Coach Kevin Kelley’s no-punt system gets its college tryout at Presbyterian

Perhaps the most interviewed man in the Football Championship Subdivision since early May, Kevin Kelley didn’t mind taking a 15-minute break from his summer vacation for a reporter’s call.

“I don’t want them to all pile up,” Kelley said in late July.

There’s a sense of celebrity surrounding the Presbyterian College football program. Kelley, hired May 7 after a highly decorated — and unconventional — run on the high school level, is taking his never-punt approach to a new stage. This unique challenge has already been featured in The Athletic, Sports Illustrated and on Yahoo Sports, among other national outlets.

A quick recap of those stories: Kelley, winner of nine state championships in 18 years at Pulaski Academy in Arkansas, plans to keep going for it on fourth down, kicking onside and will always have analytics to back up his risk-taking.

Long-term, Kelley believes, his style — if successful — could change the way college football is played. But what about short-term?

The Blue Hose begin a new era Sept. 4.

Can’t miss game

▪ St. Andrews, Sept. 4

The opponent here doesn’t matter all that much. It’s all about Kelley’s system making its college-level debut. Expect more eyes than usual to be focused on Clinton, South Carolina, on this afternoon.

A successful season is ...

PC, a college football nomad with stops in the NAIA, NCAA Division II and the FCS, has one conference title (2005 as a member of the South Atlantic Conference) in its 108-year history. It hasn’t made any kind of playoffs in 16 years.

But Kelley isn’t lowering expectations.

“Winning the conference and going to the playoffs,” he said of Year 1 aspirations. “I mean, you set a goal and that’s it.”

The Blue Hose, now in the 11-team, non-scholarship Pioneer Football League, went 4-3 in the spring and are picked to finish fifth in the PFL this fall. Junior quarterback Tyler Huff is back after leading the league in total offense, as is Delvecchio Powell II, sophomore running back and reigning PFL Offensive Player of the Year.

Theoretically, this duo should fit well with Kelley’s system that rewrote the Arkansas state record book for offense — his final Pulaski team went 13-0 and averaged 50.8 points per game — but there’s also the reality of learning the system as part of an absolute cram session before Week 1.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, PC was playing games this spring under its old coach and not having 15 practices with its new leader. Oh, and Kelley’s brought in over 40 new players.

“The challenges, they’re all there and they’re all real,” Kelley said. “But in the end, you just hope you hired the right guys and that this is something we can teach quickly.”

Kelley’s first Pulaski team won a state title. It punted 21 times in 15 games.

“I’m not worried about the system working,” Kelley said.

3 players to watch

▪ QB Tyler Huff

The junior quarterback is a two-year starter coming off a banner spring season in which he led the Pioneer Football League in total offense and was top 20 nationally in passing yards per game.

▪ RB Delvecchio Powell II

Kevin Kelley’s new system seems to have a ready-made playmaker in Powell. The reigning PFL Freshman Offensive Player of the Year totaled 446 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns over seven games in the spring.

▪ LB Jarrett Nagy

Replacing All-American linebacker Colby Campbell won’t be easy, but perhaps Nagy can help fill the void. The senior is a three-year starter who finished fourth among FCS linebackers in tackles per game in the spring.

Presbyterian College 2021 football schedule

* — PFL game

This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 9:20 AM.