Kyle Kennard built a legacy at South Carolina. How he did it in one season
A line formed at the front of a Charlotte ballroom, a dozen or so people snaking toward a stage where Kyle Kennard stood next to his new trophy. The Bronco Nagurski awards banquet had been over for some time, but the best defensive player in college football was still beaming in his tuxedo, welcoming guest after guest.
Meanwhile, his father, Kevin, stood way off to the side — almost blending in with the catering crew that was clearing tables. In a sharp, gray suit, Kevin held a yellow dinner napkin in his left hand and a phone in his right. He paced around, answering FaceTime calls and stopping every few seconds to wipe away tears.
“My son has never seen me cry,” Kevin told The State. “Been a tough journey — father and son journey. I can’t even express it. Just happy all over.”
This legacy seemed impossible a year ago, back when Kennard was in the transfer portal following four years and 12.5 total sacks at Georgia Tech. But in just one season at South Carolina, Kennard became nationally known. The fast-twitch Ferrari coming off the edge and wrecking offense’s game plans.
He led the SEC with 11.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss — his name now mentioned alongside Jadeveon Clowney as the best defensive ends in South Carolina history. And he was only on campus for a year.
In an acceptance speech he made up on the fly, Kennard talked about gratitude, pointing out his parents and 15-year-old brother, Kalin, who snapped pictures with Kennard’s camera. His mother, Chan, was visibly choked up, holding back the water works as she blew her son five kisses from her chair. To her right, Kevin’s head was down. It was almost as if he was dreaming, like if he picked his head up, he’d wake up. Then he looked up at his son, completely still with a smile.
After the ceremony, Kevin walked on stage at the Charlotte Convention Center. He saw his son. Then he saw the massive bronze trophy bearing his name. His father’s name. His sons’ name. His grandsons’ name. The Kennard name.
The picture had to wait a minute. Kevin buried his face in the yellow napkin.
“I hear about Jacksons and Williams and Robinsons and Parkers. You know, familiar last names,” Kevin said. “As I grew up, Kennard wasn’t a popular last name. I wanted to put my last name with a legacy. On the map. And that’s what we’ve been doing. … Kyle Kennard, you’re amazing.”
How Kennard arrived at South Carolina
When Kennard hopped in the transfer portal a year ago, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound edge rusher was a solid player. Probably an SEC starter. But there was nothing to suggest a change of scenery was what was separating him from being the best defensive player in America.
His recruitment came down to Missouri and South Carolina, leading to a weekday in December when Kennard and his father were at the brunch chain First Watch in Atlanta with Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz. They finished eating and went to Columbia to visit the Gamecocks. The next day, Kennard canceled a planned visit to Missouri, called Drinkwitz and let him know he was becoming a Gamecock.
It was ironic that Drinkwitz was the keynote speaker for the Nagurski Award, chatting with Kennard as the pair took a photo next to the trophy hours before the event. After the ceremony though, Kevin, found the man who made trophies and hype and legacy possible.
“Thank you,” Kevin he told Gamecocks’ defensive ends coach Sterling Lucas.
Lucas started watching Kennard’s film last winter when the edge rusher entered the transfer portal. What stuck out to Lucas: Kennard played the run extremely well. He had explosion and all the measurables a great pass rusher needs. But the best part? There were obvious areas of improvement.
Kennard had a half-dozen sacks in 2023 at Georgia Tech. That’s great. But Lucas watched the tape and knew Kennard was a few details away from double-digit sack numbers.
“We talk about three different things in pass rush,” Lucas told The State. “We talk about the get-off. Then we talk about the move area and now we’re in the combat zone — work with whatever your fastball rushes are. And then the top of the rush is finishing at the rim, turning your toe at the top of the rush and then finishing the sack.”
All that knowledge sold the Kennards. That and the fact that during the recruiting process, Lucas was blunt.
“Man,” Kevin said Lucas told him, “give me your son for a year. I promise I’ll make him great.”
Kennard cements legacy at South Carolina
Legacy is not something often thought of until there’s a reason to think about it. Until there’s a next generation that will have to account for whatever that legacy is.
In the same way Kevin passed down his legacy to Kyle, Kyle will pass down his legacy to his two sons, who have the same initials as him: KMK.
Kayden (2 years old) and Karter Kennard (6 months old) — who mostly live back in Atlanta — were at almost all of their father’s home games this year. During his South Carolina debut, the Kennards sat in Section 21 as family member after family member took turns holding young Kayden and Karter.
That day, their dad began his Gamecock legacy with 3.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
Having kids “played an exponential factor in my maturity,” Kennard said. “It kind of forces you to get mature responsibility-wise, financial-wise, just overall in life.”
The financial part is interesting. Kennard, now projected to be a day-two NFL Draft pick, elevated his draft slot and, likely, his rookie contract dramatically by spending 2024 at South Carolina. That’s more money for him, for his kids, for his family.
And, yet, Kennard and his dad don’t seem too worried about that. Kevin is quicker to mention his son will be the first male in the family to graduate from college. Quicker to acknowledge what this year did for his last name.
“It’s more so about the legacy, the determination, the drive,” Kevin said. “He got the chance to showcase that. He did not let himself down. He did not let South Carolina down.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
