How Can One Life Touch So Many Others?

LOWELL – It was the middle of September back in 2005. I was writing two columns a week in those days.
There was no crazy news to write about. No one died.
So I wrote some words about the Lowell Red Devils, who were 1-4 heading into Week 6. But I had seen the team twice. They had some studs. Jeff Clemens. Scott Gray. Jed Travis. Ryan King. And others.
I don’t recall the exact words I wrote 21 years ago, but I basically said this team coached by Kirk Kennedy was much better than its record.
Ten wins later, on Thanksgiving weekend, the Red Devils shocked the state with a 28-27 victory over Indianapolis Roncalli to win the Class 4A state championship.
During the celebration, Kennedy shook my hand and said thanks.
I was like, why?
“Because our staff knew we had a good team, but I don’t think they believed it until you wrote that,” he said.
It wasn’t why I wrote it. I was just pointing something out. I didn’t expect it to happen.
But I wasn’t shocked when it did.
Lowell trailed by two touchdowns at halftime inside the RCA Dome. I was walking to the press box during the break when, in the underbelly of that place, I heard a voice screaming at his team in the locker room.
It wasn’t PG-13.
Lowell offensive coordinator Jim Carlson said there was a camera in the room, expecting to record Kennedy’s speech. After one sentence, the camera was shut off and carried out of the room.
Those words were only for the players.
They were harsh. But they inspired a sputtering team to go out and dominate a better team and win a state title.
This is who Kirk Kennedy was.
A great football coach who knew how to inspire teenagers. Probably the best I ever saw.
He did not allow excuses from anyone. Not the best player on the team. Not the worst.
There was a standard that had to be followed.
And for 19 years, that’s exactly what he did.
Lowell was a team everyone wanted to play at its homecoming before the fiery coach arrived in 1991. They won 10 sectionals, eight regionals and three semistates before Kennedy left after the 2009 season.
Kennedy died Sunday at the age of 63.
RDP. RIP.
“We were bad before he got there,” Carlson said. “He said we had to get in the weight room and learn how to win. And that’s exactly what we did.”
In that glorious season, Lowell hosted Fort Wayne South in the semistate. It was in the mid-teens that night, with a November wind blowing.
Kennedy had a winter hat on his head while wearing shorts.
That was one of his traditions.
Shorts on Friday nights.
The crowd was huge. Several television stations were there, along with radio and print media. The press box was big enough for six people, like an outhouse perched on top of the bleachers.
The lines trying to get into the bathrooms were Disneyland long.
I later wrote that if Lowell wanted to become a state power, the facilities had to improve.
The following summer, members of the community came together and built a wonderful press box big enough for everyone.
Former Lowell athletic director Don Bales jokingly called it the Steve Hanlon Press Box the following season.
Lowell would advance to the state finals in 2007 and 2009 as well before Kennedy left for Bloomington South, Franklin County, North Judson and, finally, Kankakee Valley.
The Red Devils will host the Kougars Friday night.
Perfect symmetry.
Kennedy brought so many things to LHS.
The running backs wore No. 6, Kennedy’s number when he played football for Howard Schnellenberger at Louisville.
He had a Teacher Appreciation Night every season in which educators wore the jersey number of the player who picked them as their favorite.
His daily expectations transformed many lives, both on and off the field.
Many area coaches once played for Kennedy, including Red Devils assistant Brandon Grubbe.
He rushed for 5,923 yards and 80 touchdowns and played in two state championship games.
“You knew what you were getting every day,” said Grubbe, now coaching at Lowell. “He was very demanding, but he wasn’t an &^%hole. He was a very good guy and treated others very well.”
During the 2008 season, Grubbe fumbled a ball in a blowout win over Andrean.
He wasn’t the only Devil who played poorly.
Everyone knew what was coming.
“We were at the practice field at 7 a.m. on Saturday and we ran for two and a half hours,” Grubbe remembered at Tuesday’s practice.
He also recalled the day Kennedy played Shania Twain in the weight room.
All the players hated it and complained.
Kennedy went off.
He told them the music wasn’t lifting the weights. They were.
Don’t let something you can’t control affect what you can control.
No excuses.
Do your best.
Period.
Grubbe said Lowell will line up in the Power I formation Friday to honor Kennedy. That was his offense for decades.
He said Crown Point is expected to do the same because of Lowell’s influence there.
I wonder how many Power I formations we will see this weekend?
We should all rise to our feet when one occurs to honor this great legacy.
This great man.
Current Lowell coach Casey McKim coached against Kennedy before arriving on Commercial Avenue two years ago. They formed a good friendship.
And the Red Devil Pride Kennedy started continued last Friday night when junior running back Tymothy James carried the ball 50 times for a school-record 394 yards in a victory over Hobart.
“When I got here, I was told RDP stands for Run Don’t Pass,” McKim said. “So we’re keeping Kirk’s legacy going.”
McKim went to visit Kennedy on Saturday.
He walked in and the ailing coach was watching a football game. Kennedy asked how the Devils had done the night before.
Some things never change.
“Most people talk about how good of a coach Kirk was,” McKim said. “But everyone talks about how great of a person he was.”
On Thursday, there will be a wake and service for Kennedy at Sheets Funeral Home in Lowell from 2 to 7 p.m.
Carlson was with Kennedy when he gave his final requests with his wife, Michelle.
Mike Pickett, the famed running back who led Lowell past vaunted Hobart in the 1994 regional that put the program on the map, will read Kennedy’s three favorite Bible verses.
Heaven’s coaching staff just got so much better.
I got to cover most of Kennedy’s years at Lowell.
I saw him ride his Harley several times.
I saw him ignite an entire community around one thing: togetherness.
I’m going to miss you, Kirk.
I believe you’re in a better place.
But our place now is missing some color and life.
RDP.
RIP.

By Steve Hanlon
​Heartland Sports Network