Kerwin Bell

Biography

An accomplished player who worked his way from walk-on to All-American to the National Football League, and a 12-year veteran head coach who won a combined four conference championships and the 2018 NCAA Division II National Championship, Kerwin Bell was named the 14th head football coach at Western Carolina University by Director of Athletics Alex Gary on April 27, 2021. Bell enters 2024 with 110 career victories between his three coaching stops, eclipsing the 100-win benchmark in the 2022 season with a home win over VMI in Cullowhee. Originally from Mayo, Fla., Bell was a quarterback at the University of Florida from 1983-87 where he completed over 57 percent of his 953 pass attempts for 7,585 yards and 56 touchdowns. A former walk-on, Bell concluded his collegiate career as the SEC Player of the Year in 1984 after leading Florida to a 9-1-1 record and a conference championship, and both a first-team All-SEC selection and All-America honorable mention in 1985. He was selected in the seventh round of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, beginning his 13-year professional career that saw stops with NFL teams in Miami, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, and Indianapolis as well as stops in the Canadian Football League, where he passed for 19,538 yards and 101 touchdowns in nine seasons.