John joined the Bulldogs in 1915 along with Greasy Neale, whom Kellison served under as an assistant coach at West Virginia Wesleyan.

[1] When Neale and Kellison first played with Bulldogs, they assumed aliases for fear they’d be fired from their coaching jobs if it came out they were involved with pro football - at the time, most college presidents looked down upon the professional game.

When a delegation from West Virginia Wesleyan made surprise visit to a Bulldogs game in 1916 to investigate allegations of college football personnel playing professionally, Neale, Kellison and Pete Calac all got wind of the news and briefly left the team.

[2] During his time in Canton Kellison and the Bulldogs won three Ohio League championships, in 1916, 1917 and 1919.

[4] Kellison was also the head coach for the William & Mary football team from 1931 to 1934, compiling a 21–17–2 record.