Jeff Webb, the Texas businessman who founded Varsity Spirit and became one of Charlie Kirk's earliest mentors, died last Friday at 76. He never recovered from a serious head injury sustained on a pickleball court two weeks earlier.
Turning Point USA confirmed Webb's death in a post on X, calling him "a visionary who helped shape generations of young leaders and believed deeply in the power of community and country." The organization described Webb as "a dear friend to Turning Point USA and Charlie."
Webb's passing adds another layer of grief to a conservative movement still reeling from Kirk's own death. The man who saw Kirk's potential before almost anyone else is now gone, felled not by ideology or violence but by a freak accident on a recreational court.
Webb built something lasting long before he ever met Charlie Kirk. In 1974, at just 24 years old, he founded Varsity Spirit. He pushed cheer routines toward more acrobatic, athletic performances, as Breitbart reported, and helped bring cheerleading competitions to television screens across the country. What had been a sideline activity became a nationally recognized sport, largely because Webb insisted it could be.
Decades later, Webb crossed paths with a young Kirk. The New York Post reported that Webb met Kirk when Kirk was 24 and quickly recognized something extraordinary. Webb later recalled Kirk's qualities in terms that left no room for doubt.
"He had amazing drive. I was overwhelmed with his maturity, his intelligence. He just had so many incredible leadership qualities."
That wasn't polite praise from a distant acquaintance. Webb became a hands-on mentor, the kind of older figure who opens doors, offers counsel, and stakes his own reputation on a younger person's promise.
In comments to Real America's Voice following Kirk's death, Webb described Kirk in sweeping terms. He said Kirk "had it all, charisma, faith, respect for everyone." Then Webb went further. He said the country "may have lost a future president."
Strong words. But Webb grounded them in what he'd watched Kirk build.
Webb described how Kirk reached young conservatives who felt isolated on campuses and in communities hostile to their beliefs. Kirk's message, Webb said, gave them definition.
"They were isolated and Charlie's message and his just charisma gave them definition. It gave them hope. It made them feel that they were okay and what they stood for were good things."
Webb traced the arc from Kirk's personal magnetism to the institutional infrastructure he created. As Kirk built Turning Point USA and launched its conferences, young conservatives from across the country found each other.
"And then eventually as he created Turning Point and the conferences, he was able to bring those young people from around the country together and they discovered other people felt like they did, and they had friends all over the country who shared this belief."
That's a mentor speaking with genuine pride, not about himself, but about what his protégé accomplished.
Kirk's death sent shockwaves through the conservative movement and triggered a chain of public controversies that continues today. An Arizona governor vetoed a memorial license plate honoring Kirk, a decision that struck many on the right as petty and politically motivated. The legal proceedings surrounding Kirk's shooting have ground forward through court rulings on evidence and media access, keeping the case in the public eye.
Meanwhile, some public figures chose Kirk's death as an occasion for cruelty. An Oregon school principal who mocked Kirk's killing was later sentenced to five years for possession of child sex abuse images, a grim reminder that the loudest voices celebrating a young man's death sometimes have the darkest secrets.
Webb's death won't generate the same firestorm. He wasn't a public combatant in the culture wars. He was a builder, first in cheerleading, then in conservative mentorship. But his loss matters to the people who knew what he contributed behind the scenes.
Details of the pickleball incident remain sparse. The source reporting does not specify where Webb was playing or the exact nature of the head injury beyond calling it "serious." What is known: he was hurt on the court roughly two weeks before his death, and he never recovered.
Pickleball has exploded in popularity among older Americans. The sport is generally low-impact, but falls and collisions do happen. A head injury severe enough to prove fatal two weeks later suggests a catastrophic event, a hard fall, a collision, something sudden and violent on a court designed for leisure.
Webb was 76. He was still active, still playing, still engaged. That counts for something.
Turning Point USA's tribute captured the essentials. Webb shaped young leaders. He believed in community and country. He was a dear friend. He will be greatly missed.
But Webb's own words about Kirk, delivered after Kirk was already gone, say more about the man than any memorial statement. Webb didn't talk about himself. He talked about what Kirk gave to young people who felt alone in their convictions. He talked about hope, definition, and belonging. Those aren't small things. On college campuses where conservative students face open hostility, those things can be the difference between giving up and standing firm.
Webb saw that. He nurtured it. He put his own credibility and resources behind a 24-year-old with big ideas and the drive to execute them. The ongoing legal proceedings tied to Kirk's murder will eventually deliver some measure of justice. But no courtroom verdict replaces the people who built the movement Kirk led.
Jeff Webb built things that outlasted him, Varsity Spirit, a mentorship that helped launch one of the most consequential conservative organizations in a generation, and a legacy of believing in young people before the world caught up. The conservative movement doesn't have so many builders that it can afford to lose them without notice.
You measure a man by what he poured into others. By that standard, Jeff Webb left a full account.
