The tiny town of Blanchard, Oklahoma (~7,700 population) has produced a person that has had such a positive influence on American Football in Europe that the story must be told. Billy (BD) Kennedy has coached for the Arlanda Jets a contender in the Swedish Super Series, the highest division in Sweden since 2005. BD has been coaching for 24 years throughout the United States and most recently in Sweden after finishing his playing career at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. Before coaching for the Jets, BD coached for the Carlstad Crusaders in Karlstad, Sweden. The Crusader teams that he coached reached 3 Super Series finals as well as winning the 2003 EFAF Cup championship over the Innsbruck Raiders after a 24+ hour bus ride one way to Austria. On top of these club roles, he has held various positions with the junior and senior Swedish national teams over the years. Before coming to Sweden Coach Kennedy was a Graduate Assistant at Baylor University for two seasons, OL coach at Hutchinsson Community College for 2 seasons, and OL coach at Washburn University for 11 seasons.The Jets this season had a tough onset, but after a resilient second half of the season the Jets finished by winning their final 3 games, outscoring their opponents 58-29. BD mentioned that, "It was kind of fun to see some things come together that Rik (co-coach Rik Parker) and I have been working on since the start of the season." BD believes in building a program from the bottom up, proved by their junior team finishing atop the league during the regular season with a 9-1 record. In a recent interview he commented about how the future is with the youth when desiring to build a long lasting football program.
As a result of the Jets' strong finish in the senior season they have re-qualified to compete in the Super Series once again in 2012, an opportunity for this young team to continue to build a program that rivals the top clubs in Sweden. When asked about the turnaround BD said, "The biggest difference is that we executed the things we wanted to do better. Coach Parker and I work on the fundamentals football on a continual basis. The better we get at the fundamentals, the better we will play. The better we play, the better chance we have to win." His insight and focus made a big difference in his teams big second half.
On top of his coaching duties, BD runs a football class in Arlanda that offers its students the opportunity to dive into theory and practice of football, further developing the sport he loves in Sweden. His dedication and level of involvement rivals that of any other ambassador of the game in Europe and that should be honored.
I recently had the pleasure to ask a few of BD's former players and fellow coaches about their impression of BD and the results were entertaining to say the least proving that BD has had an ability to provide laughter and enjoyment in the lives of many. A former player said, "I've played a lot of sports and have never been around a coach that inspired me more than BD. There is no question about that BD is the best coach I have ever played for. No coach has ever made me feel more special as a person and as a player." I've gathered that BD is somewhat of a story teller from asking about him. One individual said, "Few people have made me laugh like BD. He is a really funny guy to be around and he has tons of stories to tell." Another said, "He has an uncanny ability to remember details and names from things that have happened to him at any age."
I was told by Rikard Borg who played for and coached with BD throughout their careers that BD was such a knowledgeable individual, especially regarding offensive football. He said that one season BD helped play on the developmental team for the Crusaders and that from the center position would stand up and call audibles based on the defense. Rik Parker who coaches with BD in Arlanda also said that, "I would matchup BD with anyone armed with a marker and whiteboard in a battle of O-Line scheming." Other comments that stood out about BD are, "very passionate, very knowledgeable, has an ability to encourage and get people involved, great family man, very sincere and genuine, makes players feel needed, haven’t seen same qualities with other Swedish coaches, the best coach I’ve played for, there is nothing phony about BD Kennedy." The comments were so positive that I really got a sense of how much influence this one person has made while here in Europe.BD keeps a blog that talks some about living and coaching in Sweden, and one of his former players has said that, "I am trying to follow his blog, which isn't too hard since he is updating it once every millennium. But when there is a new post up there his character shines through and it is really funny to read the stuff he writes. If you have the time, enjoy getting a glimpse into how this remarkable coach has infiltrated a deserving group of football players' lives. The Lineman's Dream.
When prompted about what is in the future for this ambassador, BD stated that, "the future for me is to use my job with the NIU program in American football here, to develop the best players I can. Also, most importantly it holds the birth of my wife & my second child who is due January 31st...and that is the most important thing!! it will also hold a quick trip home to see the family here in a few weeks and I will be attending the OU vs Texas game on October 8 in Dallas Texas. Will be the first time I see it live...so I have to say BOOMER SOONER!!!
I'll leave this wonderful story with one of the numerous entertaining stories that can be told about BD Kennedy. Kalle Flognman a former player of BD's with the Carlstad Crusaders talked about one experience with BD, "Everyone who played for the Carlstad Crusaders during the 2003 season remembers a specific halftime when we played against the Stockholm Mean Machines. I don't remember the exact score at halftime, but I remember that our defense had jumped offsides three times on short yardage situations which allowed Stockholm to score a touchdown late in the first half. We had separate locker rooms for our offense and defense and BD told the offense to go to our locker room and he followed to defense into theirs. Everyone knew that BD would explode in the defense's locker room. And boy...did he begin. Even though there are two showers, a sauna, and two doors that separate our locker rooms it was like BD was in our locker room yelling and it all ended with a huge BANG which didn't sound like a door slamming. It wasn't, it was a massage table that had gone up to the roof and back down. A minute later BD stepped into the offense locker room and I wasn't sure if he was gonna yell at us too. But his first line was "Good job offense." We stepped out on the field in 2nd half, the defense shut Stockholm down and we won the game 22-9."Congratulations to Coach Kennedy, a great coach and a great man, for the vast influence he has made in the lives of countless individuals both on and off the field.
