By Scott M. Johnson
Herald Writer
KIRKLAND — He was an all-conference linebacker, an all-New England wrestler and an accomplished lacrosse player while at Taft High School in Waterford, Conn., and yet when it came to the art of pass rushing, Patrick Kerney relied on another sport to spring him free of opposing blockers.
“You could get by with just the swim move,” the Seattle Seahawks’ new defensive end said Tuesday, recalling his high school days.
By the time he had walked on to the University of Virginia football team, Kerney had developed a bull-rush move but still favored natural ability over pass-rush fundamentals.
Now, after eight NFL seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, Kerney is considered one of the most fundamentally-sound pass rushers in the game. A willing listener and a late bloomer, Kerney has developed so many moves that opponents never seem to know what’s coming.
“It’s only been a couple days, but I’ve already seen three or four different moves,” said Seahawks right tackle Sean Locklear, who lines up against Kerney at training camp practices. “It’s good for me. I’m showing him different stuff, and he’s showing me different stuff.”
Kerney’s ascension from raw, clueless pass rusher to the player he has become was a slow and sometimes arduous process. But the Seahawks, who signed him to a six-year, $39.5 million contract in March, are pretty excited about the finished product.
“He has good pass-rush skills,” head coach Mike Holmrgen said earlier this week, “and we expect him to get to the quarterback a fair amount.”
To hear Kerney tell it, the transformation began just before his senior year at Virginia. The Cavaliers’ defensive ends coach resigned two weeks before training camp, and a man named Ty Smith came in from Baylor University to serve as the replacement.
The first time Smith met Kerney, the 6-foot-5 senior-to-be was coming out of the weight room wearing no shirt. His new position coach was immediately impressed by Kerney’s physique.
“I said: ‘Holy crap, I’d like to coach that guy,’” Smith recalled during a Tuesday phone conversation from his home in Charlottesville, Va. “Then they introduced me to him, and I said to myself: there’s no reason this guy couldn’t play.”
But after watching film of Kerney, Smith made another observation.
“He had just so many problems with his fundamentals that it negated his natural talents,” Smith said.
And so Smith brought Kerney into his office and laid it on the line. He told Kerney that he could continue to be the good player he was while making nine sacks over two seasons with the team, or he could go back to basics and turn himself into a great player who might one day be a first-round pick.
Kerney started working on a new aspect of his pass rushing at each practice, ignoring the fact that the offensive linemen he used to manhandle were now getting the better of him. He stayed the course all the way through fall practices, leading up to the first game of the season.
“He wasn’t worried about getting beat; he was just worried about his fundamentals,” said Smith, whose 22-year career as a defensive assistant included stints with 10 All-Americans and eight first-round draft picks. “The first game he was OK, the next game he got better, and by the third game it all came together for him. By the third game, he was the dominant player in the (Atlantic Coast Conference).”
Kerney went on to finish with a school-record 15 sacks that season, helping him become a first-round pick in the 1999 NFL draft.
But there was still plenty of learning to do. Kerney had a modest total of five sacks through his first two NFL seasons, yet he continued to improve through the tutelage of veteran teammates like Chuck Smith, Lester Archambeau and Travis Hall. They taught him the double-swipe, which involves using both hands to clear space between the pass rusher and opposing lineman, as well as more subtle tricks like head fakes.
Kerney learned to rely not on one move, but on counter moves as well as tactics that set up follow-up moves.
“If you watch the best pass rushers, the key is that second move,” he said. “You watch a Jason Taylor, guys like that, and it’s not just the first move but the transition. I compare it to a high school wrestler: how quick do you go from the takedown to the half-nelson?”
By Kerney’s third year, he registered a 12-sack season. During his fourth season, he played end in a 3-4 system that often saw him line up across from guards and added 10Z\x more sacks.
He went to the Pro Bowl after a 2004 season that saw him register 13 sacks for the Falcons.
The guy who used to rely on one move had developed quite a repertoire in terms of pass rushing.
“He’s pretty diverse,” said Seahawks assistant head coach Jim Mora, who coached Kerney for the past three years in Atlanta. “He does a lot of things very, very well. He’s not the flashiest guy in the world. He’s very strong against the run and he’s a good pass rusher. He’s just a solid all-around player.”
Mora credited Kerney’s relentlessness and work ethic as reasons for his gradual improvement.
“The two players I’ve been around who work harder than everybody else are Jerry Rice, whose workouts are legendary, and Pat, who’s in that same class in terms of work ethic,” Mora said.
Kerney had to work hard from early in his career. Recruited to Virginia as a lacrosse player, he walked on to the football team and battled his way up the depth chart. With the help of Ty Smith, as well as a few veteran teammates, he’s molded himself into that rare defensive lineman who can consistently provide pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
“Even if he doesn’t beat (his opponent) on the first move, because of his relentlessness and his work ethic, he ends up getting there,” Mora said. “I think fans will appreciate that.
“If they appreciate high-effort, fundamentally-sound, high-energy football players, they’ll appreciate Pat.”
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