Memphis expected to hire ODU's Kevin Decker as OC

Memphis is expected to hire Old Dominion’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kevin Decker as its next offensive coordinator, according to On3’s Pete Nakos.

The 37-year-old coach spent the last three seasons at Old Dominion and led a unit that ranked No. 15 nationally in total offense, averaging 460.8 yards per game. The Monarchs used a run-first approach this season and averaged 236.9 yards per game on the ground.

Before joining the Old Dominion staff, Decker, who played quarterback at New Hampshire, spent eight seasons at the FCS level, serving in various roles at Montana State, Brown and Fordham. Decker got his first shot at being an offensive coordinator in 2018 at Brown.

In his first season as offensive coordinator, Brown improved from 278.8 yards per game to 285.5 yards per game, but the team finished 1-9 and 0-7 in conference play. After one season as a play caller, Decker joined the Fordham staff as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. 

Decker did a great job in four seasons at Fordham and turned the Rams into one of the best offenses at the FCS level. Decker took the program from averaging 251 yards the year before he took over to leading the FCS with 608.9 yards per game in his final season.

The offensive coordinator didn’t have as drastic of an improvement at Old Dominion, but he turned the Monarchs from a middle-of-the-pack offense in the Sun Belt into one of the best in the league, averaging more than 400 yards the last two seasons.

Decker also served as the quarterbacks coach at Old Dominion, and did a nice job developing redshirt sophomore quarterback Colton Joseph. Joseph finished this season with 2,624 passing yards, 1,007 rushing yards and 34 total touchdowns. 

The quarterback improved in nearly every category from his first to his second year as a starter, but his completion percentage has hovered around 59 percent both years. Huff said during his introductory press conference that he’d like to have a dual-threat quarterback that could move around, and Joseph would be a perfect fit.

It’s been reported that Joseph will enter the portal once it opens on January 2, and he opted out of the Monarch’s bowl game against South Florida. The quarterback, who has two years of eligibility remaining, will receive a ton of interest from Power Four programs, but after spending the last three years with Decker, look for Joseph to be a top prospect for Memphis in the portal.