Davis Koetter ready to make the jump from FCS to the SEC
Davis Koetter is no stranger to the University of Missouri. His father, Dirk, was Bob Stull's offensive coordinator for the Tigers from 1989-93. His older brother, Derek and sister Kaylee, graduated from Mizzou. Now Davis aims to do the same.
After spending his first three seasons at FCS Portland State, Koetter entered the transfer portal in October, looking to make the move up a level to test himself in FBS football. At least that was part of his motivation.
"That was definitely part of the reason I left Portland State," the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Koetter said. "The other part was I want to coach like my dad when it’s all said and done. I want to make more connections and I think the staff at Missouri is really rock solid."
When he started looking for a school where he could play and do a coaching apprenticeship, Koetter reached out to an old family friend. Bush Hamdan had been the offensive coordinator for Chris Peterson at Washington. Peterson was the wide receivers coach at Oregon in the late 1990's when the offensive coordinator was none other than Dirk Koetter. The Koetters and the Petersons remain close friends and Davis used that connection to Hamdan, now Missouri's wide receivers and quarterbacks coach, to explore Mizzou.
Hamdan will be Koetter's position coach for his final two seasons of college football...at least most of the time. It's never a sure thing to know where the former quarterback is going to be lined up.
"I’m a very versatile guy," Koetter said. "At Portland State lined up at every position on offense except the offensive line in one game. My M.O. is knowing every role and being able to plug in at any spot at any time. I take pride in that."
Spoken like a true coach. Koetter caught 38 passes for 626 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore for the Vikings in 2019. He didn't play this year because the FCS season was pushed to the spring by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"That part’s definitely been tough," Koetter said. "But I kind of saw it as a blessing in disguise. It gives me more time to work out, focus on my body, mobility, flexibility, things you kind of take for granted in the full swing of a season."
Koetter will report to Columbia for the spring semester. When he spoke to PowerMizzou.com, he was on the last leg of a drive from Portland to Laramie, WY, where his sister Kaylee is an assistant volleyball coach for the University of Wyoming. He'll leave his car there and fly home to Atlanta (Dirk is now the offensive coordinator for the Falcons) for Christmas. After the return flight, he'll pick up his car and drive to Columbia in time to start with the football team in early January.
Of course, a bit of a nomadic life is nothing new for the son of a 38-year veteran of the coaching profession. Dirk started as the head coach at Highland High School in Pocatello, ID in 1983 and has since coached for seven different colleges and five NFL teams.
"Boise, Arizona, Jax, Atlanta, Tampa, back to Atlanta, Portland, now I’m moving to Missouri," Davis said in listing off his places of residence. "In the coaching world, that's not too bad. I've been lucky.
"My dad was my hero and not a lot of people get to live in the same house as their hero. I definitely look up to my dad in a lot of ways. A lot of people's dads teach them to fish. My dad taught me how to coach football."
That's what Davis will do here in a couple of years. But not before he finishes his career as a player at a school where the family ties run deep.
"There’s some excitement there," Davis said of his dad's reaction. "He really liked his time at Missouri, my brother was born there and so was my oldest sister. My brother was super pumped that I was going there."