GRAND FORKS – University of North Dakota (UND) head football coach Eric Schmidt announced the addition of Darnell Duckett to the 2025 Fighting Hawks staff on Friday, February 21.

“Darnell is an important piece to our program,” said Coach Schmidt. “He has built great relationships across the country and he plays a critical role in helping us evaluate and recruit student-athletes to North Dakota. I’m excited to be able to bring him to Grand Forks.”

Duckett will serve as the Director of Player Personnel & Office Operations. He arrives in Grand Forks after spending time with the New York Jets, Washington, Maryland and Salisbury.

Most recently, he spent the past year with the New York Jets as a Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellow. His role involved supporting scouts with the day-to-day operations of training camp, aiding in organizing workouts for free agents, scheduling school visits for college scouts, reviewing practice and game footage and preparing scouting reports.

He also participated in daily scouting school, writing evaluations, calculating player grades and rankings and team value.

Prior to his time in New York, Duckett was a Football Recruiting Analyst/Player Development Assistant for the Washington Huskies from 2022-24. Before that, he was a Football Recruiting Analyst/Operations Assistant at Maryland from 2021-22.

He began his coaching career as a wide receivers coach at his alma mater, Salisbury University in Maryland, from 2020-21. Duckett graduated from Salisbury with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and athletic coaching in 2020 and also played wide receiver for the Sea Gulls.