He led the Grand Valley State Lakers to consecutive NCAA Division II Football Championships in 2002 and 2003.

[14] In his 13 years as head coach at Grand Valley State, the Lakers won five conference titles and made six Division II Playoff appearances.

[21] In his third season, the Chippewas posted a 9–4 record under Kelly en route to winning the MAC Championship over Ohio and qualifying for the Motor City Bowl.

[22][23] At the end of the 2006 season, Kelly left to accept the Cincinnati coaching vacancy three days after CMU won the 2006 MAC Championship.

Jeff Quinn was named the interim for Central Michigan's contest in the Motor City Bowl against Middle Tennessee.

[32] In 2008, Kelly led Cincinnati to its first ever outright Big East title with key wins over #20 West Virginia and #20 Pittsburgh.

Kelly also became the first coach to win all three of the Bearcats' traveling trophies—[citation needed] the Victory Bell (Miami [OH]), the Keg of Nails (Louisville), and the River City Rivalry Trophy (Pitt).

[51] In late October, Declan Sullivan, a student videographer, was killed during practice when the hydraulic lift he was using collapsed due to high winds.

[59] In the final game of the season, Notre Dame snapped an 8-game losing streak against its rival USC, winning 20–16 due to a strong defensive display, despite four turnovers by the Fighting Irish's offense.

[61] In 2011, Notre Dame returned numerous starters from the previous year and was thought to be in contention for a BCS bowl bid.

[62] However, in the opening game against South Florida, Notre Dame outgained its opponent 508–254 in yardage but lost 23–20 due to five turnovers (most within scoring range).

[64] The following week the Irish defeated #15 Michigan State 31–13; the one-sided victory over the Spartans was the first of four wins in a row until the USC Trojans came to South Bend.

[65][66] The Fighting Irish were behind early in the game but were driving toward an apparent tie when a fumbled snap on the Trojan three-yard line was returned by USC for a touchdown.

[69] Against Florida State, Notre Dame again built a lead (14–3 after three quarters) but lost 18–14 due to three crucial turnovers, ending the season with an 8–5 record.

[70] Notre Dame won their week 2 game against Purdue at home, winning 20–17, on a field goal by sophomore Kyle Brindza.

Notre Dame had rallied from a fourth quarter deficit of 14 points to tie the game late in regulation.

[80] On Monday, January 7, 2013, Kelly and the Fighting Irish lost, 42–14, to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game.

In this game, Kelly called 31 passing plays in Hurricane Matthew, resulting in 17 incompletions, five sacks, and only 113 yards of total offense.

[111] The Irish were considered to be playoff contenders for the majority of the season despite a 20–19 early loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, who went on to win the SEC Championship.

[118] The Irish then won the remainder of their regular season games, including victories over #7 Stanford, #24 Virginia Tech, #12 Syracuse, and Northwestern.

[128] The Irish won all ten of their games, including a mid-season contest against perennial conference power and top-ranked Clemson.

[132] In the College Football Playoff Semifinals against Alabama at the Rose Bowl, Notre Dame lost 31–14 to give Kelly a 10–2 mark in the 2020 season.

[134] However, they struggled in their first two games, beating Florida State 41–38 and Toledo 32–29 before winning over Purdue 27–13 and 18th-ranked Wisconsin at Soldier Field 41–13.

[135][136][137][138] Following a 24–13 loss to #7 Cincinnati, Kelly helped lead the Fighting Irish to a seven-game winning streak to finish the season.

[139][134] After finishing the regular season with eleven wins and one loss, Kelly resigned from his position at Notre Dame in order to become the head coach of the LSU Tigers football team.

[n 1] On November 30, 2021, Kelly was named the 33rd head coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), replacing Ed Orgeron.

[141][142] Kelly cited "wanting to be with the best" and "the commitment to excellence, rich traditions, and unrivaled pride and passion of LSU Football" for the move.

[154] In the game, LSU set new Citrus Bowl records for most points scored (63), largest margin of victory (56), and total offensive yards (594).

[159][161][162] The Tigers finished out the regular season with another three-game winning streak to set up a ReliaQuest Bowl matchup with Wisconsin.

[163] Kelly entered his third season as the Tigers head coach with LSU ranked 13th in the preseason AP Poll.