How Florida Gators star QB Kerwin Bell found calling as a coach
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More than 40 years have passed since former Florida Gators quarterback Kerwin Bell first burst on to the scene as “the throwin' Mayoan.”
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The 61-year-old Bell, entering his sixth season as head coach at Western Carolina, grew up on a tobacco farm in Mayo (pop 1,137), a one-stoplight town about 60 miles northwest from UF’s campus.
“In fourth grade my mom would get on me about my cursive writing," Bell said. "I said 'Well mom, I’m going to play professional football, major college football,' never thinking that would happen. No one from Mayo had played college football, I don’t think, at that point. But just to have all that happen in your life, was pretty amazing.”
Donning an orange jersey and a motorcycle cop mustache, Bell worked his way up from walk-on to the starter at quarterback in 1984, leading Florida football to a 9-1-1 record and an SEC championship that was stripped away due to NCAA sanctions incurred under coach Charley Pell, who was fired midseson. Bell passed for 1,614 yards with 16 TDs to 7 interceptions to earn SEC Player of the Year honors.
"He just had it," said Mark McGriff, Bell's former teammate at tight end for the Gators from 1984-88. "Nobody knows how to explain it, but when you were in the huddle with him, and he said 'c'mon guys you've got to do better' you just did it and you didn't ask questions ... it was just his demeanor and the way he would take control."
Florida went 9-1-1 again in 1985 but was ineligible for postseason as the program continued its coaching transition from Pell to Galen Hall. The scholarship reductions due to NCAA sanctions caught up to UF the next two seasons, as Florida went 6-5 in 1986 and 6-6 in 1987. Bell battled through injuries but remained the starting quarterback for all four years.
Bell looks back on his UF career with pride and reverence for his teammates, a collection of future NFL talent that included receiver Ricky Nattiel, running backs Neal Anderson, John L Williams and Lorenzo Hampton and offensive tackle Lomas Brown.
“We went through a lot of tough times and we didn’t fold,” Bell said. “We came closer together and fought harder and fought for the university and we found a way to keep it going, you know throughout the 80s and sort of handed it over to Steve Spurrier in the 1990s to take it to another level.”
How comeback win cemented Florida football QB Kerwin Bell's reputation for toughness
An example of Bell's toughness came on November 1, 1986, when he rallied UF to an 18-point comeback in the fourth quarter to upset No. 5 Auburn 18-17. Bell connected with Nattiel on a TD pass with 36 seconds left to cut Auburn's lead to 17-16, then scrambled for a two-yard run on the two-point conversion for the go-ahead score.
It almost didn't happen. Bell had suffered a torn MCL after UF started the season 1-4 and was expected to sit out the remainder of the season.
"I was just focused on what I wanted to do, which was to get back for the Auburn game," Bell said. "We had a few smaller opponents up until then the open week and I said I could get back."
Bell limped through practice during the week, in obvious pain. Hall made the call not to start Bell but opted to dress him in case of emergency. That emergency came when UF fell behind 17-0 and turned the ball over six times.
"They just dominated us the first quarter and a half," Bell said.
Bell wasn't even sure he wanted to go into the game after watching his replacement, starting quarterback Rodney Brewer, take so many hits. But when summoned into the game by Hall in the second quarter, Bell put on his helmet and took the field to lead the memorable comeback.
"You were so worried about letting Kerwin down, you did what you needed to," McGriff said.
Bell credited the defense for keeping UF in the game.
"We had six turnovers I think in the first quarter and a half, and we only gave up 14 points, so, it was just a great team victory," Bell said. "It was just great to be able to make ... that’s one of those you dream about growing up as a kid, a few seconds on the clock, you find a way to win a game."
How Kerwin Bell transitioned from player to coach
If not for an injury during a pickup basketball game, Bell may have never become a coach.
Bell was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round of the 1988 NFL draft. He was cut and landed on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad a year later. But after suffering a torn ACL while playing basketball, Bell's contract was voided by the Bucs, leaving him looking for work during the 1990 season. Spurrier had just been hired as UF's coach and gave Bell a shot as a grad assistant.
"I found out something I wanted to do the rest of my life and that was have influence on young men the way coach Spurrier did as a young coach," Bell said. "And then I just saw almost perfection on the field. The way he coached quarterbacks, the way he coached receivers, the offense, how fluid it was."
Bell played 10 more years of pro football, mostly in the CFL, before starting his coaching career in 2002 at Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala. He then broke into college coaching at the I-AA level with Jacksonville University, leading the program to a 66-35 record and three conference titles in nine seasons.
From there, it was on to Division II Valdosta State, where Bell went 27-7 in three seasons, guiding VSU to a 14-0 record and Division II national title in 2018.
"You could see all those markings of him as a competitor as a player, so you knew what he was going to do as a coach," McGriff said.
Bell finally broke through coaching at the FBS level, but it would end up being short stay — Bell was offensive coordinator at USF under Charlie Strong during the 2019 season. But after the Bulls went 4-8 in 2019, Strong and his entire staff, including Bell, were fired. Less than two years later, Bell landed at Western Carolina, where he's led the FCS school to four straight winning seasons and a 31-26 record.
In 2012, Bell nearly returned to his alma mater as offensive coordinator. Bell interviewed for the Florida OC job, but former UF coach Will Muschamp opted to hire Brent Pease, who was fired two years later. Bell would have loved the shot to call plays in the SEC, but the path of being the head coach for nearly his entire 24-year career has afforded some advantages.
"What that did was give me a chance to see my kids play sports," Bell said. "Like, I could move around practice and go see my kid play a JV game or a varsity football game sometimes more than if you’re with a guy who doesn’t give you that opportunity."
Ask Bell why more power four opportunities haven't come his way and he will tell you he's been loyal to fault.
"When I took a job, I wanted to see it through, and I said when I was going to come and build a program, I wasn’t really thinking about anything else until I built that program," Bell said.
Still, McGriff wonders how his former teammate would have done coaching higher-level athletes with better facilities.
"I think he has a lot of the tendencies that Steve (Spurrier) has," McGriff said. "Let's step on them and then when they are down let's step on them twice and then when we get the ball back, let's score again."
A gift passed from father to son
Bell's offenses at Jacksonville, Valdosta State and Western Carolina have all led the nation in offense at least once in their respective classifications. It's what Bell describes as a "pro-spread offense" that combines spread offense principles with a pro passing game. Lindy Infante, a former Florida Gators fullback who coached Bell with the Indianapolis Colts from 1996-97, served as an influence for the offensive scheme.
"It’s an offense as good as anybody’s I believe because a lot of spread people, they will be up tempo, they go fast, they motion everywhere, to get their guys the ball," Bell said. "But when you ask them to drop back and be a professional passing team, they can’t do it,"
It also helped spur the career path for Bell's oldest son, Kade. After playing quarterback for his dad at Jacksonville, Kade Bell helped his dad call plays as a grad assistant at Valdosta State. With Kade calling plays on first and second down and Kerwin calling plays on third down and in the red zone, Valdosta State led Division II with 52 points and 523.9 yards per game in its 2018 national title season.
Kade Bell continued his play calling success under his dad at Western Carolina. In 2023, as WCU's offensive coordinator, the younger Bell led the Catamounts to the top offense in FCS, averaging 504.1 yards per game.
"Believe me he is not afraid," Bell said. "That’s the one thing, any coach that talks to you they will tell you, he’ll throw it on the minus one, he’ll throw it on the plus one, he don’t care. If it’s the right call and that’s what I’ve taught him, always stay ahead of the defense."
That convinced Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi to hire Kade Bell as his new offensive coordinator. Pittsburgh's passing offenses have ranked fourth and fifth in the ACC in each of Kade Bell's first two seasons. True freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel emerged at Pitt under Kade Bell in 2025, passing for 2,354 yards and 16 TDs
"He's done a great job and I’m proud of him," Kerwin Bell said. "He’s handled himself extremely well and Narduzzi has been great with him. Hopefully they will have another great year.”
Kerwin Bell building a program at WCU
Bell is in the process of building a program he hopes will break through and win a SoCon Conference title after finishing second in each of the last two years.
Based in Cullowhee, North Carolina, not far from the Smoky Mountains, Bell sells the scenic, small-town environment to players from Atlanta and Florida who were overlooked by bigger schools. One of Bell's most recent additions from the Sunshine State is safety Caleb Young Jr., a former Buchholz and Gainesville High standout.
"We’ve got 50 guys from the state of Florida, a lot of them out of South Florida, Miami area and they stay here," Bell said. "I don’t recruit the guy who wants to be in the night club all night and he just plays football because he’s good at it, I recruit the guy that loves football because of football, and he wants to go somewhere where there aren’t any distractions and he can help his family, hopefully make it to the NFL."
Bell also has a type when it comes to recruiting quarterbacks. It's not based on measurables.
"The first characteristic I’m looking for, is a Hall of Fame point guard, a guy who can distribute the ball, a guy who can go through his progressions, a guy who can do those things first," Bell said. "If he can’t do that and be an efficient quarterback, I don’t care if he’s 6-5 or whatever, he’s not going to play for me because he’s going to be inconsistent, oh, he will make one or two throws that maybe my guy can’t throw but I want a guy 68 to 70 times he’s going to make the right play,"
It's been a blessed football life that Bell doesn't take for granted. He's still married to his college sweetheart, Cosette, who he grew up with in Mayo. She was a majorette in UF's band. Kade is the oldest of the couple's three children, which includes another son, Kolton and a daughter, Kenzley.
"The one thing that’s helped me in my life is I’ve always been a positive person," Bell said. "You know I’ve never looked at negative things and said we can’t get things done, I’ve just looked at the positives and say this is what we can do to make us successful.”
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: How Florida Gators star QB Kerwin Bell found calling as a coach