ATHENS – Virginia natives Brian Kennedy and Thomas Mayo first formed their dynamic duo in their hometown’s youth league, joining forces on the Reston Seahawks at the age of 9.
Kennedy and Mayo spent the next five years together, winning a couple of league titles under the tutelage of Kennedy’s father.
“They introduced me to football, and I fell in love with it,” Mayo said. “We formed a bond. We are like family.”
So much so, in fact, that Kennedy and Mayo call each other “cousin,” which created some confusion during an interview.
Asked how he and Kennedy are related, Mayo clarified.
“We aren’t blood cousins,” he said with a laugh. “We are just so close we say we are cousins. We grew up together. We hang out together. We do everything together. We might as well be cousins. We are more like brothers.”
Kennedy and Mayo remained together during their freshman year at South Lakes High School. The pair was separated when Kennedy and his family moved to Centreville, where he attended Westfield High School.
“I tried to get him to come with me,” said Kennedy, who helped the Bulldogs win a Class AAA, Division 6 state title in 2007. “But he wanted to stay there with his friends and make a name for himself.”
Mayo did exactly that, attracting interest from Division II programs. One of those was West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member Concord University, which invited him to Athens for a campus visit.
Mayo’s mother suggested Kennedy accompany him. Both made the recruiting trip and both left with scholarship offers from Greg Quick, the Mountain Lions’ former coach.
It couldn’t have worked out better for Kennedy and Mayo, who wanted to attend the same school. It also didn’t hurt that former Concord cornerback and fellow Reston native Ola Adams highly recommended the Mountain Lions.
Kennedy and Mayo eventually accepted Quick’s offer.
“We were excited to come up here and see what we could do together,” Mayo said.
Unfortunately for the talented tandem, it was a fleeting feeling.
Concord suffered through a winless season in 2008, when Kennedy and Mayo were true freshmen. Kennedy (133 carries for 605 yards and one touchdown) and Mayo (43 catches for 336 yards and three scores) led the Mountain Lions in rushing and receiving that year, but their production meant little to them because the result was always the same.
“We were disappointed and frustrated,” Mayo said. “We were thinking about transferring. It’s hard to go 0-11. It was especially hard on Brian because he came from a high school that won states.”
Quick resigned, and Concord hired Mike Kellar to replace him.
“One of the first things we did as a coaching staff was watch the 2008 game film,” said Kellar, who miraculously finished his debut season with a 6-5 overall record and 4-4 conference mark in 2009. “We saw a lot of bad stuff, but two of the bright spots were Brian at running back and Thomas at wide receiver.
“We didn’t have a lot of anything when I got here, but we had a couple of guys who were special, and Brian and Thomas were obviously two of them. I was fortunate in that regard.”
Kellar used Kennedy and Mayo accordingly last year, when the Mountain Lions increased their offensive production from 79.8 rushing yards, 106.1 passing yards, 185.9 total yards and 11.2 points per game in 2008 to 227 rushing yards, 234 passing yards, 461 total yards and 33.2 points per game in 2009.
“When we hired Coach Kellar, it just opened up things for us,” Mayo said. “It made us better players and gave us more confidence. We got a better coaching staff and a better offensive system, and then we just took advantage of the opportunities they gave us.”
Mayo finished with 72 catches for 1,368 yards and 11 touchdowns, leading the nation in receiving with 124.4 yards per game. Kennedy finished with 219 carries for 1,505 yards and 17 touchdowns, leading the conference in rushing with 136.8 yards per game.
Kellar also got Kennedy more involved in the passing game. Kennedy had 27 catches for 228 yards and three touchdowns in 2009 compared to 12 catches for 26 yards and no scores in 2008.
“It’s amazing,” said Kennedy, a special teams star who has returned 56 kickoffs for 1,211 yards in his two-year college career. “I never thought we would both do this well.”
In addition to their teammates, specifically the Mountain Lions’ quarterbacks and offensive linemen, Kennedy and Mayo credit each other for their success.
“We feed off each other,” said Mayo, who set two of the Mountain Lions’ single-game receiving records with 16 catches for 253 yards in a 52-45 overtime victory over Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) University on Sept. 5, 2009. “Defenses can’t stop both of us. They have to pick their poison.”
“If they load the box to stop me, he kills them outside,” said Kennedy, who owns the Mountain Lions’ single-game rushing record with 296 yards in a 52-34 victory over Seton Hill (Pa.) University on Oct. 17, 2009. “If they use double coverage to stop him, I kill them inside. We make sure they can’t take both of us out of the game.”
Kennedy and Mayo, both 20-year-old juniors, are happy to have each other on and off the field.
“Coming here with him means a lot to me,” Mayo said. “We push each other every day. Our goals and dreams are to go to the next level, whether it is the NFL or the CFL. We just want to go out there and get better every day. Classes come with it, too. We want to get good grades and graduate.”
“It’s great,” Kennedy added. “Anytime something goes wrong, we confide in each other and help each other.”
Concord returns 18 of 22 starters from last season, with nine each on offense and defense.
Notable returnees on offense include quarterback Zack Grossi, tight end Rashid Baker, wide receiver Nathan Tanner, left guard Bryan Roof, center Brandon Link, right guard Davell Smith and right tackle Mitch Hairston.
Notable returnees on defense include left end Josh Arrington, tackle Thomas Hearons, linebacker Joe Greenway, linebacker Tony Keiling, cornerback R.J. Anderson, left safety Justin Williams, free safety Cameron Tarver, right safety Jeff Mehlhaff and cornerback Justin McKissick.
“We will have seven new starters on defense,” Kellar said. “Some guys started a year ago by default. I hate to say that publicly, but we played some guys we didn’t want to because we had to. Hopefully, we have an upgrade in playing ability with the guys who have come in this year or were redshirts last year.”
Concord will host Southern Virginia University on Aug. 26 at 6 p.m. at Callaghan Stadium in the teams’ season opener.
The Mountain Lions lead the series 1-0 after a 63-10 win last year.