Kush contemporary celebrates 100-year milestone
The congregation at the 10 a.m. service at Arizona Community Church gathered to congratulate Larry Kentera on his 100th birthday while some shared their fondest memories from their own heydays.
Included in that pool of friends and church members was former ASU linebacker Drew Metcalf, who still refers to Kentera as “Coach.”
“Coach,” Metcalf said with a joyous laugh and handshake — “This guy, I’ll tell you what, the
number of players that played for him – how many went pro? He’s the man.”
Metcalf played for ASU from 1986-1990 and was an integral piece in the Sun Devils’ defense following the program’s appearance in the Rose Bowl. His father, Butch, was on
the coaching staff with Kentera under the legendary Frank Kush during the 1970s.
Kentera, who reached the 100-year milestone on April 17, received a shoutout from
ACC Pastor Bill Meiter, and the congregation sang happy birthday. Kentera is the third
member of ACC to reach the 100-year mark in 2024, says Meiter. For reference, that’s older than the implementation of the United States numbered highway system (1926); Amelia Earhart crossing the Pacific (1928); the Empire State Building opening (1932); World War II (1939); and the fast food joint McDonalds (1940).
“The guys keep asking me, so I had to come up with something,” Kentera said jokingly. “I said, ‘just keep moving.’ We’re all ‘joints.’” And moving is what Kentera did through his career, whether it was coaching in Tempe, Flagstaff or in Europe. Tempe roots were planted
during his time at ASU, where he played from 1947-1949, then graduated and started his
coaching career.
From 1967-1970, Kentera was an assistant under Kush before assuming the defensive
coordinator role from 1971- 1978. Leaving ASU in 1984, Kentera took on an assistant
coaching position at Northern Arizona University, and in 1985 he became head coach of the Lumberjacks. While his roots were planted in Tempe, the branches that his coaching tree would grow while in Flagstaff included four NFL coaches: Bill Callahan, who coached the Oakland Raiders; Brad Childress who coached the Minnesota Vikings; Marty Morhinweg who coached the Detroit Lions; and current Kansas City coach Andy Reid.
At NAU, Callahan and Reid coached the offensive line, Brad Childress was the offensive
coordinator and Morhinwig was the running backs’ coach. “They were really good
coaches,” he said. “You could tell that they were going to end up somewhere because of their [coaching] abilities. They were good at coaching and good at relationships with the players – just good people.”
Kentera recalled Reid, who recently won back-to-back Super Bowls with the Chiefs,
phoned him before Super Bowl LVIII. “We just talked about the games and few things like that. He says, ‘Hey, you got a big day coming up.’ He was wanting to come to my birthday party, but he has the NFL draft.”
Kentera says ASU ha a party awaiting him in Mountain America Stadium, with players
past and present, and from ASU and NAU, to celebrate the occasion. He looks forward to “being associated with some of the coaches that I had on my staff that went on to do great things.”
“Over here at ASU, I had 13 years as defensive coordinator – great players, great coaches. It’s great relationships you had with the coaches and players and all. Those are the things (I) have the memories of,” he said.
Kentera has had quite the coaching career and quite the life, and he credits his longevity to staying active and keeping his mind sharp. His storied coaching career, of course, played a big role.
