As a player, Kennedy was renowned for his toughness and skill. As a coach, he had a similar reputation for toughness but also for
oratory. He was notorious for borrowing ideas from any source he thought would inspire the players, but it was his passion rather than his quotations that he was best known for. In the
1975 VFL Grand Final against North Melbourne, his exhortation to the Hawthorn players at half-time was: "At least
do something!
Do! Don't think, Mick! Don't hope;
do! At least you can come off and say, 'I did this, I shepherded, I played on. At least I did something.'" Despite this, his team still lost convincingly. He was famous for his battered brown overcoat, which is now on display at the Hawthorn Football Club. He was an inaugural inductee into the
Australian Football Hall of Fame and was inducted into the
Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1999. His son
John Kennedy Jr., also played for the Hawks, playing eight matches against Kangaroo teams coached by his father. Kennedy's grandson
Josh Kennedy was recruited by
Hawthorn under the
father/son rule in the
2006 AFL draft, AFL Commission Chairman Richard Goyder said: "In the Australian Football Hall of Fame, our Legends stand above our greats and, on behalf of the selectors, it is my great honour to declare John Kennedy was elected as a Legend, recognising his six-decade contribution to our game." The
Kennedy Community Centre, Hawthorn's new training and administrative base, is named after John Kennedy Sr.
Statue In honour of Kennedy's 80th birthday, a statue of him overlooking the Hawthorns'
Waverley Park stadium was unveiled. The statue was moved to the
Kennedy Community Centre in 2025. The text on the plaque reads: : John "Kanga" Kennedy played 164 games for the Hawthorn Football Club in 1950–59, including its first ever finals appearance in 1957. In 1960 aged just 31 Kennedy became coach and transformed Hawthorn and led the club to its first three premierships in 1961, 1971 and 1976. :Kennedy's Hawthorn teams became known as "Kennedy's Commandos". Wearing his trademark overcoat, his booming voice and stirring words inspired generations of Hawthorn players, taking them from easy beats to the most respected and revered club in the League. :He epitomised and taught all the values and attitudes that the Club cherishes. These were overwhelmingly a sense of TEAM, total DISCIPLINE, total INTEGRITY, and WILL to WIN at all costs. They are now core values, part of the club's character and as we compete in the 21st century this legacy as defined by John Kennedy will never be forgotten. ==Death==