Prior to his hiring at Presbyterian, Kelley was the head coach and athletic director at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he won nine AAA state championships and employed an unorthodox strategy that involved rarely punting and almost always attempting onside kicks and two-point conversions.
[3] Kelley began his coaching career at the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District in Carrollton, Texas.
[8] Additionally, Kelley's offenses own each of the top 12 highest single-season yardage totals in Arkansas high school history.
[1] Prior to the start of the 2020 season, Kelley was listed as having the 15th-highest all-time winning percentage among high school football coaches.
[10] Kelley was named the USA Today High School Coach of the Year in 2016 and was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in April 2021.
In an interview shortly after he was hired by Presbyterian, Kelley told Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports that he was most proud of his offensive acumen, and noted that his play-calling style was as heavily data-driven as his more publicized special teams idiosyncrasies.
According to Thamel,[14]The "intermediate" offense combines what Kelley considers the two hardest things to do in football — play pass coverages and tackle in space.
[2] In Kelley's debut as Presbyterian head coach on September 4, 2021, the Blue Hose broke two significant passing records in their 84–43 win over NAIA member St. Andrews.