MCLAMB: Bell Brings Solid Western Carolina Program To Raleigh
When Kerwin Bell had a decision to make regarding what college he would attend for football, he took the hard road and ultimately prevailed. It would become a theme for his entire football life.
After walking on with the Gators, Bell found his way to the field and led Florida to consecutive 9-1-1 seasons. Destiny was kind to Bell after his college eligibility expired.
His ensuing professional career led him to the Miami Dolphins and a stint with Don Shula as his head coach. He then signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but an injury forced him to miss the 1990 season. Another former Florida quarterback, Steve Spurrier, had just returned to Gainesville after a successful three-season run at Duke. Bell used the 1990 season to return to his alma mater and learn the Fun-N-Gun offense while serving as a graduate assistant.
“That is where I sort of fell in love with being a coach,” Bell said of his GA stint with Spurrier. “I had never thought about coaching up until that point. I fell in love with it. Steve Spurrier has a lot of influence on me as an offensive coordinator and a head coach.”
However, the itch to play football as a pro had not yet been scratched.
“I probably shouldn’t have, but I went back and played 10 more years professionally after I got healthy,” Bell said.
After playing under center for a year with the Orlando Thunder of the World Football League, Bell spent seven seasons in the Canadian Football League – with one more NFL stop along the way.
He spent the 1996 campaign with the Indianapolis Colts, where he saw his first and only action at that level in a contest against the Philadelphia Eagles. Bell came off the bench to complete all five of his pass attempts for 75 yards and a touchdown. He never appeared in an NFL game again, thus his 158.3 passer rating is among the best in history.
Holding a clipboard in the NFL and receiving extensive playing time in the CFL gave Bell a unique perspective and introduced him to a wide variety of coaches. He made a point to try to incorporate the best traits he saw into his then-fledgling coaching career, which started in earnest during his final playing season when he was co-offensive coordinator for the Toronto Argonauts.
“Lindy Infante was the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts,” Bell said. “Lindy was one of the sharpest coaches I have ever been around. Offensively, I do some things that he brought to the table.
“Don Matthews, I got a chance to play for him a few times in the CFL,” Bell said. Just the way he runs his team, the freedom he gives you, the confidence he gives you as a head football coach. I try to take that with me and some of those experiences.”
A state championship at Trinity High in Ocala, Florida in 2005 and a Division 2 national title at Valdosta State in 2018 sandwiched a wildly successful nine-season tenure as head coach at Jacksonville University. Bell was 93-42 overall in 12 seasons at the college level before arriving at Western Carolina.
[Bell] has done a great job,” NC State head coach Dave Doeren said. “They led the FCS offensively in seven categories and did a really good job. He is a vet. He has been around. He understands how to do it. They have recruited well. They have good size on the line of scrimmage and they have a lot of guys that can make plays in space.”
Now he is changing the culture in Cullowhee. The Catamounts have posted consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2016 and finished last season’s campaign ranked for the first time since 1983.
Winning the Southern Conference is the ultimate goal for Bell and the program. The SoCon matchups are Western Carolina’s meat and potatoes, but the Cats enjoy the dessert that comes with traveling to play major programs.
Expect Western Carolina to not deviate from its offensive philosophy regardless of the results. The Catamounts are encouraged by their emerging depth, growing confidence from playing P4 schools, and the ascension within the Southern Conference landscape.
“We are going to try to score and score as often as we can,” Bell said. “Some people talk about the time of possession, I don’t know if the time of possession has ever won a game or not, but I know that the scoreboard is where they put the points. That is what wins.
“We are going to try to play the pace of the game where we want it. A lot of times we go fast, sometimes we don’t – we back off – so it will be just about how we want to go in the game.
“We are a throw-first team. We want to eventually be a balanced football team, but we want to throw to set up the run. which is a little bit different than some people. We want to be efficient with the passing game and then gash you with the run.”
Bell and the Catamounts are coming to Raleigh to take their best shot.
“We have had a great fall camp and a great off-season, really,” Bell said. “It is a big game for us, in-state. I think it is always good for our kids to see if we can play at that level and how well we can compete against a really good football team. We are going to go there and give it our best shot and see what happens.”
