National Football League

2022 NFL Draft: Darian Kinnard finding motivation in his mom, former OL coach

Published Apr. 27, 2022 9:53 a.m. ET

By Laken Litman
FOX Sports College Football Writer

The story about Darian Kinnard and Dolly Parton goes like this. The former Kentucky offensive lineman’s aunt is first cousins with the country music legend. He has seen plenty of photos of them together, and they grew up on the same street in Tennessee, where Kinnard also spent much of his childhood.

However, Kinnard has not met Parton. He has even gone as far as to say that he (gasp!) is not a huge fan of her music.

While the latter might not change, maybe the former will once Kinnard hears his name called this weekend.

Kinnard is a 6-foot-5, 345-pound former All-American right tackle out of Kentucky and is expected to be selected in the second or third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He has a thick frame, with tattoos up and down his arms and a long, black mane that flows out of his helmet. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when the UK facilities were closed and athletes had to figure out workouts from home, Kinnard went in his mom’s backyard and flipped "big-ass" logs.

"He tore my backyard up," Kinnard’s mother, Mandy Headrick, said. "He was like Paul Bunyan."

"Big Boys Club": Darian Kinnard's journey to the NFL Draft

Former Kentucky Wildcat Darian Kinnard shares his journey to the NFL Draft, including overcoming stressful times and protecting his mother along the way.

Kinnard "wears his heart on his sleeve," said offensive line guru Duke Manyweather, who got to know him during this year’s "Big Boys Club," an X’s and O’s and film study workshop for draft hopefuls (9 p.m. ET Wednesday on FS1 and the FOX Sports app). Kinnard is an introvert who leads by example, an old soul who describes himself as "wise for his age" because he had to grow up fast.

Scouts and analysts like his personality, his work ethic and also how he gets off the line and mauls opponents. As a senior, he won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy in the SEC, awarded to the conference’s top blocker.

But while teams love Kinnard for his imposing and physical stature, the lineman has a soft side — mainly for animals, more specifically his dogs and "spiky baby" hedgehog named Pumpkin.

And also for his mother, who is his best friend.

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Kinnard arrived into this world too early. Headrick, then 19 and a freshman at Kent State, delivered him two months premature after she was diagnosed with chorioamnionitis, a serious condition in pregnant women in which the membranes that surround the fetus and the amniotic fluid are infected by bacteria. Kinnard was 5 pounds when he was born, which was actually fairly large for a preterm baby. He had to stay in the NICU for three weeks, but eventually Headrick took her healthy baby home.

Life was hectic for the mother and son duo, who act more like sister and brother — and look like it, too. They were on their own much of their lives and essentially grew up together. They moved around, sometimes into good neighborhoods and sometimes not. They started in Youngstown, Ohio, where Kinnard was born, and then went to Knoxville, Tennessee, where Kinnard grew up, and later moved back to the Cleveland area, where he graduated from the esteemed Saint Ignatius High School. They lived with Headrick’s grandparents for a bit when Kinnard was young, which was an opportunity for grandma, great-grandma and great-grandpa to help raise Kinnard.

Growing up in a house with Papaw, who served in the military, plus three generations of women taught Kinnard how to be tough, how to be a leader and, most importantly, how to treat and respect women.

"Big Boys Club": Geoff Schwartz takes the linemen for a pedicure

Geoff Schwartz treats Charles Cross, Trevor Penning, Evan Neal, Andrew Stueber and Darian Kinnard to a pedicure as part of the "Big Boys Club."

Headrick had been on her own since she was 16. Before having Kinnard, she was exposed to a destructive lifestyle involving drugs. She was a single mother; Kinnard’s biological father was abusive, and Headrick says any relationship would have been detrimental. "Darian would have been a different human being," she said.

Headrick wanted the best for her son. She worked full-time and went to school part-time so she could pay the rent while also working toward a degree that would set her family up for success later. She drove Darian across town to school, even if her job, then as a sales rep, was miles in the opposite direction. She picked up and moved cities if she found a better job opportunity. She did her homework on the sideline so she never missed a game.

"Darian has always had the best of everything, and I killed myself making sure he did," said Headrick, who admits that time was a blur because she didn’t sleep a lot. "We were constantly running back and forth, but if that meant he was on the best teams and went to the best schools, then that’s what we did."

The sacrifices paid off. Not only is Kinnard about to be drafted, but Headrick, a registered nurse, now has four degrees, including two masters.

"Darian, in a lot of ways, saved my life," she said. "He was the one thing that I lived for and I did well. Not like a lot of my friends, who I visit their grave sites. He is my best friend, and he knows I’m his best friend. I think all of the circumstances surrounding our situation have culminated [in preparing for the NFL Draft]. He is my motivation."

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The moving around, the instability and the lack of a father figure took their toll on Kinnard. He was introverted and often escaped reality through video games such as Pokemon and Call of Duty.

He was also aggressive and angry and got into fights. They were sometimes with a kid twice his age, but Kinnard, a natural-born protector, wasn’t about to let anybody say a word about his mother.

Eventually, he learned how to channel those feelings into football.

"With it just being my mom and me, I needed to be the man of the house," Kinnard said. "I think being [an offensive lineman] was the best fit for me as a protector. It sounds stupid, but the quarterback is like my mother, and [playing offensive line] is like protecting my family."

Said Geoff Schwartz, a former NFL offensive lineman and current FOX Sports analyst: "When guys have backgrounds like that, they’re playing for something more. They’re playing for livelihoods. Players like that have a different energy. He plays angry on the field. He’s a high-effort guy, tries to finish guys, tries to be a punisher on the field."

Kinnard was a four-star prospect with plenty of offers, but his recruitment didn’t last long after an official visit to Kentucky. Kinnard and Headrick both fell in love with former offensive line coach John Schlarman, who died in November 2020 after a two-year battle with cancer.

"Raising Darian without a father meant that I always needed to find the best — the best schools, the best teams and the best coaches so he would have mentors and teachers who could push him the hardest," Headrick said.

Schlarman became that father figure, and the coach’s family became Kinnard and Headrick’s family. They spent time together, hanging out and swimming with Schlarman’s wife and kids at their house. They bonded over their faith and love of football. Schlarman was the kind of man Headrick wanted her son to become.

Kinnard spoke at Schlarman’s funeral and thinks about him every day. He embroidered Schlarman's name and the number he wore while playing for the Wildcats inside the custom suit jacket he’ll wear Thursday during the NFL Draft.

"Everything he does, he does in honor and in respect for him," Headrick said of Schlarman.

Everything Kinnard does is also in honor of Headrick and the sacrifices she made for them to have a better life.

"Everything I do, I want to have her back," he said. "In life, nothing is given, and everything is earned. My mom showed me that by going from a high school dropout to now having four degrees and two masters. That made me who I am."

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Kinnard was a three-year starter at right tackle for Kentucky, but analysts say he will probably transition to guard in the NFL. He doesn’t pay too much attention to draft boards or what analysts say about him and his NFL future. He studies players such as Tyron Smith and Joe Thomas and even Ray Lewis — the latter for motivation. He’s excited by the idea of going up against defensive stars such as TJ Watt and Aaron Donald and relishes any opportunity to gain experience by learning from and playing against veterans.

No matter which organization selects Kinnard, one thing is for sure: Headrick will be with him every step of the way. After all, while Kinnard was in college, they lived together in a house two miles from the Kentucky campus to save on expenses. Headrick works for the VA now, and it’s easier for her to transfer to a new city.

"He deserves to have somebody in the stands at every game he plays who is there just for him," she said. "We’re a team. That’s how we raised up together. We had to move a couple times for my job for a work contract or for me to excel where my degrees were concerned. I did that so I could set myself up for when the time came, I could be where he needed me to be.

"Now it’s his turn to go through those steps and go through this process. It's my turn to move and adjust based on his needs."

Sounds like the makings of the next great Dolly Parton song.

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously covered college football, college basketball, the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team and the Olympics at Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. Her first book, written in partnership with Rizzoli and Sports Illustrated and titled "Strong Like a Woman," was published in spring 2022 marking the 50th anniversary of Title IX.