[2] He played college football at the University of Tennessee, where he was a captain of the 1992 team, and received All-SEC and All-American AP honors.
[3][4] Kelly attended Bethel High School in Hampton, Virginia, where he played football and baseball, and ran track.
[8] Due to a lack of depth on the defensive line, he played in eight games during his freshman year as a backup to veteran Marion Hobby, picking up 6 tackles and a sack.
[9] While working with defensive coaches Larry Lacewell and Rex Norris,[6] Kelly remained on the second unit during the 1990 season, picking up 21 tackles (14 solo) and a team-leading 5 sacks.
[6][10] During his junior year in 1991, Kelly registered 23 tackles (14 solo) and 5.5 sacks (3rd-highest on the team), playing mostly as a backup to senior Chuck Smith.
[3] He is fifth on the school's career sacks list, trailing only Derek Barnett (33), Reggie White (32), Leonard Little (28) and Jonathan Brown (25).
He works as a Commercial Excellence Executive for Boston Scientific (Peripheral Intervention), and served as a youth football coach from 2003 to 2009.
[8] Their son, Todd Kelly, Jr., was a consensus four-star defensive back at the Webb School of Knoxville, and played for Tennessee from 2014 to 2018 and graduated.