CLINTON (SC) -- So, we drove down to Presbyterian College to interview Kevin Kelley about his incredible start as college football coach. It was planned to discuss Week 1 when Ren Hefley, quarterback, set an FCS record of 10 touchdown passes in an 84-43 win over NAIA school St. Andrew's University. Also, the hammer-down mindset behind the weekend's 68-3 defeat of NCAA Division II's University of Fort Lauderdale which produced 635 yards of offense (and, yes, zero punts).
Yes, it was planned to visit Clinton, South Carolina on Wednesday. This was two days after College GameDay was there to shoot a feature from Notre Dame Wisconsin in Chicago, and three days after a detailed profile of Kelley appeared in local newspapers. It was hoped that a conversation might give us more insight into Kevin Kelley's mind, which is described as football's "A Beautiful Mind." Talking about ball. Talking about unconventional ball. Talking about trick plays in the second quarter. Talking about the fact that there is no punter on the roster. Talking about winning nine Arkansas high school state championships in 18 seasons. Bill Belichick is always on our speed dial. We might also talk about other football topics. Editor's Picks A magical ride': Steve Spurrier and the Fun-n Gun offense, as well as Florida's first national championship title Chris Low
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Instead, he was not his usual spirited self when he walked into the cinder-block conference room that Kelley has taken over as his office and walked past the wall of framed media articles (Time magazine listed Kelley's no-punt offense along with the AIDS vaccine & teleportation as the greatest inventions 2009). Kelley was instead glued to his computer, looking at a tweet and running his gray hair through the other. One of his Presbyterian College teammates had made a very unflattering statement about his new head coach. Although the post was deleted, the tweet was poisonous to his locker room's morale. Kelley wanted the antidote in place by the time practice began later that afternoon.
Kelly checks in with Belichick several times per week and today was the last time he would call. Any sportswriters that happened to be reading framed stories in Sports Illustrated ("Just Go for It!") were included on the waiting list. Letters sent from the White House ("Congratulations for your 200th victory!" "
Kelley apologized and was finally able stand from his desk to extend a handshake. This is what it feels like after a 72-0 loss.
Few people can imagine what it's like to lose a football match by 10 touchdowns and a safety. Even those who do know, such as the Presbyterian players, don't understand what it feels like to lose a football game by 10 touchdowns and a safety, then to spend the week being a social media punching bag.
Kevin Kelley was doing exactly that on Wednesday. He willingly flipped through his torched timelines. This scrolling began during PC's four hour bus ride home from the fightin' camels at Campbell University Fightin’ Camels.
Arkansas folks who fanboy over Kevin Kelley are awfully quiet today... https://t.co/fvkpADEoFj Riley Hawkins (@RileyHawkins44) September 19, 2021
Kevin Kelley finally played a team with a logo, and.... pic.twitter.com/AVpLA3peWo Tyler Cass (@TVTylerCass) September 18, 2021
Dang Coach! Wasn't it enough to lose the game? You are doing this to yourself!
He said "I am bluntly honest, which is probably my issue," pointing to a list of unfavorable DMs with his phone. "I accept it, and I'm okay with it. It's that passion that I love so much about football that makes it possible to forget all about politics and race. That passion is what drives the hateful people after the games are over. They just want to share their love for the game. They've always wanted to share their thoughts with me for the majority of my career. You have to learn how to handle the negative aspects of your passion if you want to embrace it.
"That's how it works for me."
But why him? Why was there so much anger and fury directed at a man who was coaching high-school football one year ago. Why was so much hatred directed at the NCAA's smallest Division 1 school, a university of fewer than 1000 students and one among the few FCS teams that plays non-scholarship soccer football? It is amazing that this man has his email address and phone number posted on college football message boards, so that anyone who doesn't know the location of Presbyterian College can send him threats and positive attaboys like "I f---ing said this gimmicky sh--- wouldn't work!"
"Coach Kelley is a controversial figure among traditional football players because he doesn’t coach traditional football," said Rob Acunto (PC athletic director). Acunto has worked as a coach and administrator at various schools from the SEC up to the Ivy League. "But the fact he doesn’t coach traditional football is precisely why we hired him." He seeks out angles and benefits to win games. Presbyterian College seeks out angles and benefits to ensure a winning football team.
Kelley was criticized online by fans and players after he lost 72-0 to the team that started 2-0. Presbyterian College Athletics
Acunto no doubt hired Kelley to create buzz about his arrival. Without a doubt, Kelley is the most well-known high school football coach in America. His role in the Memphis, Tennessee story that inspired Michael Lewis' movie "The Blind Side" and its sequel, Hugh Freeze, was a major reason why Kelley is so popular.
The meteoric rise of Kelley is well documented.
Kelley was faced with the challenge of changing the fortunes at the small, but proud, Arkansas high school Pulaski academy. He began to search for opportunities through analytics. This was a result of his experience as an accountant and teacher. He was obsessed with the stopwatch and game clock, looking for time that his team could use to move the football downfield. He wanted to create psychological and physical imbalances. He began reading books on economic theory, and he started to watch game film inside-out. This was in accordance with the Air Raid philosophy, which created space for the ball to be thrown but drilled that down to the microseconds.
Because he could see that the fourth-down conversion rate was in his favor, he decided to abandon punting. He also saw the limitations of trying to change field position by kicks. This is a new twist to what the old coaches used to say about throwing throws: There are three possible outcomes to punting the football. Two of these are bad. Onside kicks were also called for after touchdowns. This would allow his team to get the ball back quicker and also make it more difficult for his opponent to prepare for them during weekday practice. It was like playing Madden Football late at night on your gaming console, with all the settings turned up and all running plays off. But it was real life.
Kelley began to be invited to speak at analytics conferences as a speaker and attendee when his teams were winning state championships and wins. Kelley started to receive innovation awards, including Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Disruptor Awards. This gave him a hammer and a trophy. He reads his ugly tweets while he holds it.
Kelley said, "I stood between the woman who won the Nobel Prize" and the man who invented modern rocket fuel." His voice was a near-death ringer for Mike Gundy's, but at a Jimbo Fisher pace. They're all saying, "You guys are geniuses!" "They're all saying, 'You guys are geniuses!' I was like, there are many geniuses in that room, but not me. I am a damn good football coach."
If you win 200 high school football games, and you don't punt, Robert De Niro will give you hammer trophy trophies. Then the sportswriters are bound to be there. They have. They have a team that follows Kelley almost 24/7 to film a web series on ESPN, USA Today, and HBO.
Kelley explained that "Attention, awards and media create excitement but also create resentment with many people." You're a bully if you beat someone by a lot of points. You're a fraud if someone beats your by a lot of points. It's okay. They may think they're being original but I've heard it all before. I don't have anything to offer now that I didn't hear back when I started playing this style of football."
He tells stories about Arkansas high school football, which make mean tweets look like a roll sweet tarts. Strangers walked onto his front lawn. His wife Dana was approached by angry women in the stadium bathroom. A multiyear-long war against a Little Rock competitor that was ended when a local news report depicted it as rich white children vs. poor Black children.
"I love football. Football saved my life. Kelley stated that I would have committed suicide between the ages of 8 and 13. Growing up, I had a terrible life. Dad was always in and out the house. Alcoholism. Stepdad and mom work long hours in the factory. Football is all that got me out of bed every day. Do you think being called an idiot by a guy I have never met because I lost in a football match is going to hurt me? I'm a grown up and have worked hard to become one. It's okay.
He doesn't take it. One gets the impression that he enjoys the conflict. He enjoys the telling-you-so after the conflict is over. Kelley frequently points to a significant moment in his career and life, when he first read "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis. It was about Oakland A's general manger Billy Beane who embraced analytics to compete against megateams with three times his salary to spend on superstars. Kelley was also appointed head coach of Pulaski Academy that year.
Ren Hefley threw 10 touchdowns during Kevin Kelley's inaugural game as Presbyterian's head coaching. Presbyterian College Athletics
As he did in the past, Kelley now plays Brad Pitt-as Billy Beane, staring down an old room full of crusty baseball scouts. He wears it like a pair well-broken-in coaching shorts. The daily grind of changing football minds doesn't stop at visiting coaches and anonymous Twitter trolls.
He stated that the biggest challenge as a coach at college is not losing. Both Gus and Bill warned about it.
He is referring to Gus Malzahn and Bill Belichick, an old foe from Arkansas high school days. They are the demigods of all high school coaches who dream of one day going to college.
Kelley accepted the PC job in May after the COVID-19-postponed spring FCS seasons had just ended. He didn't get to meet his team until August when practice began. The story is about a running back that kept going in the wrong direction and refused to listen when corrected. Kelley mentions a wide receiver, who refused to listen to Kelley's attempts to convince him to use a standard in route that turns around a defensive back to turn him around. Instead, he suggested darting inside because it puts him in position to catch a pass sooner. To prove his point, he showed the players the film and analytics. Both players grumbled, "Whatever. This playbook will never work, Coach. He then mentions the reserve team member who took to Twitter the very next morning to criticize the coach in front of his teammates and the rest of the world.
I say to those guys, it doesn't matter if you have been running that pass route the same way your entire college career. What if you have been running the pass route in the same manner your entire college career? He asked. "It doesn't matter if I don't like you being your coach. Guess what? You won 14 games in four seasons! In 100 years of football, this program has won a conference championship. It has never been won. Never. What are you still holding on to? If I want to run Duck Duck Goose, you should be open to it!"
Kelley knows there is only one way to convince his Blue Hose, the PC's mascot and homage to the stockings worn 100 years ago by its first teams, that his unconventional methods are worth his practice, math skills, and study: winning. There was very little to be complained about when they were 2-0 and had set FCS passing records. The Camels were beaten by a scoreboard reading 72-0, and they left Campbell field. Kelly acknowledged that he made a mistake. Kelly knew that his non-scholarship team wasn't likely be able to keep up with Campbell's full scholarship roster, which is likely the most difficult opponent they'll face this season. Instead of allowing his disruptive pride to take over, Kelley continued to throw footballs downfield. Campbell caught seven of them, including an impressive fourth-quarter pick-6 that made it 65-0.
"I didn't think about the mental effect. Although I could see their faces from the sidelines, it was too late. The final score would be 52-14 if we had to run out of time. I don't know if I can deal with everything that I have been dealing with this week. Not only are our players learning, but so is everyone else. I'm also learning. He said, "A big one."
It's Wednesday morning and Kevin Kelley would be happy to board the bus to Dayton for Saturday's conference game against a non-scholarship FCS Pioneer Football League player. He would pack up his gear and head north. He has found that football has helped him solve most of his problems. This one will probably be solved, too.
"We work all week, 24 hours a days. He said that Saturday's results are what make things happen. "We won again, and when you come back next week, you will see a completely different team of players. People will suddenly say, "Hey Kelley, he knows how coach again!"
