2009 ACC Football Legends: Kevin Glover, Maryland

Oct. 13, 2009

As he cuts through the wind with miles of asphalt laying in his wake, former Maryland offensive line standout Kevin Glover takes a cruise through College Park, Md. on his motorcycle, back where it all began.

Glover is one of this year’s Dr Pepper Atlantic Coast Conference Football Championship Game Legends who will be honored at this year’s ACC Football Championship Game weekend. The Legends will appear at the ACC Coaches and Awards Luncheon at noon on Friday, Dec. 4, and will be honored at the “ACC Night of Legends” held at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay on Friday evening. They will also be recognized during ceremonies at Raymond James Stadium for the 5th Annual Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship, which kicks off at 8 p.m., Dec. 5 on ESPN.

Growing up in the Washington D.C. area, Glover got into football when he was 7 years old, but had to stop because the Boys Club team he played on had a weight limit of 125 pounds – by the time he was 12 he weighed 202 pounds. After that, he didn’t get to play organized football again until high school.

As a sophomore, he tried out for the football team and earned the starting tight end spot during the first practice of his high school career. Glover started every game at tight end but was so athletically gifted that he saw playing time at a variety of positions, including defensive end, fullback, quarterback and kicker. After his senior season, Glover was named defensive player of the year for the state of Maryland.

Glover’s decision to attend the University of Maryland had a lot to do with the fact that he grew up about 25 minutes from College Park, and when he was in junior high school, he would go to summer basketball camps on the campus.

“At the time, I wanted to be a basketball player. I got the chance to meet coach [Lefty] Driesell, coach [Jerry] Claiborne and some of the other great Maryland legends like John Lucas, Len Elmore, Brad Davis and those guys,” Glover said. “I really developed a passion for Maryland athletics at an early age.”

Once he went through the recruiting process he narrowed down his choices, and Maryland was at the top of the list. In the end, Glover admits that when it came down to it, the decision to stay close to home and try to turn the program around was an easy one to make.

In his freshman year, Glover was on the scout team as a defensive tackle. In the final practice of the 1981 season, former head football coach Claiborne and assistant Dick Hallam asked him to come over to offense for about 10 plays to see what he could do. After playing his entire freshman season on the defensive side of the ball, Glover questioned the change.

“I asked them ‘Why? I’m a defensive tackle,’ Glover said. “Being a very competitive guy, I looked at it and said I’m going to do everything illegal and then they’re going to move me back to defense.”

His plan backfired.

“I mean I was chasing people 15 to 20 yards downfield, tackling them, clipping people at the end of plays, diving over piles, holding. I really tried to do everything illegal so they would move me back, and I remember about the seventh or eighth play turning around and seeing Dick Hallam and coach Claiborne jumping up and down and saying ‘Alright we got something here, we like that!’”

Those 10 plays would turn out to be the some of the most important of Glover’s life.

After that season, Maryland went through a coaching change, and when new head coach Bobby Ross and his staff – which included current Maryland head coach and then-offensive line coach Ralph Friedgen – came in, Glover was tabbed as an offensive lineman where he became a starter during his sophomore year.

“Kevin was not only a great player, but a great leader too,” Ross said. “If you ever wanted to have a building block for a program, Kevin Glover would be that person. He was very, very special.”

Maryland improved almost immediately. The Terrapins turned around a 4-6-1 season in 1981 to finish the ’82 campaign as the 20th ranked team in the nation with an 8-4 overall record and a 5-1 mark in conference play.

“I didn’t know a thing about playing offensive line, but I figured that it was an opportunity to get on the field, and it was what our team needed at the time,” Glover said.

In his junior year (1983), Glover blocked for future NFL star Boomer Esiason and helped Maryland go a perfect 5-0 in conference play to win the school’s first ACC title since 1976.

Glover’s senior season (1984) was just as successful for the Terrapins as they repeated as ACC champions with another unblemished 5-0 mark in conference play and finished the year ranked No. 12 in the nation with a 9-3 overall mark.

One key win during that award-winning season came against Miami in the Orange Bowl. After trailing 31-0 at halftime, future NFL quarterback Frank Reich came into the game, and behind an offensive line anchored by Glover, staged what was at the time, the biggest comeback in NCAA. The Terrapins racked up 42 second-half points to come away with a 42-40 victory.

“That’s something that I and my former teammates will never forget. Let’s say it was one of the best halves I have ever been a part of,” Glover said jokingly. “That kind of became the nature of our team.”

Later that season the Terrapins faced Tennessee in the Sun Bowl and fell behind 21-0 at halftime before coming back to win, 28-27.

Glover’s contribution on the offensive line didn’t go unnoticed during his senior year, and he was named All-ACC First Team in 1984. After winning back-to-back ACC championships, Glover knows that he was very fortunate to be a part of something special.

“If you think back to the early-to-mid eighties, some of the teams we played like North Carolina, Clemson and Miami were some of the top teams in the country,” Glover said. “Coming from a team that was 4-6-1 when I was a true freshman, turning it around and winning three championships [two with Glover] in a row in the ‘80’s was a really special time for the Maryland program.”

After he was drafted by the NFL and his collegiate eligibility was up, Glover still had some unfinished business to take care of at Maryland. To graduate he still had to complete an internship, so he decided to go back to school.

“A lot of times it’s easy once you get in the League to say, ‘I don’t need a degree, I’m in the league,’” Glover said. “Something my parents always taught me was that regardless of what you’re doing at the moment, you’re going to need your degree in the future, so I definitely had to come back and finish up my internship and get my degree.”

In 1985, Glover was drafted in the second round of the NFL draft by the Detroit Lions and went on to play for 15 seasons – 13 with the Lions and two with Seattle. During his outstanding NFL career Glover earned three straight trips to the Pro Bowl and worked on an offensive line that paved the way for future NFL Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders.

While at Detroit, Glover was reunited with his former coach from Maryland. When Ross was named the head coach of the Lions, he said that he was having trouble getting Sanders to respond to some of his calls to meet him, so he reached out to Glover for help.

“I said, ‘Kevin, would you call him and ask him to please come over,’ and he said, ‘Consider it done,’” Ross said. “Barry came right over. Kevin had a way with people and he touched people in a special way. He had great respect from every player, not just a handful of guys, but the entire squad.”

After his professional playing career was over, Glover tried his hand as a sports agent for a few years, then returned to his alma mater to serve as the first Director of Character Education. Maryland created the new position specifically for Glover when Friedgen was concerned about outside influences on his program.

Glover’s primary duties include setting up programs and booking speakers for all of the sports at Maryland based on their specific needs, meeting with freshmen on the football team to teach them about things they may encounter on and off the field, and serve as the pro-liaison between agents and the university.

“It’s all geared towards helping our student-athletes make proper decisions in crucial points in their life,” Glover said. “This was definitely a way for me to give back to the program, be involved and help some of our student-athletes grow and make that transition from college to the real world.”

Outside of work Glover is a big family man and loves to spend time with his wife of 20 years, Cestaine, who he met when they were both freshmen at Maryland, and his three children Maya, Matthew and Zaria. Glover says that when he does get a few hours to himself, he tries to make time to take his Honda Gold Wing for a spin.

“I love riding motorcycles, that’s one of my passions,” Glover said. “I’ve been riding for a long time, so whenever there’s a really nice day and I can get a couple of hours to myself, I love jumping on my motorcycle and going for a ride and enjoying some music in the wind blowing.’