Duerell Bard played behind an All-American at Centre College last year but hopes to play a much bigger role for the Colonels now.
Duerell Bard had almost 250 tackles and scored 16 touchdowns in his high school football career and admits he got caught up in playing “big-time” football in college.
Rather than come to Centre College like he wanted to do, he decided to play at Division II Carson-Newman. But after two seasons, he decided to follow his heart and transferred to Centre in the spring of 2022.
“I finally realized the big-time football I thought I wanted was not for me,” said Bard. “I reached out to (Centre assistant) coach (Carter) Conley, came for a visit and transferred.”
Now he’s hoping to play a much bigger role for coach Andy Frye’s team this season after making 22 tackles and recovering one fumble last season.
“I want to be all-conference. This is my last year of college football and I have not had a chance yet to do something like that. I was behind an All-American (Armon Wells) last year and I know I have big shoes to fill,” Bard said. “I just have limited reps but I knew I was behind an All-American and just had to step in and contribute any way I could. I was special teams player of the year and this year I hope to do a lot more.”
He’s already done a lot community-wise. Bard, a psychology major, did two-week internships at Camp Horsin’ Around, Morning Pointe Senior Living and the Isaiah House as part of his medical health and humanities studies. His time at Isaiah House “opened his eyes” to drug, alcohol and domestic abuse that he had never been exposed to and let him know that’s a career path he wants to pursue.
“I learned everything that goes with drug and alcohol and domestic abuse are connected. If you are under trauma, you tend to self medicate and that can lead to abuse and other problems,” he said.
Morning Pointe gave him a close look at senior assisted living while Camp Horsin’ Around is an outdoor camp adventure for children whose health is compromised or who have special needs.
“All three experiences were very different but also very similar. You just had to communicate, listen and understand,” Bard said.
He really enjoyed his time with the senior citizens who he said loved to talk to him.
“Once they opened up to me I got to hear so many stories and got some much wisdom from those people. One even gave me relationship advice on how to keep a girlfriend or wife,” Bard said. “I was only there for two weeks but got close to the residents. They even offered me a part-time job as a receptionist, which I can’t do during football but they told me I could always come work whenever I wanted.”
Bard’s life direction changed his freshman year at Carson-Newman when he found out he was becoming a father.
“I was trying to adapt, deal with COVID and make sure my mental health was okay. That let me know I wanted to be able to help others go through tough times and be someone they could lean on,” he said.
“I can say my son was a huge blessing for me. It influenced me to do better for me and him. I want him to look up to me but also be a better person than me.”
His son only got to watch him play once last season but Bard hopes to have him at many more games this year.
“He just turned 2 in May but he’s getting bigger so fast. I had him on the baseball field playing with me,” the Centre senior said. “I want him to be able to stay with me and see us play all he can.”
Bard is convinced Centre’s defense will be better than last year when the Colonels finished 6-4, 4-3 in conference play
“We have some dogs returning. We are very loud and vocal,” he said. “I think we can do some really big things if we just communicate and listen to what the coaches are saying.”
