After his playing days, Kerr was a coach and minor league manager. He was baseball coach at Rice University in 1927. Stan Musial played for Kerr while he was the manager of the Daytona Beach Islanders. But after Musial injured his pitching arm, his career was in serious jeopardy. Kerr allowed Musial and his family to live with him for the winter while he decided what to do. During this time, Kerr convinced Musial that he was a better hitting prospect than he had been as a pitcher. In 1958, the appreciative Musial used a significant amount of that season's salary to buy Kerr a new house.

Richard Kerr