Following the 2017-18 season Kennedy announced he would be taking a break from competitive curling to heal injuries and focus on family. He subsequently took a position as national team program performance consultant with Curling Canada. He was invited to play third for team Brad Jacobs at the 2018 Canada Cup, to fill in for Ryan Fry, who took a couple of events off, following unsportsmanlike behaviour from an event he played in. Kennedy's addition to the team worked out, and they would win the event. Kennedy announced in March 2019 that he would join Team Jacobs to replace Ryan Fry for the next three curling seasons.