Kelly came to Houston from Penn State, where he served as a graduate assistant under Head Coach Bill O’Brien, having held the same position at Ball State in 2011.
Before he went to Ball State, Kelly was the defensive coordinator, defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Minnesota State-Moorhead for the 2010 season.
Kelly spent the 2008-09 seasons at Illinois-Wesleyan, where he was the defensive line coach for the 2009 CCIW Championship team that ranked ninth among all defenses at the NCAA Division-III level. He also coached two first-team all-conference selections.
Kelly played defensive tackle at Eastern Illinois, starting all 48 games in his collegiate career and serving as the team’s captain in 2007. He was named to the Capital One Academic All-District V Team in 2006 and 2007.