The creation of a group called the “Pancake Club” helped create a situation where Bridgeport High School’s football staff added a volunteer who brought his own championship pedigree to a championship program.

 

For those who follow the Indians closely, you may know about the new volunteer assistant coach Kolt Decker. Decker signed up this year to assist with the freshman football program and is assisting on varsity game nights as well.

 

The fit, according to BHS Coach Tyler Phares, has been seamless. Decker finds himself in a role he was built for even if he did not audition for it.

 

Rather, Decker arrived thanks in part to the creation of the Pancake Club. It goes back a few years to when his son was playing in the Bridgeport youth football system.

 

Coaching the Mighty Mites and then coaching at the Pee Wee level, Decker wanted to get the linemen in the program more involved and more excited about the extremely vital role of playing in the trenches. The idea to make that happen was the Pancake Club.

 

“All you had to do to get invited was to have a pancake block. Then, on Saturday morning after practicing you would get invited over for pancakes,” said Decker. “Eventually, we would invite a few high school players to come to it as well and it worked out better than I could have imagined.

 

“I honestly don’t know who enjoyed it more; the kids or the high school players,” Decker continued. “… It just took off and we did that for several years and I think they still do it on occasion.”

 

While the club was a hit with the kids, others noticed it as well. Phares was among them.

 

“He had been around the program by helping with the youth program,” said Phares. “What ended up really standing out to me was that he reached out to our varsity kids to get them involved with the youth.

 

“They would have the pancake breakfast with two or three of our kids speaking,” Phares continued. “That was the start of getting to know him.”

 

What he found out was that Decker, like many who volunteer, was a well-intentioned father looking to assist his son’s team despite running his own Bridgeport-based oil and gas consulting business – X-Treme Measures Consulting, LLC. Upon a little deeper of a dig, Phares learned about Decker’s football background.

 

Decker was a former state high school football champion who graduated in 2000 from a program with a pedigree known statewide. He was a long-time starting lineman for the Parkersburg program and was part of the 1999 squad that finished with a perfect 14-0 record.

 

Understand, Decker was not spectator or average lineman. He was good enough to play after high school for Fairmont State College for four years, including a substantial portion of that time as a starter and contributing to a league championship team in the now defunct West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

 

The time at Fairmont State got him more than just football experience and lifelong friends. When graduating in 2004 he managed to walk away with a degree in electronics engineering.

 

“I realized early that football had afforded me a lot of opportunities,” said Decker. “It’s one of the reasons I enjoy being involved.”

 

About 14 years ago, Decker and his family were involved in making the move to Bridgeport. Today that family includes his wife Jill, who he will celebrate a 17-year anniversary with this November, and his daughter Rylee (sophomore at BHS and member of the volleyball team) and his seventh-grade son Reid (Bridgeport Middle football player). As many do, he got involved in the community and part of that involvement was coaching. However, he originally planned to step aside for a while this year.

 

“We supported my son’s decision to play this year for Bridgeport Middle School,” said Decker. “When he decided to play for the Braves, I decided I was going to be a regular dad and fan when Coach Phares reached out to me, and here we are.”

 

Although not planning to get back into the mix so soon, what he had witnessed in the community and what he knew from his time in Parkersburg, Fairmont State, and as a coach in the youth system led him to take on the volunteer role.

 

“A big part of the reason I entertained volunteering and coaching in the program was that it was the same as what I came though in Parkersburg. There were expectations not just on winning, but on discipline, and they always work well together,” said Decker. “I lived that in my time in high school and when I got involved here, I could see the similarities in football and, actually, all the sports.”

 

Phares does not discount Decker’s association with the tradition of the Big Reds and knowing football translating smoothly to Bridgeport’s red and white.

 

“It’s a big help and made for an easy transition. I think any time you have guys knowledgeable about football they’re going to help, but when you have someone understanding tradition it’s better,” said Phares. “It’s not about the Xs and the Os, but with expectations, understanding things like practice flow, and developing the players on an off the field. He understands that.”

 

Decker, who is coaching outside linebackers and helping offensively in the backfield (and learning the intricacies of the single wing, echoed that when asked about the most important part of coaching.

 

“The Xs and Os are important, really important, but the main reason you coach is for life lessons,” Decker said. “What’s made this a great experience is the coaches have been good to me and accepting, and they are all about those life lessons. They’re all good people.”

 

Good people and good coaches tend to mix well. And as the early results are showing, so do coaches that come from different championship pedigrees.

 

Editor's Note: Top two photos show Kolt Decker prior to the start of the recent game with Heritage (Va.) at Wayne Jamison Field. Photos by Joe LaRocca. Bottom photo shows Decker with his wife and two kids.