Panthers Hire Former Colts Director of Team Development Brian Decker

The Colts lost a key member of their front office leadership evaluation team.

In a surprise hire, the Carolina Panthers have announced that the team has hired former Colts director of player development Brian Decker to be their new vice president of player development—as he’ll reunite with ex-Colts head coach Frank Reich in Carolina:

Decker was recently (and actively) involved in the Colts lengthy and thorough interview process for the team’s next head coach. One that just saw the franchise ultimately land on former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen.

However, after recently aiding Colts general manager Chris Ballard in the important decision, Decker is now headed to Carolina for what seems like a promotion of sorts.

Decker has 22 years of military experience and helped run the Special Forces Assessment and selection program. Since joining the Colts in 2017, he’s been tasked with helping to evaluate individual qualities such as leadership, character, and make-up among NFL prospects and personnel—to help predict their future success.

His loss feels like a fairly significant one for the Colts, given how much the franchise has predicated itself on finding high character individuals. That being said, we wish him well and are thankful for his contributions to the franchise (and overall service).