Decker orchestrated at Fordham is a repeatable blueprint, Wilson could be in for a big season. Rams quarterback Tim DeMorat passed for 4,891 yards and 56 touchdowns, both school records, as a senior in 2022.
Also arriving from Fordham was offensive line coach Alex Huettel, a former All-American lineman at Bowling Green who helped guide the Rams’ offense alongside Decker.
“They’re both very confident people, and that confidence is earned through their preparation and things like that,” Rahne said. “It’s not a cockiness; it’s a confidence, and it’s rubbed off on the rest of our offensive players. It’s rubbed off, I even think, on our defensive players, who have a lot of confidence in our offense and what’s going to happen this year.”
Before the mutual vetting began, Decker’s knowledge of ODU was limited to what he’d seen on crossover film in college. He remembers being impressed with the fan base and the stadium, even before it was razed and rebuilt anew in 2019.
Like Rahne, Decker’s players describe him as a man with a personality that leaves an impression.
“First and foremost, he brings energy and intensity each and every day,” said junior receiver Javon Harvey, a former star at Norfolk’s Lake Taylor High. “Whether it’s in a walk-through, a meeting, he’s always coming with something. It’s fun to have him around as a coordinator and a leader of this offense.”
When “Jen Rahne” finally made the call to a man who wasn’t looking for a job, he found that the right job had come looking for him.
“When I was at Fordham, I wanted to be the best offensive coordinator I could be at the FCS level,” Decker said. “I never really thought ahead, thought up. It just kind of happened. And now I’m trying to be the best offensive coordinator I can be at Old Dominion. And hopefully, we put up some points and win some games.”
David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com. Twitter @DavidHallVP.
Standouts
Jason Henderson
Jr., 6-1, 227, LB
The powerful former high school wrestler led the nation with 186 tackles last season, 39 more than anyone else. Henderson finished seven stops shy of the single-season FBS record.
Grant Wilson
Jr., 6-3, 217, QB
A largely unproven commodity, Wilson threw just 13 passes in two seasons as a backup at Fordham before transferring to ODU. He won a three-man battle to emerge as the starter late in fall camp.
Keshawn Wicks
Jr., 6-1, 196, RB
After star back Blake Watson (now at Memphis) entered the transfer portal, Wicks is the team’s top returning rusher. He carried 32 times for 125 yards and a touchdown last season.
Ethan Duane
Jr., 6-1, 226, P
During a season in which the Monarchs struggled to move the ball, the Australian was one of their most effective weapons. Duane averaged 43.1 yards per punt and dropped 28 inside the 20.
Javon Harvey
Jr., 6-0, 178, WR
The Norfolk native caught 30 passes for 558 yards and four touchdowns last season. He could emerge as one of Wilson’s favorite targets.
Storylines
Who does what?: Part of the challenge for ODU’s coaches this fall has been learning names, faces and capabilities. The roster has 58 new players on it, including 41 new scholarship players.
How effective will the new offense be?: First-year offensive coordinator Kevin Decker brought with him from Fordham a scheme that put up record-breaking FCS numbers. The frenzied spread approach can be tailored to a given team’s personnel, and it hopes to keep defenses guessing and playing catch-up.
Can Henderson do it again?: Linebacker Jason Henderson tackled everybody but the referees last season, leading all FBS players. His coaches believe the work he did in the offseason could make him even more destructive, even if teams now know to plan for him.
Is Wilson the answer?: Junior Grant Wilson won the starting quarterback job after transferring from Fordham and emerging in a three-man race. But Wilson has thrown just 13 college passes, and none at the FBS level.
Was last season a fluke?: The Monarchs started 3-3 but finished 3-9 in 2022. That followed a season in which they started 1-6 and finished 6-7, including a loss to Tulsa in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. To return to the postseason, they’ll have to be more consistent on first down and be able to finish drives.
Schedule
Sept. 2 at Virginia Tech, 8 p.m.
Sept. 9 vs. Louisiana, 6 p.m.
Sept. 16 vs. Wake Forest, noon
Sept. 23 vs. Texas A&M University-Commerce, 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 30 at Marshall, TBA
Oct. 7 at Southern Miss, TBA
Oct. 21 vs. Appalachian State, TBA
Oct. 28 at James Madison, TBA
Nov. 4 vs. Coastal Carolina, TBA
Nov. 11 at Liberty, 1 p.m.
Nov. 18 at Georgia Southern, TBA
Nov. 25 vs. Georgia State, TBA
