| Bobby Kennedy |
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Assistant Recruiting Coordinator/Wide Receivers
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· The Bobby Kennedy File
A veteran of 21 seasons as a collegiate assistant coach, including 15 tutoring wide receivers, Bobby Kennedy is in his seventh year as an assistant coach at Texas. He works with the wide receivers and was named assistant recruiting coordinator prior to the 2005 season.
Last season, senior WR Jordan Shipley produced one of the best seasons for a wide receiver in UT history. A consensus first-team All-America honoree and Biletnikoff Award finalist, Shipley set UT single-season records for receptions (116) and receiving yards (1,485) and tied for first with 13 TDs. His 8.3 receptions per game ranked fifth nationally and his 106.1 receiving yards per contest were sixth. Behind Shipley, junior James Kirkendoll and sophomore Malcolm Williams combined for 87 receptions, 1,011 yards and eight TDs, while Kennedy guided rookie receivers junior John Chiles and freshman Marquise Goodwin to combine for valuable support with 64 catches, 598 yards and four TDs.
Under Kennedy in 2008, Texas produced a pair of receivers -- Shipley and senior Quan Cosby - who both had 85-plus catches and 1,000-plus receiving yards for the first time in school history and just the 11th time in NCAA history. Cosby was a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist (nation's top receiver) and caught 92 passes (No. 2 on UT's single-season list) for 1,123 yards (No. 3 on UT's single-season list) and 10 TDs (T-No. 4 on UT's single-season list), while Shipley had 89 catches (No. 3 on UT's single-season list) for 1,060 yards (No. 6 on UT's single-season list) and 11 TDs (No. 3 on UT's single-season list).
In 2007, the wide receiving corps excelled despite the loss of Biletnikoff Award candidate Limas Sweed to injury for most of the season. Under Kennedy's guidance, senior Nate Jones emerged. Even though he entered the season with only 29 career catches, Jones led the team with 70 receptions (T-No. 2 on UT's single-season list) and 795 yards and tied for a team-high five TD receptions. Combined with Cosby's 60 receptions, the 130 catches moved the pair to second on UT's single-season list for receiving duos. In total, the wide receivers finished with 187 receptions for 2,275 yards and 18 TDs.
Kennedy's 2006 group of wide receivers combined to post 158 receptions for 2,180 yards and 25 TDs, while helping QB Colt McCoy break UT's record for single-season TD passes. Limas Sweed led the group for the second straight year, earning first-team All-Big 12 honors, after making 46 catches for 801 yards and 12 TDs. The 12 scores tied UT's single-season record. Sweed also broke Roy William's record by making a TD reception in seven consecutive games. Cosby increased his 2005 totals from 15 receptions for 270 yards to 45 receptions for 525 yards. Billy Pittman added 456 yards and four TDs.
In 2005, Kennedy transformed a group of young receivers into one of the most effective groups in UT history. As a group, the Texas receivers tallied 142 receptions for 2, 195 yards (15.5 ypr) and 16 TDs, in helping Texas finish third in single-season passing yards. Sweed led the receiving corps with 36 catches for 545 yards and five TDs. Pittman also had a breakout season with 34 receptions for 750 yards and five TDs. Pittmans' 22.1 yards per reception ranked second out of the nation's top 100 receivers.
Kennedy laid the foundation for the 2005 corp with his work a year earlier. The Longhorns had lost three wide receivers to the NFL after the 2003 season and were left without much experience in the 2004 group. Fifth-year senior Tony Jeffery emerged and established career highs in receptions (33), yards (437) and TDs (three). Also, Sweed tied for third on UT's all-time receptions by a freshman list with 23.
Prior to joining the Texas staff, Kennedy spent two years coaching wide receivers at Washington. Under his guidance, Huskies All-America receiver Reggie Williams ranked fourth nationally in receptions per game (7.4) and 16th in receiving yardage (92.4 ypg) in 2003. Williams finished his career as Washington's all-time leader in receptions (238) and receiving yards (3,536).
Williams was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round (ninth pick) of the 2004 NFL Draft.
In Kennedy's first season with the Huskies, he tutored Williams in a year that the sophomore wideout earned first-team All-America honors. Williams set UW's single-season records for receptions (94) and receiving yards (1,454) that year.
Kennedy joined the Husky staff after spending the 2001 season as the running backs coach at Arizona.
In 2001, he coached Wildcat sophomore tailback Clarence Farmer, who led the Pac-10 in rushing with an average of 111.7 yards per game. Farmer was a first-team All-Pac-10 pick and finished 21st nationally in rushing.
Prior to joining the Arizona staff, Kennedy spent six seasons at Wake Forest. He coached Demon Deacon running backs for two years (1999-2000) and worked with the wide receivers for four seasons (1995-98).
During the 1999 season, he coached Wake Forest senior Morgan Kane, who rushed for 1,161 yards and 10 TDs. Kane finished his career as the third-leading rusher in school history.
From 1995-98, Kennedy tutored the Deacon wide receivers, including Desmond Clark, the leading receiver in ACC history and the school's single-season receiving leader, and Jammie Deese, who ranked second in the conference in receiving in 1998.
Before his time at Wake Forest, Kennedy coached wide receivers for two seasons at Wyoming. There, he tutored All-Americans Ryan Yarborough, who was the nation's second-leading receiver in 1993, and Marcus Harris, who led the nation in receiving yards in 1994.
In 1992, when he worked for coach Joe Paterno's staff as an offensive graduate assistant coach at Penn State, he helped tutor a pair of tight ends that would go on to be named All-Americans in Troy Drayton and Kyle Brady.
A 1989 graduate of Northern Colorado, Kennedy began his coaching career on the high school level in his hometown of Boulder. The Boulder High School graduate began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at Illinois (1990-91).
Kennedy was a QB for Northern Colorado coach Ron Simonson from 1985-88. He and his wife, LaShonda, were married in 1998.
THE BOBBY KENNEDY FILE
Hometown: Boulder, Colo.
High school: Boulder (Boulder, Colo.)
College: Northern Colorado (1989)
Years in coaching: 20
Wife: LaShonda
Coaching Assignments
2005-present: Assistant Recruiting Coordinator/Wide Receivers, Texas
2004: Assistant Coach/Wide Receivers, Texas
2002-03: Assistant Coach/Wide Receivers, Washington
2001: Assistant Coach/Running Backs, Arizona
1999-2000: Assistant Coach/Running Backs, Wake Forest
1995-98: Assistant Coach/Wide Receivers, Wake Forest
1993-94: Assistant Coach/Wide Receivers, Wyoming
1992: Graduate Assistant Coach, Penn State
1990-91: Graduate Assistant Coach, Illinois
College Bowl Experience
2010: Rose Bowl: BCS National Championship, Texas
2009: Fiesta Bowl, Texas
2007: Holiday Bowl, Texas
2006: Alamo Bowl, Texas
2006: Rose Bowl, Texas (National Champions)
2005: Rose Bowl, Texas
2002: Sun Bowl, Washington
1999: Aloha Bowl, Wake Forest
1993: Copper Bowl, Wyoming
1992: Blockbuster Bowl, Penn State
1991: John Hancock Bowl, Illinois
1990: Hall of Fame Bowl, Illinois
