Former Notre Dame DE Kerry Neal Finds His Path Through Helping Others
This wasn’t the exact plan Kerry Neal had set out for himself, but he’s embraced it wholeheartedly.
The former Notre Dame defensive lineman once envisioned a long NFL career. He signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent out of college, but a series of injuries cut his pro career short before it ever really had a chance to get going.
Football was always his dream. Helping others to chase that dream for themselves was not.
“Did I ever think I was going to be a trainer? No,” Neal told Irish Sports Daily.
“I thought I was going to go to Notre Dame, go three and out. That was my plan. God had other plans for me.”
Those plans eventually became WIN Performance.
Founded in 2019, the Illinois-based training business has grown into a hub for prospects from youth players to NFL veterans. Neal has carved out a reputation for developing defensive linemen and linebackers, blending performance science with detailed technical instruction.
What began as a pivot has turned into purpose.
“It’s kind of surreal,” said Neal, who began training athletes at EFT Sports Performance even before his own playing career was finished.
“I had four guys who I trained playing in the Super Bowl. And when I say four guys, I don’t mean guys I trained once or twice.”
Among them were former Notre Dame defensive back Julian Love, whom Neal has trained since high school and throughout his college and NFL careers and former Irish defensive tackle Rylie Mills, whom Neal began working with in middle school.
“Every Thursday night before his game in high school, we used to sit down and watch film,” Neal said of Mills. “Break down his opponents. That’s what it’s about.”
For Neal, his impact goes beyond stopwatch times and vertical jumps. He understands the weight of what his clients are chasing because he once chased it himself.
A mainstay along the defensive front from 2007 through 2010, Neal appeared in all 50 games during his Notre Dame career and made 31 starts.
He totaled 112 tackles, including 11 tackles for a loss and seven sacks, while adding an interception, five pass breakups, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. As a senior in 2010, he started 12 games and posted a career-high 42 tackles.
But now he’s focused on helping others make an impact.
“This is my NFL,” Neal said. “The same amount of effort and time they put into their craft to be the best players, I do the same thing to be the best coach I can possibly be for those guys.”
Neal grew up in Bunn, N.C., becoming a high school All-American before signing with the Irish. At the time, performance-based skill training was limited to say the least.
“It didn’t exist when I was coming up,” he said. “You went to team practice and you went home. Maybe you watched some film on a VHS tape. That was it.”
The science has evolved. Speed development, pass-rush sequencing, hand usage and counter moves are taught to high-schoolers and youth players.
“These guys are starting earlier,” Neal said. “They’re understanding the sweet science behind the game, the technique, the small details that set you apart.”
That detail-oriented approach has made him a trusted voice not just in development, but in evaluation.
College coaches regularly call to ask about prospects because they know he’ll shoot them straight.
“I’m always going to be brutally honest,” said Neal. “If you are a good fit and I think you can play at that level, I’ll put your name in the hat. If not, we’re going to find a school that fits.”
His reputation rests on that honesty.
“Your word is everything,” Neal said. “That’s all we have.”
That same standard has shaped players like top 2027 Notre Dame defensive line targets Brayden Parks and David Folorunsho.
Neal began training Parks in eighth grade and continues to work with the Chicago defensive tackle weekly. He describes Parks as technically advanced beyond most of his peers, with a ceiling tied to interior pass-rush ability.
“There is an art to pass rushing,” Neal said. “It’s a very skilled position. That’s what wins a lot of ball games.”
With Folorunsho, the conversation was different.
Neal challenged him.
“I told him, ‘I love you as a kid, but what you’re saying and the way you’re working don’t match,’” Neal said. “There’s a standard.”
The push worked. Folorunsho’s recruitment surged soon after as he gathered offers from the Irish and several others.
But for Neal, those breakthroughs go beyond scholarship offers.
“I get to impact people’s lives in a positive manner every day,” he said. “I understand my role.”
The NFL dream he once carried for himself has not disappeared. It has simply shifted.
Instead of chasing sacks, he now chases development curves. Instead of lining up across from offensive tackles, he lines up beside players trying to shave tenths off a forty-yard dash or add a counter move to their arsenal.
The general mission remains the same.
Help them win.
“Be the hardest worker in the gym every time you walk in,” Neal said of the standard he demands.
“Embrace being uncomfortable.”
For Kerry Neal, that discomfort once came in the form of a dream redirected.
Now it fuels the next generation.
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