Recruiting Areas: San Antonio West, Greater Austin, Hill Country, Brazos Valley
Kennan remains the longest tenured member of the Incarnate Word coaching staff. He arrived on campus as the third hire for the Cardinals in August of 2007. He immediately began planning and implementing for the startup program that began play in 2009.
Kennan was originally hired as the director of football operations and was heavily involved in recruiting, tryout sessions and the other minutiae involved with starting a program. On the field, he was responsible for the wide receivers and he added the title of recruiting coordinator in June of 2011. In the Spring of 2014, he picked up another title, pass game coordinator.
Kennan was the recruiting coordinator through the 2015 season and he had an approach that stocked the Cardinals with more talent each year. His recruiting classes improved each year and the results showed on the field. He consistently provided the program with freshmen who could start right away.
In 2015, the Cardinals set a new school record for most passing yards (2,357). Four different wide receivers had at least 19 receptions and 250 yards. Kody Edwards became the fourth player in school history with over 500 yards receiving and also posted the highest yards per catch for a player with at least 30 receptions. Kennan's receivers hauled in 126 catches, the most by the group in school history, for 1,394 yards.
Kennan's group of receivers showed a lot of potential in 2014, but a shaky quarterback situation kept their numbers down. Casey Jennings earned honorable mention all-Southland Conference honors after leading the team with 42 catches for 486 yards.
2013 was a banner year for Kennan's wide receivers. Jennings, a junior college recruit, broke the school records for receptions and yards in a season and earned College Sports Madness All-Independent Second Team honors. Jennings led a wide receiver contingent that recorded 121 receptions for 1,464 yards.
The 2012 season was a transition year for Kennan and his wide receivers with no player catching more than 28 passes. Senior Dominic Hamilton closed out his career as the all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards.
In 2010 and 2011, the wide receiving corp was led by a single star. Hamilton hauled in 53 catches for 627 yards and five touchdowns in 2010 while Jacob Love had 38 catches for 556 yards and four touchdowns in 2011.
The program’s first year proved to be a good one for wide receivers as they accumulated 100 receptions. Hamilton and Todd Walker each had six touchdown receptions, still a school record.
Kennan has had an extensive background in the world of football not only coaching with UIW but also with the NFL. In the year before coming to UIW, Kennan was vice president of Coaches Inc., a company which worked with and represented football coaches. He held the responsibility of recruiting and evaluating perspective clients to represent and place in the coaching profession. Not only does he have an eye for talent in college football players, but understands the importance and value of a talented football coach.
The five years prior to holding his position within Coaches Inc. he was the director of media relations for The National Football League Coaches Association. While Kennan held his full-time job within The National Football League Coaches Association in 2002, he was also co-producer of the NFL Coaches Association Top 25 Radio Show on Fox Sports Radio.
In 2000, Kennan gained his first real experience with coaching at the NFL level when he joined the Seattle Seahawks for training camp as an assistant working with their quarterbacks.
Kennan held the position of training camp scouting intern for the Browns in 2004, which was another growing experience for Kennan in regards to understanding player talent. In 2006, Kennan was a coach for the High School Offense/Defense All American Game which eventually would lead him into his next position at UIW.
A graduate of Mandeville High School in Louisiana, Kennan earned his bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island in 2001.
His father Larry, now the UIW head football coach, worked 16 years as a coach in the NFL with such teams as the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks.
Kennan and his wife Abigail are the parents of two sons, Kingston and Coltrane, and a daughter, Kaya. They reside in Alamo Heights.
