Jeff Webb, a prominent figure in the cheerleading industry and longtime mentor to Charlie Kirk, has died at the age of 76 following a tragic accident.
According to reports, Webb sustained a severe head injury after falling while playing pickleball. He was hospitalized in critical condition, and his family later made the decision to remove him from life support.
Webb was widely regarded as a transformative force in modern cheerleading. He founded the Universal Cheerleading Association and later established Varsity Spirit, eventually leading Varsity Brands into becoming a multibillion-dollar enterprise. His influence helped reshape cheerleading into the highly competitive and athletic activity it is today.
Long before his business success, Webb was a “yell leader” at the University of Oklahoma, where he first developed his passion for spirit leadership. Over the years, he maintained that his motivation was rooted not in financial gain but in fostering discipline and competition.
In a 2024 interview with The New York Times, Webb emphasized that his drive came from “discipline and keeping score.” The publication also highlighted his outsized role in shaping the cheerleading industry, noting that for decades the sport had been influenced significantly by one company—and one man.
Despite his accomplishments, Webb’s legacy was not without controversy. Critics within the industry sometimes characterized him with nicknames such as “Dark Sith Lord” and “John D. Rockefeller with glitter,” reflecting debates over his dominance and influence in the field.
Beyond cheerleading, Webb was active in conservative media. He served as senior editor and co-publisher of Human Events and later acquired the right-leaning news outlet The Post Millennial.
Webb’s death marks the end of a decades-long career that left a lasting imprint on both the cheerleading world and media landscape.
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