Jeff Webb, Cheerleading Titan & Charlie Kirk Mentor, Dies at 76
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Jeff Webb has died.
The entrepreneur was hospitalized for weeks following an incident while playing pickleball.
In life, Webb’s biggest claim to fame was revolutionizing and modernizing cheerleading.
He also served as a mentor to one of America’s most divisive figures.
He changed cheerleading forever
On Thursday, March 19, Jeff Webb passed away at the age of 76.
He had been hospitalized two weeks earlier following a pickleball injury that involved a fall, Cheer Daily reports.
It seems that he was unable to regain consciousness amidst this health crisis.
Ultimately, Webb’s family took him off of life support.
Webb leaves a complex legacy. First and foremost, he is famous for revolutionizing cheerleading.
In 1974, Webb founded Varsity Spirit, an iconic American cheerleading company.
That same year, he founded the Universal Cheerleading Association (UCA).
Through these and other business ventures (including acquisitions), Webb is credited with modernizing cheerleading, making it more competitive, and bringing mainstream attention to the sport.
At the same time, he has received criticism for monopolistic actions — consolidating so much of cheerleading under one massive umbrella.
Regardless, critics and fans alike can agree that he was a titan who reshaped cheerleading as we know it.
He was a mentor to an extremely polarizing figure of the far right
According to the Arroe Collins Like It’s Live podcast, Jeff Webb also “helped guide” Charlie Kirk’s “early rise.”
According to Webb, he met Kirk at a dinner in Atlanta, when a mutual friend introduced them.
Webb publicly recalled meeting Kirk, saying: “He had an incredible amount of charisma, he had a great sense of humor.”
His retrospective praise continued: “He was fun to be around, and he was dedicated.”
Clearly, he saw a very different side of Kirk than the targets of Kirk’s organization did. That makes sense.
On September 10, 2025, Kirk was shot and killed.
“We probably lost a future president,” Webb said in an interview with Real America’s Voice the following week.
He was actually not the first to say that.
During the initial manhunt, even Kirk’s strongest critics made references (mostly joking) to the idea of a time traveler being the culprit. That was not the case.
Clearly, Webb meant this is a more mournful context than those who feared the specter of an America under Kirk.
“WE MAY HAVE LOST A FUTURE PRESIDENT” @jeff_webb: “Charlie Kirk had it all—charisma, faith, respect for everyone… Now, in his absence, tens of thousands of new chapters are rising. His legacy is just beginning.”@stinchfield1776 pic.twitter.com/C4KSpGAycl
— Real America’s Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) September 19, 2025
Our thoughts are with his family
As we noted, Webb left a complex legacy.
He revolutionized cheer, but he also helped drive the pernicious social forces that have America where it is today.
Leading a polarizing life means that many may feel divided over how to respond to his death.
Simply put, if you didn’t have strong feelings about Webb in life, then there’s no need to develop them upon his passing.
The same was true of Kirk, by the way. The dead do not need fans or haters. Save that energy for the living.
