MISSOULA — Montana head football coach Bobby Hauck announced Tuesday that Bobby Kennedy has joined the Grizzly staff as its new wide receiver coach. Hauck reunites with Kennedy after the two coached together at Washington in 2002.
Kennedy is a 30-plus-year mentor, has coached the position at the game’s highest levels, and was named the Football Scoop Wide Receiver Coach of the Year in 2008.
He brings a championship pedigree to Montana after helping guide Texas to a national title in 2005 under legendary head coach Mack Brown. He also helped lead the Longhorns back to the BCS championship game in 2009.
“Bobby Kennedy is a guy I’ve known for years. He’s considered one of the best wide receiver coaches in all of college football. It’s such a great benefit to our players to have him here and to be able to learn from him, and we’re very excited to have him on our staff this fall,” said Hauck.
Kennedy arrives in Missoula after spending the 2024 season at Rice, and lists stops at Stanford, Iowa, Colorado, Texas, Washington and more on his lengthy resume.
He’s coached in 17 bowl games, two BCS championship games, two Rose Bowls and one Fiesta Bowl. He coached among the nation’s elite for seven seasons in the Big XII, 11 combined seasons in the Pac-12, three seasons in the Big Ten and six in the ACC at Wake Forest after beginning his career in the Mountain West at Wyoming.
Kennedy has also produced multiple All-Americans and NFL draft picks including Reggie Williams (Washington); Quan Cosby, Jordan Shipley, Limas Sweed and Marquise Goodwin (Texas); Simi Fehoko and Arcega-Whiteside (Stanford); and Ryan Yarborough and Marcus Harris (Wyoming).
“I’m really excited to the join the staff here at Montana,” said Kennedy.
“I’ve known about the great football tradition at the University of Montana for almost my entire career, and to be back with Bobby Hauck is a real honor. We worked together at Washington and I know the success he’s had, so it’s just a real privilege to be coaching here.”
In one season at Rice, Kennedy helped Matt Sykes became one of the top receivers in the AAC, leading the Owls with 65 receptions and 782 yards.
Prior to his time in Houston, Kennedy coached for five seasons at Stanford (2018-22) and consistently helped lead Cardinal receivers to the NFL, including first-team All-Pac-12 honoree Simi Fehoko, Michael Wilson and more.
Fehoko, who went on to be selected in the fifth round by Dallas Cowboys in the 2021 NFL Draft, finished the year with 37 receptions for 584 yards and three touchdowns as a senior. His 584 yards led the Pac-12, as did his 97.3 yards per game. He capped off his Cardinal career with a single-game school-record 16 receptions of 230 yards and three touchdowns, helping lead Stanford to a come-from-behind, two-overtime win at UCLA.
Despite a young receiving group in 2019, Kennedy's group shined. Wilson, a sophomore, led the team with 56 catches for 672 yards and five touchdowns, while Fehoko finished with 24 catches for 566 yards and six scores. Fehoko's 23.58 yards per reception were the second-most in the country and set a new school record.
Additionally, junior WR Connor Wedington was second on the team with 51 catches for 506 yards and a touchdown, earning All-Pac-12 honorable mention for his prowess in kick returns, where he averaged 28.1 yards per return. Junior WR Osiris St. Brown had 27 catches for 263 yards and sophomore WR Brycen Tremayne, who earned a scholarship prior to the season, caught touchdowns on all three of his receptions.
Wedington was a member of the AFCA Allstate Good Works Team in 2019, given to 11 FBS players who exemplify outstanding community service.
In Kennedy's first season at Stanford, wide out JJ Arcega-Whiteside finished with the fifth-most receiving yards in a season in school history, tied a 14-year-old record with 14 touchdowns and was drafted in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Prior to his time at Stanford, Kennedy was the wide receivers coach at Iowa (2013-16), and he held the same position at Colorado (2011-12).
The Hawkeyes reached a bowl game in all four years of Kennedy’s tenure, including a perfect 12-0 regular-season record in 2015, when Iowa won the West Division of the Big Ten Conference, participated in the 2016 Rose Bowl and ended the season in the top 10 of the national rankings.
In his first season at Colorado, he helped mold senior Toney Clemons into one of the nation’s top receivers. Clemons was selected by Pittsburgh in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Prior to his time at CU, he spent seven seasons in Texas as wide receivers coach, the last six as the assistant recruiting coordinator. In his time with the Longhorns, Kennedy coached in two BCS national championship games, the 2005 Rose Bowl victory over USC when the Longhorns won the national championship and in 2009 against Alabama.
Kennedy’s first season in Austin came immediately after the Longhorns had lost three wide receivers to the NFL. He proceeded to build a receiving corps that included three Biletnikoff Award candidates, including two semifinalists and one finalist.
Jordan Shipley and Quan Crosby both surpassed 85 receptions and 1,000 yards in 2008, becoming the 11th duo in NCAA history to each surpass 1,000 yards. In 2009, Shipley was a consensus All-American, setting Texas records for catches (116) and receiving yards (1,485), while matching the school record for receiving touchdowns (13).
Kennedy joined the Texas program from Washington, where he tutored wide receiver Reggie Williams to two All-America campaigns before he became the ninth overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. Williams set the Huskies’ single-season marks for receptions (94) and receiving yards (1,454) in 2002. He finished his career as Washington’s all-time leading receiver with 238 receptions and 3,536 yards.
Kennedy coached running backs at Arizona in 2001 and had a six-year tenure at Wake Forest coaching the Demon Deacon running backs in 1999-2000 after four years (1995-98) as receivers coach.
Kennedy’s first full-time coaching position came at Wyoming, where he coached wide receivers in 1993-94. He tutored two extremely talented receivers in Ryan Yarborough, who was second in the NCAA in receptions in 1993, and Marcus Harris, who led the nation in receiving yards in 1994. Both Harris and Yarborough earned All-America honors.
Kennedy began his coaching career in the Big Ten Conference with two graduate assistant positions, coaching at Illinois (1990-91) and Penn State (1992). At Penn State, he worked with the tight ends and coached two future All-Americans in Troy Drayton and Kyle Brady.
Kennedy earned a political science degree from Northern Colorado in 1989, where he played quarterback for four seasons (1985-88). He began his coaching career at Boulder High School (Colo.), his alma mater, where he lettered in football and track.
Kennedy was born in Denver and grew up in Boulder. He is married to the former LaShonda Lawrence.
