BRIAN K. KELLY '83

Football, Softball

As a player BRIAN K. KELLY '83 demonstrated that size was no factor playing stellar middle linebacker for the Greyhounds. As a coach he brought the level of confidence to new heights as the defensive coordinator of the mid 80s. As the softball coach he ushered the team into previously unchartered territory---the postseason regional rankings and 20-plus wins.

He has won two national championships while coaching at Grand Valley State, made 19 tackles in the final game of 1981, and raised the softball program to a new level which included two postseason appearances and the first of what is now an annual southern trip.

Kelly captained argumentatively the two most successful teams in Hounds' history for Hall of Fame Coach Paul Cantiani '73. He earned all conference honors in the New England Collegiate Football Conference as both a junior and senior and left with a school-record 314 tackles (currently seventh). His record 214 assists stood until this past season when broken by Chris Grogan '06.

The Hounds posted an 8-3 record in 1981 opening the season with seven straight wins and finishing in the national 'club' playoffs---beating Fairfield before bowing to St. John Fisher in the semifinal. The following year the team finished 7-1-1---again winning seven straight in midseason.

Kelly then coached for four seasons under Hall of Famer Bernie Gaughan who had served as his coordinator as a player. Gaughan was instrumental in landing Kelly a position with Grand Valley.

He was also affiliated with the softball program for five seasons, one as an assistant (1983) and four more as head coach. He left after the 1987 season as the winningiest coach (64-54) with two Northeast-10 Conference playoff appearances and a then-record 23 wins. In his final year he coached six first-team Northeast-10 all-stars along with the Player- (Barbie Barrett '88) and Rookie-of-the-Year (Shonda Becker '90).

He joined the Grand Valley staff in 1987 as a graduate assistant and secondary coach. He was promoted to defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator in 1989 and to head coach two years later.

He finished his 13 seasons at Grand Valley (1991-2003) with a 118-35 2 overall record, including 103-22-2 in the Great Lakes Conference. Grand Valley won two national titles (2003, 04) and advanced to the final a third time (2002). He was named the American Football Coaches Association Division II National Coach-of-the-Year in both 2002 and 2003. He coached in the Hula Bowl in both 2003 and 2004. In two seasons at Central Michigan he has instilled new energy into the program---the team had its first winning season since 1998 posting a 6-5 record last year.

A native of Chelsea, MA, he was graduated from St. John's Prep (Danvers, MA) where he starred in three sports---football, hockey and baseball. He was graduated from the College with a B.A. in Political Science in 1983.

Brian and his wife, Paqui, have three children - Patrick Liam, Grace Marie and Kenzel Michael. They reside in Mount Pleasant, MI.