HOBART – Tom Kerr has received many honors and awards as a legendary football coach at Hobart High School, but now he has one actually named after him.
Kerr received the inaugural Tom Kerr Award on Aug. 2 from St. Bridget parish at its first-ever Tailgate Party hosted by the Stewardship Commission to kick off the 2025 football season.
“For a lifetime of witness to faith, family, team and community, St. Bridget Parish proudly recognizes the enduring legacy and countless contributions of Tom Kerr … May God bless you always!” reads the plaque that was presented to Kerr by Stewardship Commission chairman Dave Mullaney.
Another plaque, explained Mullaney, will be kept by the parish, which plans to add a new name each year as the new honor continues to be awarded.
Kerr, who is battling throat cancer, was able to express his appreciation to the church and his former colleagues and players who attended the event.
With Kerr, whose wife, Maryann, passed away in 2023, were two of his three daughters, Amy Burkhart and Sherry Zieba. Kerr’s third daughter is Cyndi Marconi.
“We all had the privilege of being part of the Hobart football program, as team managers, trainers and cheerleaders,” recalled Zieba. “It was very much a family environment.”
Burkhart said “every Friday night” was a highlight with her dad as the Brickie defensive coordinator, and the family enjoyed “all the fun of traveling to playoff games.”
Kerr began his connection to Hobart High as a student-athlete, excelling in football, basketball and baseball before graduating in 1957. He went on to play football at the University of Michigan, lettering in 1960 but turning down a fifth year to pursue his master’s degree and a coaching career.
From 1966 to 1997, he served as defensive coordinator at HHS, guiding the Brickies to more than 300 wins, four state championships (1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993), seven runner-up finishes, 16 regional titles and 19 consecutive sectional titles. He was inducted into the Indiana Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in Region 1 in 1996.
“But beyond the championships and titles, it was his consistency, toughness and heart that truly defined him,” noted a statement from his parish, which claims Kerr as “a devoted member of St. Bridget, “where his faith continues to guide and inspire his life.”
“Coach Kerr attends the 4 p.m. Mass each Saturday, week after week,” said Mullaney.
“You were a great coach, a great mentor, a great friend and a mediocre golfer,” joked Don Rogers, a longtime Brickie assistant who praised Kerr for his dedication. “He still comes to every practice he can, talks to the players and advises them and the coaches.”
Craig Buford, offensive coordinator for the Brickies from 1975 to 1999, called himself “lucky to work with coach Kerr,” while Bill Manolopoulos called himself “lucky enough to start for coach Kerr’s teams for four years as a field goal kicker” who went on to play at Indiana University and return to Hobart as a coach. “He was just a good coach.”
Aidan Kasch, a junior tight end/defensive end for the Brickies, came to the event with several other current players to honor Kerr. “He comes to practice, watches us and gives us feedback,” said Kasch. “His legacy is a lot to live up to, but we hope to win our conference title, get beyond the sectional and make a run for the state title.”
With the start of the high school football season set to begin Aug. 22 in Indiana, the Tailgate Party also included short remarks by head coaches from Andrean, Bishop Noll and Hobart teams.
Andrean coach Chris Skinner, beginning his 10th year leading the ‘59ers, lauded the values Kerr instilled in the Brickies program and spoke of teaching players off the field as well as on the gridiron.
Rick Good, new coach at BNI, revealed “Earn It!” as the Warriors motto this season as they work hard to improve a three-win season in 2024.
At Hobart High, coach Eric Schreiber Jr. begins his second year with a roster of 90 and said to Kerr that his team “hopes to make you proud every game.”
Mullaney said the Tailgate Party and new Tom Kerr Award is a new tradition established by the parish Stewardship Commission, which is working to create more faith community events. Next up is a Thursday, Aug. 21 program presented by two Augustinian priests on St. Augustine of Hippo, patron of Pope Leo XIV’s religious order, in the Hobart school hall at 6:30 p.m.
Caption: Honoring legendary Hobart High School football coach Tom Kerr (second from right) at the Tailgate Party hosted by St. Bridget in Hobart on Aug. 2 were several of his assistants from past Brickie teams, (from left) Don Rogers, Craig Buford and Charlie Boston. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
