Kurt Kennedy is in his first year as the director of recruiting and player personnel for ULM head coach Terry Bowden. Kennedy moves into a key administrative position in 2021 after spending the last two years as an assistant coach.
The opportunity to coach brought Kennedy from the southeast to the western U.S. and New Mexico Highlands University in 2019 where he worked with the offensive line. He moved to Fort Scott (Kansas) Community College in 2020 where he mentored the quarterbacks.
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In 2018, Kennedy was an analyst at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, where the Bulldogs finished the season ranked No. 4 in the nation in total offense and No. 1 in passing and completion percentage. Quarterback Devlin Hodges won the Walter Payton Award, the Heisman Trophy of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, presented to the nation’s best player. Hodges broke Steve McNair’s record for most career passing yards in FCS history (14,584) and threw for 475 yards in the Bulldogs’ upset bid of Florida State that season.
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Kennedy was an asset to Florida State in nine seasons (2009-17) where he started his coaching career as a student assistant for head coach Bobby Bowden and worked with the quarterbacks (2009-10). He became an analyst for the next three seasons, 2010-12, working with Seminole offensive coordinator James Coley with responsibilities with the tight ends unit. He served as an analyst for then-head coach Jimbo Fisher for five seasons (2013-17) and was part of the FSU teams that won 29-straight games.
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The 2013 National Championship season for Florida State featured one of the most dominant teams in college football history with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jameis Winston and 11 offensive starters who went on to play in the NFL. The 2013 Seminole offense broke the then-NCAA all-time scoring record with 723 points and posted the then third-highest scoring average in NCAA history at 51.6 points per game. Kennedy coached three quarterbacks taken in the first round of the NFL Draft, including Winston as the first overall selection in 2015, and a total of 53 NFL Draft picks.
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Kennedy lettered in basketball at Freed-Hardeman University and played quarterback for two seasons at West Alabama. A six-sport athlete in at Red Bay High School in his hometown of Red Bay, Alabama, Kennedy was an all-state selection in football and basketball and ran a leg of the state championship 4x100m relay team.
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