Kevin Kelley, the "coach who never punts", has agreed to become the new head coach at Presbyterian College.
Presbyterian is a member of the FCS Big South Conference in Clinton, S.C.
Kelley has been the head coach at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Ark. His innovative success at Pulaski built his reputation as the Thinking Man's high school football coach, landing speaking gigs at MIT's Sloan Sports Conference and becoming a confidant of none other than Bill Belichick.
“Coach Kelley is probably the top high school coach in the country,” Belichick said in December. “I’ve followed him. He’s a little unconventional, but he’s had great success, and he’s had a lot of players come through there. I have great respect for coach Kelley and the program he runs, and some of the creative things that he does.”
Kelley leaves Pulaski after leading the school to its ninth state championship, making him the most successful high school coach in the state's modern era.
Beyond eliminating the punt, Kelley also incorporated laterals into part of his offense and has "disrupted" the onside kick. Little Rock Christian recovered every Pulaski onside kick during the pair's 2018 state title meeting, a Pulaski loss. Pulaski rebounded to beat LRC in the 2019 and '20 state title games. Pulaski closed this past season with a 64-27 win to cap off a 13-0 season.
Kelly has said in interviews he wouldn't necessarily bring his no-punt/no-kickoff strategy to the college game and that he adopted the strategies that made him a national name because they presented a strategic advantage at the high school level.
Kelley follows Tommy Spangler as head coach at Presbyterian. The Blue Hose went 4-3 in the spring season; Spangler was relieved of duties on April 21. AD Rob Acunto said at the time that "change in leadership was in the best interest of PC and its student athletes."
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