Kerr is the type of ex player you expect to be a good coach. he wasn't a great player he had one really good skill, shooting, and he managed to find a niche(thanks to Jordan largely) and ride it for a solid career. But he understood the game so while not very athletic he wasn't a horrible defender, he got the most out of his talent.
I think the question is does he have the coaching experience, there's a difference between knowing how to do something and being able to get others to do it, and that takes time.
He's got some advantages the situation with Jackson and staff had deterioriated so badly that whoever is the next coach will be given a nice honeymoon period I suspect.