Western Carolina special teams coordinator during the 2021 season, Kerry Webb has reunited with Catamount head coach Kerwin Bell ahead of the 2025 season, returning to WCU's program after spending two seasons at Samford and one in Blacksburg, Va., at Virginia Tech.
In his first season at Samford in 2023, the Webb-led Bulldog special teams ranked second in the Southern Conference in return yards. Last fall, the Bulldogs led the SoCon in kickoff return average at 25.2 yards per game with one return for a touchdown. Samford was also third in the league in punt returns, while ranking second in punts downed inside the opposition's 20-yard line, with 24 coming on the team's 70 punts.
Samford's DJ Rias finished 2024 ranked second in the SoCon with an average of 26.6 yards per return, including a 100-yard return for a touchdown late in the second quarter against Chattanooga. Jaylon Barden ranked fourth in the SoCon with 16 punt returns in 2024
Webb spent the 2022 season as a special-teams analyst at Virginia Tech under head coach Brent Pry, who was also a former Catamount assistant coach for four seasons from 1998 through 2021. While in Blacksburg, the Hokies ranked fourth nationally in punt return defense. The Virginia Tech special teams unit held opponents to 32 return yards on 74 punts and set a single-game program record with 188 punt return yards against Georgia Tech.
In his lone season previously on the sidelines in Cullowhee in 2021, Webb was the special-teams coordinator and nickelbacks coach. Under his guidance, WCU ranked in the top 30 nationally in punt and kickoff return average, while placekicker Richard McCollum, who finished second in program history in scoring, led the country in field goal percentage.
Webb first came to Cullowhee after a couple of coaching stints at Valdosta State, starting as a graduate assistant in the mid-2000s before returning as the special teams coordinator and running backs coach from 2017-20. He was the program's recruiting coordinator from 2019-2021 and was named interim head coach in January 2019 during VSU's coaching search.
Webb was on staff with Bell for Valdosta State's 2018 undefeated season, winning the NCAA Division II National Championship. In 2019, VSU also won the Gulf South Conference title as it went 10-0 overall through the regular season and 8-0 in conference play. VSU finished the season 10-1 as it earned a berth in the NCAA Second Round.
Under Webb's guidance, 2018 VSU freshmen running back Jamar Thompkins (first-team) and Seth McGill (second-team) both garnered All-Gulf South Conference honors. In addition, kicker Andrew Gray became the VSU Blazer all-time leading scorer while also being voted second-team All-Gulf South Conference. In 2019, Thompkins and McGill earned first-team all-conference honors, while kicker Fernando Ramirez earned second-team all-league accolades.
Before returning to Valdosta in 2017, Webb took a position at Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tenn., where he spent one year as the associate head coach and special teams coordinator while also coaching the wide receivers. Webb's direction helped produce first-team All-South Atlantic Conference honors for return specialist Jay Boyd in 2016.
On the back end of his time with the Blazers as a graduate assistant in the mid-2000s, Webb transitioned into his fi rst full-time coaching position as a running backs coach and special teams coordinator at Jacksonville University.
Notable accomplishments throughout Webb's career include the guidance of the Jacksonville running backs in 2010, which led the Dolphin offense to a No. 1 ranking in the country. The squad nearly repeated the feat in 2013 with a No. 5 ranking, and the Dolphins ranked 3rd nationally in overall scoring during that same season. Webb also coached Jacksonville University's career all-time leading rusher Rudell Small and second all-time leading rusher Ulysses Bryant. He additionally coached the school's career all-time leader in kickoff return yards and average per return, Colby Walden.
A 2004 graduate of the University of Florida with a bachelor of arts degree in sociology, Webb earned his Master's degree in Education Health and Physical Education from Valdosta State in 2006.
