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Rich Duncan, the only offensive coordinator that the Berry football program has ever had and a former Division III head coach at Aurora, has taken the head coaching job at Rhodes.
Duncan replaces Travis James, who had been hired as the interim head coach in January. The Lynx were 0-4 in their spring 2021 season.
"I am absolutely thrilled to announce the hiring of Rich Duncan as our next head football coach," said Rhodes athletic director Matt Dean. "Coach Duncan is a true professional with 30-plus years of experience coaching football at the Division III level.
"As a head coach, he has taken Aurora University to the national football playoffs. As an offensive coordinator, he spent nine years helping build Berry College into a championship program in the Southern Athletic Association that has won each of the last five SAA championships.
Duncan returns to the helm of a program after seven years at Aurora (2005-11) where he guided the Spartans to the Division III playoffs in 2008.
"I am extremely excited to be named the head football coach at Rhodes College," said Duncan. "From the beginning of this process, the people whom I have met have been extraordinary. I know from these personal experiences that Rhodes is a special place and cannot wait to get started on the work that is ahead of us. My first priority is getting to know the current players, the incoming players, and the Rhodes community as a whole. I am excited to work with the other members of the coaching staff, the faculty, alumni, and the administration to build a program of which we can all be proud. I especially look forward to building life-lasting relationships."
Serving as Berry's offensive coordinator since their inaugural 2013 season, Duncan helped propel the five-time SAA champions to each of the last three eligible NCAA playoffs, including two second-round appearances.
Over the past eight seasons, Berry has gone 52-26 overall and posted an impressive 43-6 record over the last five seasons. Duncan has coached multiple players to all-conference honors and several to the top of the SAA statistical leaderboards including Mason Kinsey who led the league in receiving touchdowns for two seasons. He also led the Vikings' offense that ranked second in points per game in 2018 while leading the SAA in rushing yards per contest.
Duncan held a 38-33 coaching record at Aurora where he was named the Northern Athletics Conference Coach of the Year in 2008 after guiding Aurora to a 9-2 overall record, including an undefeated mark in conference play. He coached 80 all-conference Spartans, including 15 who went on to become D3football.com All-Region selections and one D3football.com All-American. Four Spartans earned Academic All-Region honors during Duncan's tenure.
"A playcaller for 25-plus years, Coach Duncan will bring instant energy to our football team," said Dean. "This is a great day for our football program and for our players. I appreciate the Football Leadership Council and our search committee in this process. As a football program, we just got better."
"I want to thank vice president of student life, Dr. Meghan Harte Weyant, athletic director Matt Dean, as well as the rest of the search committee for entrusting me to lead the Rhodes College football program," said Duncan. "I specifically want to thank the players' leadership council who were also part of the process. Their investment in the program is very evident and was a major selling point for me to accept this position.
"I would also like to thank (Berry coach) Tony Kunczewski who has been a tremendous person to work alongside for the last nine years, but more so, a true friend. I will be forever grateful for the time Coach K and I shared working together. Most importantly, I want to thank my family who have allowed me to passionately pursue my lifelong dreams. Their sacrifices, support, and their selflessness in allowing me to accept this opportunity have been humbling.
"I look forward to the future and cannot wait to hit the ground running!"
Prior to Aurora, Duncan spent four seasons as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Loras, where he coached seven all-conference linemen and set eight Duhawk offensive records. He has served as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at UW-Platteville where he coached a total of 12 all-conference players. Duncan was also the head baseball coach at Platteville.
Prior to his stint at UWP, Duncan was the offensive line coach and special teams coordinator, as well as an assistant athletics director, at Capital from 1995-97 and the offensive line coach at Massachusetts-Lowell from 1992-95.
He began his coaching career as an intern at Manchester in 1991, where he served as the team's offensive line coach and was also an assistant baseball coach.
Duncan earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from Bethany College and a master's degree from Loras.
Rich and his wife Karen have two children: Molly and Jake.