Pirate
Notebook No. 93
Wednesday, November 14, 2002
By Denny O'Brien Staff Writer and Columnist
Tough guy
Kerr still commands R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Part One of a Two-Part Pirate
Notebook Special
[Editor's note:
PART TWO of Denny O'Brien's
Pirate Notebook Special on former East Carolina linebacker Jeff Kerr
was published on Wednesday, November 20.]
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As a tough, hard-hitting linebacker for East
Carolina in the late 90s, Jeff Kerr carried a huge chip on his shoulder.
Maybe it was because many believed he
couldn't impact the major college football scene. Perhaps it was due to the
many obstacles he hurdled along his path to gridiron stardom.
Whatever the reason, Kerr embraced the
us-against-the-world attitude on which the Pirates program was built, a
philosophy that, for him, extends much further than the football field.
"I carry it over to everything in life,"
Kerr said. "That's the way I've always viewed life. If you think I can't do
it, I'm going to prove you wrong."
Today, the former All-Conference USA
performer continues to live by those same blue-collar ideals, albeit from a
slightly different perspective.
When brief stints in both the NFL and XFL
didn't pan out, Kerr sought a fresh start and a career less violent than the
one that sidelined him several times in college and eventually ended his
professional days with a severe concussion. At the same time, he didn't want
to be far removed from the game he loved, thus narrowing his options to few.
For Kerr, it came down to two questions:
Did he want to specialize in Xs and Os? Or,
did he prefer instilling mental and physical toughness in the weight room?
In the end, it came down to what mattered
most — the players.
"Strength and conditioning is more where I
want to be," Kerr said. "You're with the kids all the time.
"As a football coach, you're with them
through spring practice, then you're with them from fall camp until the end
of the season. I get more satisfaction out of my job and I think I can do a
better job with the players if I'm around them more."
Kerr got his chance when his former strength
coach — Jeff Connors — left East Carolina to become the Assistant Athletics
Director for Strength and Conditioning at North Carolina. Eyeing an
opportunity, Kerr gave Connors a call, asking if anything was available.
As it turned out, Connors had a vacant GA
position and didn't flinch at offering it to Kerr, who three months ago was
elevated to Assistant Director for Strength and Conditioning, joining former
Pirates defensive back and special teams captain Robert Tate, who shares the
same title.
Connors also recently hired Jerris McPhail,
who starred for the Pirates at running back during the mid-90s, and says
there is a reason he has targeted ECU alums for his staff.
"I wanted to hire people that I knew had a
warrior spirit," Connors said. "I felt like that was going to be important
to this program, (which) was to have people as my assistants who were very
intense, emotional about what they were doing, loved the game of football,
and also loved the preparation for the game.
"What better choices than Robert and Jeff?
They had already proved themselves in relationship to their training while
they were at East Carolina and also the type of players they were with
regard to intensity and effort."
Different colors, same guy
Connors' exodus to Chapel Hill is a sore
subject to some in Pirateland. The fact that he has lured a handful of ECU
greats to his staff certainly hasn't eased the tension between the former
Pirates strength boss and the school for which he still possesses a deep
feeling.
Kerr, who has a strong admiration for his
mentor, feels that situation has been blown out of proportion and says it is
unfair to scrutinize someone for making an important career decision.
He speaks from experience.
"I'm a man who has taken a job and I believe
that my job is to be a strength and conditioning coach," Kerr said. "Yet,
you can't take away what I've done at East Carolina out of me. I don't think
you can take away what we did for the program."
Connors, who still maintains strong
friendships with many in the ECU family, agrees.
"Jeff was probably seen as one of the best
leaders that ever came through the program," Connors said. "I think he knew
when he took the job that he may be under some criticism. But those types of
people who are going to criticize you for bettering your situation, in my
opinion, are really small-minded."
There's no question both Kerr and Connors
played key roles in helping Pirate head coach Steve Logan build the most
consistent program in the Carolinas over the past decade.
Kerr's impact as a leader is not to be
overlooked, as he was widely considered the Pirates' heartbeat during one of
the best seasons in school history. Connors, whose 'win the fourth quarter'
mantra was a program hallmark, was a master motivator.
Yet, the fact that both now don Carolina
blue has prompted some to question their loyalty.
Not so fast, says Kerr.
"I'm always loyal to people and I'm always
loyal to what they've done for me," Kerr said. "I try to give back to what
people have done for me.
"Coach Connors is one who has done a lot for
me in the past, and I wanted to give something back to him. I've always told
him that this (profession) is where I want to start and he gave me the
opportunity. I'm eternally grateful for that."
The linebacker that could
It certainly isn't the destination he
predicted. And the route that has taken Jeff Kerr from Salisbury on a
journey that has wound through Greenville, the NFL, the XFL and Nascar to
his current stop at the Kenan Center has been anything but smooth.
If wearing the purple and gold is about
overcoming adversity and hoisting that "chip", then Kerr personifies what it
means to be a Pirate.
He played each game with reckless abandon,
many times limping off the field drenched in sweat and reeling from
exhaustion or injury. Most of his career was spent on knees that twice
required surgical repair.
For that, he his surprisingly thankful.
"It was a blessing in disguise," Kerr said.
"God always has a plan for you and you always follow that plan no matter
whether you like it or you don't like it.
"It always sets its tone for the rest of
your life. I actually had thoughts of not pursuing the rest of my career."
Those thoughts resonated on a hot, humid
Saturday afternoon in Greenville during the '96 season. When his knee
surrendered to the Bagwell Field turf, Kerr wondered if God was sending a
message for him to seek less violent challenges.
His coach suggested otherwise.
"After I tore my knee up for the second
time, (Coach Logan) came and sat down with me," Kerr said. "He sat down with
me and said, 'You're going to make it through this and everything is going
to be fine. You're going to be all right in the end.'
"I said, 'I don't know coach, I think somebody's trying to tell me
something. The Man upstairs is trying to tell me I shouldn't be playing
football.' That's what I kept thinking because I kept getting injured.
"He said, 'No, you just need to keep pushing on through it. You're going to
be fine.' It ended up turning out he was right, which he always was in my
case."
As excruciating as the physical pain was,
Kerr funneled that into the type of mental toughness from which his
teammates could feed. In the weight room and on the field, he worked
relentlessly to ready himself for the upcoming season, rehabbing a busted
knee and weaving a web of fellowship among his teammates.
That routine recurred in '98, when the
resilient linebacker tore every ligament in his ankle in a Thursday night
contest at Cincinnati. Once again, desire, intensity, and a strong work
ethic made for a speedy return, as Kerr emerged as the lead dog on the field
and in the locker room the next season.
"I knew I wanted it more than the next guy,"
Kerr said. "I knew I wasn't going to let the other guys on the team let me
down or let themselves down or let their teammates down.
"When you step on the field, you've got to
command attention; you've got to command the thought processes of everybody
around you; and you've got to command respect. Everything around you and
everybody around you has got to know that. In order to be a leader, you've
got to show that you're the type of person that's going to make it through
everything, that's not going to fail in the face of adversity."
Little did he know that the coming season
would bring adversity in Biblical proportions.
[Editor's note: PART TWO of Denny O'Brien's
Pirate Notebook Special on former East Carolina linebacker Jeff Kerr
was published on Wednesday, November 20.]
