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Brown Football Promotes Kevin Decker To Offensive Coordinator, Names Chris Zarkoskie Offensive Line Coach
1/23/2018 12:00:00 AM | Football
Providence, R.I. - Brown head football coach Phil Estes has promoted Kevin Decker to Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach, and named Chris Zarkoskie the Bears' new Offensive Line coach.
Both Decker and Zarkoskie graduated from the University of New Hampshire and were team captains as seniors, while earning NCAA Tournament berths all four years of their careers.
"I've known Kevin since his high school playing days and he's always been a fiery competitor," said Estes. "He's had success as a quarterback at UNH and coaching is what he wants to do in life. At Brown, Kevin raised the level of our tight end play and will do the same with our quarterbacks. He'll bring the same fire, passion and competitiveness to our team that he gained from a program that has made 14 straight NCAA Tournament appearances."
Decker, a 2012 UNH graduate, joined the Brown coaching staff as tight ends coach in 2016 after working at Montana State as an offensive assistant.
An outstanding quarterback at UNH, Decker was the Colonial Athletic Association's Player of the Year and a finalist for the Walter Payton Award in 2011. He threw for 3272 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior, while rushing for 429 yards and nine touchdowns. A team captain, he was also the squad's Most Valuable Player and served on the Team Council Committee at UNH.
Decker worked under Montana State head coach Rob Ash and Offensive Coordinator Tim Cramsey and had responsibilities for opposition film breakdown, game day charting assignments and compiling weekly scouting reports. He worked closely with the offensive coaches during game planning, game evaluation, and personnel evaluation meetings.
At Montana State, he helped the squad to three top national offensive rankings, including yards per play (6.82), touchdowns per game and red zone touchdown percentage.
Zarkoskie comes to College Hill after three years as tight ends coach at UNH. He worked as a strength & conditioning intern for the UNH athletic department in the 2014-15 academic year.
"Chris was an outstanding player at UNH, who became a great coach and asset for them," said Estes. "Chris and Kevin will implement the offense that they played at UNH and bring that success to our offense at Brown."
Zarkoskie graduated from UNH in 2013 with a degree in Psychology. The four-year letterwinner (2009-12) and three-year starter on the offensive line served as a senior captain in 2012, when he claimed a spot on the All-CAA Third-Team.
The native of West Caldwell, N.J., was the recipient of CAA football's inaugural Chuck Boone Leadership Award in spring 2013 for embodying the highest standards of leadership, integrity, teamwork and sportsmanship in his academic and athletic achievements.
Zarkoskie is a two-time member (2011, '12) of both the Capital One Academic NCAA Division I Football District I First Team and the Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star Team. He earned CAA Academic All-Conference Team honors and received the CAA Commissioner's Academic Award three straight years (2010-12), and was named to the 2013 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, which was comprised of college football players from all divisions who maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college career.
